Mark and the Ark

The Book of Mark is unraveled using... Noah's ark. This article explains.

Mark begins the second in his quartet of super stories by recounting the story of Jesus calming the winds and the waves. This story opens the quartet and establishes the theme that each parable will be based on: Crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat.

42 Mark 4:35-40 35ܘܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܒܗܘ ܝܘܡܐ ܒܪܡܫܐ ܢܥܒܪ ܠܢ ܠܥܒܪܐ ܀ 36ܘܫܒܩܘ ܠܟܢܫܐ ܘܕܒܪܘܗܝ ܟܕ ܒܤܦܝܢܬܐ ܗܘ ܘܤܦܝܢܐ ܐܚܪܢܝܬܐ ܐܝܬ ܗܘܝ ܥܡܗܘܢ ܀ 37ܘܗܘܬ ܥܠܥܠܐ ܪܒܬܐ ܘܪܘܚܐ ܘܓܠܠܐ ܢܦܠܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܒܤܦܝܢܬܐ ܘܩܪܝܒܐ ܗܘܬ ܕܬܬܡܠܐ ܀ 38ܗܘ ܕܝܢ ܝܫܘܥ ܥܠ ܒܤܕܝܐ ܕܡܟ ܗܘܐ ܒܚܪܬܗ ܕܤܦܝܢܬܐ ܘܐܬܘ ܐܩܝܡܘܗܝ ܘܐܡܪܝܢ ܠܗ ܪܒܢ ܠܐ ܒܛܝܠ ܠܟ ܕܐܒܕܝܢ ܚܢܢ ܀ 39ܘܩܡ ܘܟܐܐ ܒܪܘܚܐ ܘܐܡܪ ܠܝܡܐ ܫܠܝ ܙܓܝܪ ܐܢܬ ܘܫܠܝܬ ܪܘܚܐ ܘܗܘܐ ܢܘܚܐ ܪܒܐ ܀ 40ܘܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܠܡܢܐ ܕܚܘܠܬܢܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܗܟܢ ܘܠܡܢܐ ܠܝܬ ܒܟܘܢ ܗܝܡܢܘܬܐ ܀ ܘܕܚܠܘ ܕܚܠܬܐ ܪܒܬܐ ܘܐܡܪܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܚܕ ܠܚܕ ܡܢܘ ܟܝ ܗܢܐ ܕܪܘܚܐ ܘܝܡܐ ܡܫܬܡܥܝܢ ܠܗ ܀ (SYP)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? (KJV)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? (KJV/NC)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35And on that day, when even was come, he saith unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. 36And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37And there ariseth a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling. 38And he himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion: and they awake him, and say unto him, Teacher, carest thou not that we perish? 39And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40And he said unto them, Why are ye fearful? have ye not yet faith? (ASV)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35On that day, at evening, he said to them, Let us cross over to the landing place. 36And they left the people, and took him away while he was in the boat. And there were other boats with them. 37And there arose a heavy storm and wind, and the waves kept falling into the boat, so that the boat was nearly filled up. 38But Jesus was sleeping on a blanket in the stern of the boat; and they came and roused him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? 39So he got up, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind quieted down, and there was a great calm. 40And he said to them, Why are you so fearful? and why do you have no faith? And they were exceedingly afraid, and said to each other, Oh, who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (LAM)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" (RSV)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"(NIV)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, 'Let's go over to the other side.' 36Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. 37There arose a great wind storm, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled. 38He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, 'Teacher, don't you care that we are dying?'

39He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, 'Why are youP so afraid? How is it that youP have no faith?'(WEB)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, 'Let's go over to the other side.' 36Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. 37A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled. 38He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, 'Rabbi, don't you care that we are dying?'

39He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, 'Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?'(WEB/HNV)

42 Mark 4:35-40 35On that day, at evening, he said to them, Let us cross over to the landing place. 36And they left the people, and took him away while he was in the boat. And there were other boats with them. 37And there arose a heavy storm and wind, and the waves kept falling into the boat, so that the boat was nearly filled up. 38But Jesus was sleeping on a blanket in the stern of the boat; and they came and roused him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? 39So he got up, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind quieted down, and there was a great calm. 40And he said to them, Why are you so fearful? Why do you have no faith? And they were exceedingly afraid, and said to each other, Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (BRB)

The most famous boat in all of the Bible is the Noah's Ark. No other boat plays a prominent role in the historical account of the Bible. Each time Mark references a boat throughout this section of his epistle he is referring to Noah's Ark. Mark's reference to the other boats1 is his clue that other boats are part of this story. Which boats? The other boat references that he will use across the next 4 chapters.

In this particular parable Jesus and the disciples are riding together with Jesus in the boat. The storm builds just like the events in Noah's story where the heavens burst forth and the world was covered with water. Here in Mark's parable the boat itself fills with water so the disciples believe they will perish in the storm. This is what happened to everyone except Noah and his family during the flood.

Jesus remains at the rudder, though asleep, in Mark's parable. In the original account of Noah's flood, the Lord sealed Noah into the Ark. In both cases it appears the Lord himself is steering, though the Lord never speaks in either case.

Eventually the disciples gain Jesus' attention and he rebukes the wind and the waves, leading to a great calm. In Noah's case the storm subsides as well as Noah interacts with the Lord at the end of the historical flood.

At the end of this ride across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus asks the disciples about their faith. Faith, properly defined, is our ability to see into the future things which Jesus has revealed will happen, but are not yet. In Noah's case it took great faith to understand the world could be rebuilt, though at the time it was a muddy mess.


1Mark 4:36