Mark 3:9 - Exposition

And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship ( πλοιάριον )—literally, a little boat— should wait on him προσκαρτερῆ αὐτῷ )—literally, should be in close attendance upon him— because of the multitude, lest they should throng him . This shows in a very graphic manner how assiduously and closely the crowd pressed upon him, so that he was obliged to have a little boat always in readiness, in which he might take refuge when the pressure became too great, and so address them with greater freedom from the boat. St. Luke ( Luke 5:3 ) says, "He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship," making the boat, so to speak, his pulpit.