And hearing the multitude pass by,.... Their "voice", as the Syriac version expresses it; the noise of their feet, and especially of their tongues; he asked what it meant? what was the meaning of this concourse of people, and of this clamorous noise; or, as the Syriac version reads, "who it should be?" what person of note was passing by, that there was such a multitude after him? to which the answer best agrees.