When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”
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.
- BSB When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
- ESV But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in 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.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,
- Luke 1:11–12An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
- Mark 6:49–50but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;
- Dan 10:6–12his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
- Luke 24:45Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
- Job 4:14–16fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
- Acts 12:15They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”
- Luke 24:37But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
- 1 Sam 28:12–14When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”
- Luke 24:5Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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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