John 6:18 Commentary and Bible Study

The Sea of Galilee is some 700 feet below the Mediterranean, and there are hills and valleys that create a particular local climate which meant that great rushing winds came down those valleys and when it struck the sea, it could be whipped up into a frenzy in no time at all. As a result it can get extremely rough, even rougher than the Mediterranean, from time to time. So they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs,’ three to four miles, and Mark’s Gospel tells us they had to row because the wind was so contrary to them, and he uses a Greek word which means they were ‘tormented’. It’s a very strong word; it means it was so strenuous that these experienced oarsmen were pulling for several hours right into the teeth of the wind, and not getting very far.