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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Mark 13:35 - 13:35
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Watch (γρηγορεῖτε)
A different word from that in Mar 13:33. See also Mar 13:34. The picture in this word is that of a sleeping man rousing himself. While the other word conveys the idea of simple wakefulness, this adds the idea of alertness. Compare Mar 14:38; Luk 12:37; 1Pe 5:8. The apostles are thus compared with the doorkeepers, Mar 13:34; and the night season is in keeping with the figure. In the temple, during the night, the captain of the temple made his rounds, and the guards had to rise at his approach and salute him in a particular manner. Any guard found asleep on duty was beaten, or his garments were set on fire. Compare Rev 16:15 : “Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments.” The preparations for the morning service required all to be early astir. The superintending priest might knock at the door at any moment. The Rabbis use almost the very words in which scripture describes the unexpected coming of the Master. “Sometimes he came at the cockcrowing, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later. He came and knocked and they opened to him” (Edersheim, “The Temple”).