They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.
Parallel Translations
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They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.
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And they sate doune here a rowe and there arowe by houndredes and by fyfties.
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Then they sate downe by rowes, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Mark 6:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 9:14-15 For they were about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so, and made them all sit down.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The word signifieth the beds in a garden, and…
The word signifieth the beds in a garden, and it is word for word, by beds and beds, meaning thereby that they sat down in rows one by another, as beds in a garden.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds,…
40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Ver. 40. Sat down in ranks] Gr. ranks, ranks, that is, rank by rank, {a} as rows or borders of beds in a garden. Ordinatim res in Ecclesia faciendae. Church work is to be done decently, and in order.
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{a} πρασιαι πρασιαι, Hebraismus, ut Exo 8:14.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they sat down in ranks,.... Or "beds": in…
And they sat down in ranks,.... Or "beds": in such form as little beds are placed in a garden, or as rows of vines in a vineyard, in which form the scholars of the wise men sat in their schools: it is said (g),
"R. Eliezer ben Azariah expounded before the wise men in the vineyard (i.e. the university) of Jabneh: though was there a vineyard there? but these are the disciples of the wise men, who are made, or placed, , "rows, rows", or "in ranks", as a vineyard.''
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By hundreds, and by fifties; that is, an hundred in "each" bed, or row, and fifty in "each" bed, or row, as the word signifies: each distinct bed, or row, had either a hundred, or fifty in it.
(g) T. Hieros. Beraeot, fol. 7. 4. Vid. Gloss. in T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 42. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They sat down in ranks - The word properly…
They sat down in ranks - The word properly signifies a parterre or bed in a garden; by a metaphor, a company of men ranged in order, by hundreds and by fifties - That is, fifty in rank, and a hundred in file. So a hundred multiplied by fifty, make just five thousand.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 40. By hundreds, and by fifties.] "That is,"…
Verse 40. By hundreds, and by fifties.] "That is," says Mr. Wesley, "fifty in a rank, and a hundred in file. So, a hundred multiplied by fifty, made just five thousand." But if they sat fifty deep, how could the disciples conveniently serve them with the bread and fish?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 40. in ranks] Literally, they reclined in parterres (areolatim).…
40. in ranks] Literally, they reclined in parterres (areolatim). “As they sat in these orderly groups upon the grass, the gay red and blue and yellow colours of the clothing, which the poorest Orientals wear, called up in the imagination of St Peter a multitude of flowerbeds in some well-cultivated garden.” Farrar’s Life of Christ, p. 402. “Our English ‘in ranks’ does not reproduce the picture to the eye, giving rather the notion of continuous lines. Wyclif was better, ‘by parties;’ perhaps in groups would be as near as we could get to it in English.” Trench, Miracles, p. 265. St Mark here, as elsewhere, doubtless reproduces the description of the scene by St Peter.
by hundreds, and by fifties] “Two long rows of 100, a shorter one of 50 persons. The fourth side remained, after the manner of the tables of the ancients, empty and open.” Gerlach.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (40) In ranks.—The primary meaning of the Greek word…
(40) In ranks.—The primary meaning of the Greek word is “a bed of flowers or herbs,” and it comes in here effectively, with the same distributive reduplication as in the last verse, to paint the whole scene to the mind’s eye.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And they sat down in ranks (anepeson prasiai prasiai);…
And they sat down in ranks (anepeson prasiai prasiai); literally, they reclined. The Greek word prasia means "a garden plot" or "bed," literally, a bed of leeks. They were disposed symmetrically. Probably the English word "ranks" expresses the meaning as clearly as any could do. This arrangement was probably made, partly that the numbers might be better known, partly that all things might be done in an orderly manner, and that each might have his portion. St. Matthew"s account (Mat_14:21) seems to imply that the "men" were separated from the "women and children."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.