Mark 10:46

King James Version (KJV)

And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Blind Bartimeus - בר bar in Syriac signifies son. It appears that he was thus named because Timeus, Talmeus or Talmai, was the name of his father, and thus the son would be called Bar-talmeus, or Bartholomew. Some suppose υἱος Τιμαιου, the son of Timeus, to be an interpolation. Bartimeus the son of Timeus, ὁ τυφλος, The blind man. It was because he was the most remarkable that this evangelist mentions him by name, as a person probably well known in those parts.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Verses 46-52

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 20:29-34.

Mark 10:46

Blind Bartimeus - Matthew says there were two. Mark mentions but one, though he does not deny that there was another. He mentions this man because he was well known - Bartimeus, the “blind man.”

Mark 10:50

Casting away his garment - That is, his outer garment - the one that was thrown loosely over him. See the notes at Matthew 5:40. He threw it off, full of joy at the prospect of being healed, and that he might run without impediment to Jesus. This may be used to illustrate - though it had no such original reference - the manner in which a sinner should come to Jesus. He should throw away the garments of his own righteousness - he should rise speedily - should run with joy - should have full faith in the power of Jesus, and cast himself entirely upon his mercy.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

Bartimeus had heard of Jesus and his miracles, and learning that he was passing by, hoped to recover his eyesight. In coming to Christ for help and healing, we should look to him as the promised Messiah. The gracious calls Christ gives us to come to him, encourage our hope, that if we come to him we shall have what we come for. Those who would come to Jesus, must cast away the garment of their own sufficiency, must free themselves from every weight, and the sin that, like long garments, most easily besets them, Heb 12:1. He begged that his eyes might be opened. It is very desirable to be able to earn our bread; and where God has given men limbs and senses, it is a shame, by foolishness and slothfulness, to make themselves, in effect, blind and lame. His eyes were opened. Thy faith has made thee whole: faith in Christ as the Son of David, and in his pity and power; not thy repeated words, but thy faith; Christ setting thy faith to work. Let sinners be exhorted to imitate blind Bartimeus. Where the gospel is preached, or the written words of truth circulated, Jesus is passing by, and this is the opportunity. It is not enough to come to Christ for spiritual healing, but, when we are healed, we must continue to follow him; that we may honour him, and receive instruction from him. Those who have spiritual eyesight, see that beauty in Christ which will draw them to run after him.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

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.

Charger. That is, “a platter.” The word “charger” is obsolete in the sense here used.

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 QelÃ¡Â¹Â 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.

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Ellen G. White
Evangelism, 553

In all the highways of life there are souls to be saved. The blind are groping in darkness. Give them the light, and God will bless you as His laborers.—Letter 60, 1903. Ev 553.1

Plans for the High Classes Will Reach All—Bring your minds up to the greatness of the work. Your narrow plans, your limited ideas, are not to come into your methods of working. There must be reform on this point, and there will be more means brought in to enable the work to be brought up to the high and exalted position it should ever occupy. There will be men who have means who will discern something of the character of the work, although they have not the courage to lift the cross and to bear the reproach that attends unpopular truth. First reach the high classes if possible, but there should be no neglect of the lower classes. Ev 553.2

But it has been the case that the plans and the efforts have been so shaped in many fields that the lower classes only are the ones who can be reached. But methods may be devised to reach the higher classes who need the light of truth as well as the lower classes. These see the truth, but they are, as it were, in the slavery of poverty, and see starvation before them should they accept the truth. Plan to reach the best classes, and you will not fail to reach the lower classes. Letter 14, 1887. Ev 553.3

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Ellen G. White
SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5 (EGW), 1111

9-11. See EGW on Matthew 3:13-17. 5BC 1111.1

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Ellen G. White
Sons and Daughters of God, 126

And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. Mark 10:51. SD 126.1

It is only when the sinner feels the need of a Saviour, that his heart goes after the One who can help him. When Jesus walked among men, it was the sick that wanted a physician. The poor, the afflicted and distressed, followed after Him, to receive the help and comfort which they could not find elsewhere. Blind Bartimeus is waiting by the wayside; he has waited long to meet Christ. SD 126.2

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