It came to pass on a certain day. — See Notes on Matthew 8:18; Matthew 8:23-27, and Mark 4:35-41. Literally, on one of the days. The vagueness of St. Luke’s note of time, as compared with the more precise statements in St. Matthew (Matthew 8:18) and St. Mark (Mark 4:35), is perhaps characteristic of this Evangelist as an inquirer coming late into the field, aiming at exactness, not always succeeding in satisfying himself as to the precise sequence of events, and honestly confessing when he has failed to do so.
Unto the other side of the lake — i.e., from the western to the eastern shore. It would seem from the Greek name of the district, Peræa (= “the other-side country”), as if the term was a colloquial designation of the eastern shore, even without reference to the starting-point.
The lake. — The uniform use of the more accurate term by St. Luke as a stranger, as contrasted with the equally uniform use of the more popular and local designation of the “sea” in the other three Gospels, written by, or under the influence of. Galileans, is characteristic of one who may have been a student of Strabo. (See Introduction.)