they all cried out, "It is a spirit;" for they all saw him, and were alarmed; and immediately he spoke to them, and said "Be comforted; it is I; be not afraid." And Peter, foremost in zeal on this occasion, as at almost all times, said to him, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the water." And he said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the vessel, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, "Lord, save me." And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him; and said to him, "O thou of little faith! wherefore didst thou doubt?" And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased; and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. And all they that were in the vessel came and worshiped him, saying, "Of a truth, thou art the Son of God." This amazement and reverence was certainly very tardily acknowledged by them, after all the wonders they had seen wrought by him; but they considered not the miracle of the loaves, the most recent of all, which happened but a few hours before. For this thoughtlessness, in a matter so striking and weighty, Jesus himself afterwards rebuked them, referring both to this miracle of feeding the five thousand, and to a subsequent similar one. However, the various great actions of a similar character, thus repeated before them, seem at last to have had a proper effect, since, on an occasion not long after, they boldly and clearly made their profession of faith in Jesus, as the Christ.
"A lonely place."—The word desert, which is the adjective given in this passage,
in the common English version, (Matt. xiv. 13, 15, Mark vi. 31, 32, 35, Luke ix. 10,
12,) does not convey to the reader, the true idea of the character of the place. The
Greek word [Greek: Erêmos] (eremos) does not in the passages just quoted, mean "desert," in
our modern sense of that English word, which always conveys the idea of "desolation,"
"wildness" and "barrenness," as well as "solitude." But the Greek word by
no means implied these darker characteristics. The primary, uniform idea of the
word is, "lonely," "solitary," and so little does it imply "barrenness," that it is applied
to lands, rich, fertile and pleasant, a connection, of course, perfectly inconsistent
with our ideas of a desert place. Schleusner gives the idea very fairly under [Greek: Erêmia],
(eremia,) a derivative of this word. "Notat locum aliquem vel tractum terrae, non
tam incultum et horridum, quam minus habitabilem,—solitudinem,—locum vacuum
quidem ab hominibus, pascuis tamen et agris abundantem, et arboribus obsitum." "It
means a place or tract of land, not so much uncultivated and wild, as it does one thinly
inhabited,—a solitude, a place empty of men indeed, yet rich in pastures and fields,
and planted with trees." But after giving this very clear and satisfactory account of
the derivative, he immediately after gives to the primitive itself, the primary meaning
"desertus, desolatus, vastus, devastatus," and refers to passages where the word
is applied to ruined cities; but in every one of those passages, the true idea is that
above given as the meaning, "stripped of inhabitants," and not "desolated" or "laid
waste." Hedericus gives this as the first meaning, "desertus, solus, solitarius, inhabitatus."
Schneider also fully expresses it, in German, by "einsam," (lonely, solitary,)
in which he is followed by Passow, his improver, and by Donnegan, his English
translator. Jones and Pickering, also give it thus. Bretschneider and Wahl, in
