Mark 1:38 (KJV)
And he said unto them,
Let us go into the next towns¹,
that I may preach² there also:
for therefore came I forth.
¹) Villages approximating in size and number of inhabitants to a city, Villages which were like cities.
By towns here are to be understood towns where there were synagogues, which nevertheless were not either fortified or towns of trade. Villages had no synagogue.
²) To proclaim the Good News
From other translations:
And He said to them, Let us be going on into the neighboring country towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out. [AMP] And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." [ESV] Jesus said, "Let's go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I've come." [MSB] Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." [NIV] But he replied, "We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too, because that is why I came." [NLT] But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth." [NKJV]
Now let us see what this verse is telling us.
Let us go
Or, according to another reading, “Let us go elsewhere.”
Into the next towns
Rather, “unto the neighboring village-towns”; meaning those places intermediate between towns and villages, with which the western side of the Sea of Galilee was studded.
That I may preach there also;
for therefore came I forth
Jesus came forth,
▪︎ Not from Capernaum, as it is sometimes misunderstood,
▪︎ nor from His privacy in the desert place, as it is also misunderstood,
▪︎ but from the Father. Compare John 16:28 , “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world,” &c. another proof, by the way, that the lofty phraseology of the Fourth Gospel was not unknown to the authors of the others, though their design and point of view are different.
The language in which our Lord’s reply is given by Luke (Luke 4:43) expresses the high necessity under which, in this as in every other step of His work, He acted “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore”, or, “to this end”, “am I sent.”
It doubtless was an act of self-denial, to resist the pleadings to return to Capernaum. But there were overmastering considerations on the other side.
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