John 6:17

Even. See on Matt. 14:23.

Disciples went down. The accounts in Matthew and Mark indicate that Jesus sent the disciples away while He dismissed the crowd, and thus before He retired to the hills.

John, on the other hand, states that Jesus repaired to the hills, and when evening came, the disciples set out across the sea. This seeming discrepancy may be reconciled by understanding that although Jesus instructed His disciples to leave, they did not actually set sail for some time, that is, until evening (see DA 379, 380).

Went. Literally, “began to go” over the sea; that is, they started across.

Capernaum. Mark states that Jesus told His disciples to go by ship in the direction of Bethsaida, which was nearly at the northern end of the lake (see Mark 6:45; see on Matt. 14:22). Both Mark and Matthew declare that when they finally came to land, they had come into the region of Gennesaret (Mark 6:53; Matt. 14:34), some 5 mi. (8 km.) to the southwest of Bethsaida. John, on the other hand, says that the disciples set out toward Capernaum, Jesus’ headquarters in Galilee, which lay on the northwest shore of the lake, between Bethsaida and Gennesaret. Their final arrival in the land of Gennesaret probably was due to their being blown off course by the storm.