Limitless Word
But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them.
Mark 6:33 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB They saw them going, and many recognized him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to him.
  • KJV And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
  • BSB But many people saw them leaving and recognized them. They ran together on foot from all the towns and arrived before them.
  • NKJV But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him.
  • NASB The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The crowds saw them leave and hurried ahead on foot to meet them. It shows the people's desperate hunger for Jesus.

Overview

Far from finding solitude, Jesus and the disciples were met by an even larger crowd that had run around the lake. The people's eagerness reveals a deep spiritual and physical need that drew them to Christ. Their pursuit sets up Jesus' compassionate response and the miracle that follows.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • John 6:2A great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick.
  • Mark 6:54–55When they had come out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him,
  • Matt 15:29–31Jesus departed there, and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there.
  • Jas 1:19So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 6:33YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 6:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.