And when he had sent them away ( ἀποταξάμενος)—more literally, had taken leave of them, that is, the multitude—he departed into a mountain ( εἰς τὸ ὄρος); literally, into the mountain; that is, the high table-land at the foot of which the multitude had been fed.
Towards the north-east of the Sea of Galilee the land rises rapidly from the shore. To pray ( προσεύξασθαι).This is a very full word, implying the outpouring of the heart to God. Our Lord did this that he might teach us in our prayers to shun the crowd, and to pray in silence and in secret, with collected mind.
There is here, too, a special example for the clergy, namely, this: that when they have preached they should go apart and pray that God would make effectual that which they have delivered; that he would himself give the increase where they have planted and watered, and renew their spiritual strength, that they may return again to their labour refreshed by communion with him.