Mark 6:35-44

³⁵ When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.

³⁶ Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.”

³⁷ But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸ But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”

³⁹ Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰ So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.

⁴¹ And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.

⁴² So they all ate and were filled.

⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.

⁴⁴ Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

Also found in Matthew 14:15-21, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:4-13. This is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels.

far spent (v.35) — It was after 3 pm. Sunset was approaching.

John recorded that Jesus began the conversation about feeding the crowd by asking Philip to test him (John 6:5-6). Mark begins with the disciples going to Jesus and suggesting the crowd be sent away. This isn’t a contradiction. One explanation could be that Jesus asked Philip, who then talked to the other disciples. The best they could come up with was to disperse the crowd, which is what they suggested to Jesus.

for they have nothing to eat (v.36) — not in the best texts

You give them (v.37) — Emphasis is on “you.” The disciples wanted to dismiss the crowd so each person could find his own food. Lord was making it the responsibility of the disciples to feed the crowd.

two hundred denarii (v.37) — lit. “silver coins.” Perhaps the equivalent of about $35, probably what the disciples knew they had in their possession.

sit down (v.39) = recline, as on a couch, to eat

in groups (v.40) — the word originally meant “a drinking party,” then “the party of guests of any kind, without the notion of drinking.” They were seated like companies at tables open at the end. The Jewish dining room was arranged like the Roman: three tables forming three sides of a square, and with divans or couches following the outside line of tables. The open end of the square admitted the servants who waited at table. This explains the arrangement of the multitude here described by Mark. The people sat down, literally, in table-companies, arranged like guests at table so that the disciples could pass along their side and distribute the loaves. It was Passover time (John 6:4) and the grass was fresh and green.

in ranks (v.40) — The word means “a garden bed.” The former adverb [by groups] describes the arrangement, this the color. The red, blue, and yellow clothing of the poorest orientals makes an Eastern crowd full of color, a fact which would appeal to Peter’s eye, suggesting the appearance of flower-beds in a garden. — Wuest, page 135.

__________

broke … and gave (v.41) — The former is the Greek aorist; the latter; the imperfect tense. The former was instantaneous; the latter continuous. The miracle, therefore, took place between the breaking and the giving. — Williams, page 735.

So, Jesus took a loaf a bread, broke off a piece, and gave it to the disciples. Then He broke off another piece. And then another piece. And …

baskets (v.43) = wicker basket. Guthrie says the word refers to baskets in which Jews carried provisions in order to avoid eating Gentile food. The baskets came in different sizes, so there’s no point in guessing how large they were.

fragments (v.43) — not crumbs, but portions not used.

men (v.44) — The word for “men” here is not the generic term which could include men and women, but the word for a male individual. Matthew adds that there were women and children. — Wuest, page 136.

We aren’t told how many women and children were there, but the total number who were fed was larger than 5,000. Some speculate that there may have been as many as 15,000 in the crowd, although it’s also possible that, because the crowd raced around the lake to catch up to Jesus, it may have been largely men.