Jesus went on … passed along the Sea of Galilee: according to verse 21, Jesus is somewhere in northern Galilee, in the vicinity of the towns of Tyre and Sidon. In order to get from there to Lake Galilee, he would have moved in a southeasterly direction, which Matthew describes by the brief phrase went on from there, without indicating any of the territories through which Jesus would have passed en route. Some languages will require more verbs of motion than the two of the Greek text, went on … passed along, though Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition is even more succinct: “Then Jesus walked along Lake Galilee again.”

Most translations will render went on very much as Good News Translation has, “left there.” However, for passed along the Sea of Galilee they often say that Jesus went “along the coast” (so Barclay) or “by the shore.” As we discussed elsewhere, Sea is usually “Lake” (see also 4.18).

Just as Matthew does not state where Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, whether on the eastern or western shore, neither does he identify the mountain which Jesus went up. However, the mention of a mountain (or “hill”) does hint at activity in the area north of Lake Galilee, which would satisfy the demands of either interpretation.

For these reasons, then, most translators do not try to specify which mountain the mountain refers to, and say instead “a mountain” or “a hill.” See also comments at 5.1.

Matthew does not indicate why Jesus sat down, though sitting was the usual position that a Jewish teacher took when offering instruction (5.1; 13.1). However, there is no indication in the context that teaching is in any way intended, and it is quite obvious from the verses which follow that Matthew’s primary concern here is with Jesus’ healing ministry.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .