When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they cried out for fear.
- KJV And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
- NKJV And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
- NASB When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.
- NLT When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”
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
Seeing Him on the water, the terrified disciples cry out, thinking He is a ghost. Fear can blind even disciples to the presence of their Lord.
Overview
The disciples, seeing a figure walking on the sea, are gripped by terror and suppose it is an apparition. Their fearful misreading of Jesus' presence reflects how distress and the unexpected can cloud faith. The moment heightens the drama and prepares for Jesus' reassuring self-revelation that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Rev 1:17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
- Luke 1:11–12Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
- Mark 6:49–50but when they saw Him walking on the sea, they cried out, thinking He was a ghost—
- Dan 10:6–12His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of polished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
- Luke 24:45Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
- Job 4:14–16fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
- Acts 12:15“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
- Luke 24:37But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit.
- 1 Sam 28:12–14But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
- Luke 24:5As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 14:26 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
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