Mark 10:46

They came to Jericho. [Blind Bartimaeus, Mark 10:46–52=Matt. 20:29–34=Luke 18:35–43. Major comment: Mark. See Closing Peraean Ministry; The Ministry of Our Lord; on miracles pp. 208–213.] That is, they had reached Jericho, one of the last stopping places on their way from Peraea to Jerusalem to attend the Passover (see on Matt. 20:17; 21:1). Concerning incidents along the way immediately preceding the arrival in Jericho see on Matt. 20:17–28.

One of the important fords across the Jordan River is 5.5 mi. (9 km.) to the east of Jericho. The city itself lies at the western edge of the Jordan valley, hard by the foothills of the mountains that rise to the west (see on Luke 10:30). New Testament Jericho was more than 1 mi. (c. 2 km.) south of the ruins of OT Jericho. Herod the Great had beautified the city, and maintained a winter palace there. Jericho was known for its nearby hot springs, where Herod the Great went in the hope of finding healing during the course of his fatal illness. Although this is His only recorded visit to Jericho, there is every reason to suppose that Jesus had visited the city on previous trips to Jerusalem to attend the feasts, and had probably passed through it on His way from Peraea to raise Lazarus.

Out of Jericho. Matthew (ch. 20:29) and Mark agree that this incident occurred as Jesus and the Twelve were leaving the city, whereas Luke says that they were approaching Jericho (see Luke 18:35). Various suggestions have been advanced in an endeavor to harmonize this seeming discrepancy.

Some have suggested that although the usual meaning of the Greek words translated “was come nigh unto” (Luke 18:35) is “to approach,” or “to come near to,” it is not impossible that Luke simply meant that Jesus was in the vicinity of Jericho at the time of this incident. Others have suggested that Jesus may have met the beggars on the road between New Jericho and Old Jericho, situated about one mi. to the north, on His way to Jerusalem. There are at least two major difficulties with this explanation, however. In the first place, Old Jericho was in ruins at this time, and it would require a stretch of the imagination to think that Luke would call a pile of ancient ruins “Jericho” and ignore the existing city by that name, so close by. In the second place, the road from NT Jericho to Jerusalem did not lead through OT Jericho, but rather to the foothills to the west, where it follows the Wadi Qelṭ up into the mountains (see on Luke 10:30).

Perhaps the following is a more likely explanation. Luke records the story of Zacchaeus immediately after his account of the healing of Bartimaeus (see Luke 18:35 to 19:10). Both Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus apparently lived in Jericho, and Jesus met the one not long after the other. According to the order of the narrative in Luke, Jesus was a guest at the tax collector’s home after the healing of the blind men. Most probably, Zacchaeus’ inability to get a glimpse of Jesus in the streets of the city made it necessary for him to run ahead of the crowd to find a suitable tree to climb, probably on the outskirts of the city (see on Luke 19:4), where he awaited Jesus’ coming. According to Luke 19:1 Jesus had “passed through” Jericho before He met Zacchaeus. Upon meeting Zacchaeus, Jesus turned back with him, to spend the remainder of the day in his home, and it may well have been that the blind men succeeded in getting the attention of Jesus on His way back into the city. In circumstances such as these Luke would be correct in saying that Jesus was entering the city, and Matthew and Mark would be equally correct in saying that He was leaving it.

A great number of people. A few days before the Passover there would be throngs of people on the roads leading to Jerusalem.

Bartimaeus. The name is from the Aramaic Bar–Ṭim’ai, which Mark translates for his readers. Matthew speaks of two blind men (see ch. 20:30). Mark’s reason for mentioning only one of them may be that some fact concerning the one appealed to Mark as being of particular interest to his readers (see on ch. 5:2). Possibly Bartimaeus later became one of the more well-known followers of Jesus. See Additional Notes on Matt. 3, Note 2.

Highway. Gr. hodos, “way,” “path,” or “road” (see on ch. 11:4). The beggars probably sat just outside the city gate, where passers-by would take pity on them.