And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. The father and the mother - Prudence required that they should be present, and be witnesses of the miracle.
And them that were with him - That is, Peter, James, and John, Mark 5:37. It is remarkable that our Lord gave a particular preference to these three disciples, beyond all the rest, on three very important occasions:
1. They were present at the transfiguration.
2. At the raising of Jairus's daughter.
3. At his agony in the garden of Gethsemane.
Where the damsel was lying - Ανακειμενον, lying. This word is very doubtful. BDL, one other, Coptic, and later Arabic, with five of the Itala, omit it. Other MSS. express the same idea in five different words: Griesbach leaves it out of the text. See his Testament.