GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
Matthew 15:34-37 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over. Those who ate were four thousand men, in addition to women and children. Then he sent away the multitudes, got into the boat, and came into the borders of Magdala.
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
And Iesus sayde vnto them: how many loves have ye? And they sayde: seven and a feawe litle fysshes.
And he commaunded the people to syt doune on the grounde:
and toke the seven loves and the fysshes and gave thankes and brake them and gave to his disciples and the disciples gave them to the people.
And they dyd all eate and were suffised. And they toke vp of the broke meate that was lefte.vii. basketes full.
And Iesus said vnto them, How many loaues haue ye? And they said, Seuen, and a few litle fishes.
Then he commanded the multitude to sit downe on the ground,
And tooke the seuen loaues, and the fishes, and gaue thankes, and brake them, and gaue to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
And they did all eate, and were sufficed: and they tooke vp of the fragments that remained, seuen baskets full.
25 distinct cross-references across this passage (26 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv35, 37 Word for word, to lie down backward, as rowers…
Word for word, to lie down backward, as rowers do when in rowing they draw their oars to them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv34–37 34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves…
34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
Ver. 34. Seven, and a few little fishes] Before, he had fed five thousand with fewer loaves. God can as easily maintain us with a little as with more; witness Daniel’s pulse, and Elijah’s cake on the coals and cruse of water, 1Ki 19:6; Luther’s herring, and Junius’s one egg a day, when means were short with him, by reason of the civil wars in France, so that he could not hear from his friends. It is not by bread only that man liveth, but by the word of God’s blessing that maketh it nourishable. As if he break the staff of bread, that is, his own blessing, which is the staff whereon bread (that staff of life) leaneth, it can neither feed nor fill, make men neither fuller nor fatter.
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.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v37 They did all eat, not a crumb or a…
They did all eat, not a crumb or a bit, but to fulness and satisfaction; yet seven baskets remain; answering the number of the loaves, as the twelve baskets in the former miracle answered to the twelve apostles: in both, more is left than was at first set on: it is hard to say, which was the greater miracle, the miraculous eating, or miraculous leaving. If we consider what they eat, we may justly wonder that they left anything; if what they left that they eat anything. (Dr. Fuller.)
Observe lastly, Christ would not have these fragments lost but gatherd up; the great housekeeper of the world will not allow the loss of his orts. O how dreadful will the account of those be, who have the large and plentiful estates to answer for as lost, being spent upon their lusts in riot and excess! Dr. Fuller
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv34–37 And Jesus saith unto them,.... In a very mild…
And Jesus saith unto them,.... In a very mild and gentle manner, taking no notice of their stupidity, nor upbraiding them with their forgetfulness of the late miracle, and willing to exercise their patience, and try their faith, asks,
how many loaves have ye? meaning in the common stock, and which they brought along with them, for their own supply:
Read full note →
and they said seven, and a few little fishes; which they mention as so small a provision, that it was as nothing for such multitudes; their loaves of bread were but seven, and their fishes, which were ready dressed, dried, or boiled, &c. were few in number, and small, as to quantity and size.
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 On v36 He gave thanks, or blessed the food - That…
He gave thanks, or blessed the food - That is, he praised God for it, and prayed for a blessing upon it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v37 Verse 37. They did all eat, and were filled]…
Verse 37. They did all eat, and were filled] εχορτασθησαν - they were satisfied. The husks of worldly pleasures may fill the man, but cannot satisfy the soul. A man may eat, and not be satisfied: it is the interest therefore of every follower of Christ to follow him till he be fed, and to feed on him till he be satisfied.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv36–37 He gave thanks to his heavenly Father, for that…
He gave thanks to his heavenly Father, for that providential care with which he supplies our wants, even miraculously, when necessary for us. Everywhere his goodness and attention to the wants of his children are manifested, but not more so in the manna of the desert, than in the fertility of the holy land. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v34 34. How many loaves…? — What is your present…
34. How many loaves…? — What is your present stock? God has in his ordinary providence furnished thus much; and these shall be a germ or basis for a special supply of enough for all. So God has given man the natural powers of reason and conscience, which serve as a basis for his gracious super-additions.
Twice, then, in the same general region of country, and under the same general necessity, did the Saviour supply “bread in the wilderness” to the needy multitudes who, far from their homes, stayed to listen to his word. This multitude thought not of making him a king; and he quietly departs with his disciples, crossing the Gennesaret.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v37 37. seven baskets] Spurides, see note ch. Mat_14:20, and…
37. seven baskets] Spurides, see note ch. Mat_14:20, and Act_9:25, where St Paul is said to have been let down from the wall of Damascus in a spuris, probably a large basket made of rope-net, possibly a fisherman’s basket. Why the disciples brought different kinds of baskets on the two occasions we cannot determine.
the broken meat that was left] See ch. Mat_14:20. One side of the lesson is the lavishness of Providence. God gives even more than we require or ask for. But the leading thought is a protest against waste.
Read full note →
39–16:4. Jesus at Magdala, or Magadan, is tempted to give a Sign. Mar_8:10-12; Luk_12:54-57
took ship] Literally, went on board the ship.
the coasts of Magdala] The MSS. vary between Magdala and Magadan. The latter reading, however, has by far the highest authority in its favour. It is probable that the familiar Magdala supplanted in the text the more obscure Magadan. Magdala or Migdol (a watch tower) is identified with the modern Mejdel, a collection of ruins and squalid huts at the S.E. corner of the plain of Gennesaret, opposite to K’hersa or Gergesa. This is the point where the lake is broadest. Prof. Rawlinson thinks that this Magdala may be the Magdolus of Herodotus, ii. 159; unless indeed by a confusion curiously similar to that in the text, Herodotus has mistaken Migdol for Megiddo. Magdala was probably the home of Mary Magdalene.
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 On vv34, 35, 37 (34) Seven, and a few little fishes.—The resemblance of…
(34) Seven, and a few little fishes.—The resemblance of the answer to that which had been given before is, at least, interesting as showing what was the provision habitually made by the travelling company of preachers for the supply of their daily wants. The few barley loaves and dried fishes, this was all their store, as they went from village to village, or passed days and nights on the hills of Galilee.
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 On vv34–37 How many loaves have ye? Jesus gives no formal…
How many loaves have ye? Jesus gives no formal answer to the apostles" hesitating question, but by a new interrogation leads them to expect his interposition. This was the prelude to the miracle. Seven, and a few little fishes. They de not add, as on the former occasion, "But what are they among so many?" They have learned something from what had previously occurred. Whether this little store was what remained of their own supplies, or whether it was all they could find among the multitude, does not appear. From the indeterminate mention of the fish, we should suppose the latter to have been the case, as they would probably have mentioned the number of the fishes had they been their own. There may have been some contempt implied in the diminutive icyudia , "little fishes," as though these were scarcely worthy of notice. Dried fish was a staple commodity in the region.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v35 35. He commanded … to sit down on the…
35. He commanded … to sit down on the ground. Not on the grass, as in Matt. 14:19, for they were in a bare, desolate, grassless region, such as the greater part of Judea is to-day.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v36 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LXX. A. Third…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LXX. A. Third Withdrawal].
LXX. THIRD WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD'S TERRITORY. Subdivision A. PHARISAIC LEAVEN. A BLIND MAN HEALED. (Magadan and Bethsaida. Probably Summer, A. D. 29.) aMATT. XV. 39-XVI. 12; bMARK VIII. 10-26.
Read full note →
b10 And straightway he entered into the boat with his disciples, aand came into the borders of Magadan. binto the parts of Dalmanutha. [It appears from the context that he crossed the lake to the west shore. Commentators, therefore, pretty generally think that Magadan is another form of the name Magdala, and that Dalmanutha was either another name for Magdala, or else a village near it.] a1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees bcame forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign aand trying him [testing the strength of his miraculous power] asked him to show them a sign from heaven. [They rejected his miracles as signs of his Messiahship, the Pharisees holding that such signs could be wrought by Beelzebub. They therefore asked a sign from heaven such as only God could give, and such as he had accorded to Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and Elijah, or such as Joel foretold ( Joe_2:31). It is generally thought that the [406] Herodians were Sadducees of Galilee. If so, we note the beginning of their hostility recorded at Mark iii. 6, 1Co_1:22.] 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and bverily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. [i. e., none such as was demanded] bbut the sign of Jonah. [For comment on similar language, see pages 305-306. The resurrection or Jonah sign was a sign from heaven in the sense in which they used the words; that is, it was wrought directly by God, and not through man.] 13 And he left them, bAnd again entering into the boat departed to the other side. [I. e., from Magdala back again to the east shore, or rather, toward Bethsaida Julias, on the northeast shore.] a5 And the disciples came to the other side and forgot to take bread. band they had not in the boat with them more than one loaf. [This loaf was probably left over from the previous supply.] a6 Then Jesus said unto them, b15 And he charged them, saying, aTake heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. band the leaven of Herod. [Leaven, which answered to our modern yeast, was a symbol of a secret, penetrating, pervasive influence, usually of a corrupting nature. The [407] influence of the Pharisees was that of formalism, hypocritical ostentation, and traditionalism; that of the Sadducees was sneering rationalistic unbelief, free thought and cunning worldliness, manifesting itself among the Herodians in political corruption. 16 And they reasoned one with another, aamong themselves, saying, We took bhave no bread. They thought that Jesus reproved them for their carelessness in forgetting to take bread, since that carelessness might lead them to be without bread on their journey. So his rebuke below indicates.] a8 And Jesus perceiving it said, bsaith, unto them, aO ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet perceive, bneither understand? aneither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets [cophini, probably traveling baskets] ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets [spurides, probably grain baskets or hampers] ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not perceive that I spake not to you concerning bread? bhave ye your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? 19 When I brake the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets [cophini] full of broken pieces took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among the four thousand, how many basketfuls [spurides] of broken pieces took ye up? And they say unto him, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, Do ye not yet understand? aBut beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. [Jesus had resorted to metaphor because the word leaven better expressed his idea than did the word teaching. The formulated dogmas of the Pharisees were not so bad, but the subtle influence of their spirit and example corrupted [408] without warning, like a concealed grave. There are those to-day who are too skillful to be openly convicted of heterodox statements, but whose teaching, nevertheless, in its very essence and spirit, tends to infidelity.] b22 And they cometh unto Bethsaida. [Not the suburb of Capernaum, but Bethsaida Julias, a town on the east side of the Jordan, near where it flows into the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was proceeding northward toward Cæsarea Philippi.] And they bring to him a blind man, and beseech him to touch him. 23 And he took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village [Jesus increased the sympathy between himself and the man by separating him from the crowd. Our greatest blessing can only come to us after we have been alone with God]; and when he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, Seest thou aught? 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men; for I behold i them as trees, walking. 25 Then again he laid his hands again upon his eyes; and he looked steadfastly, and was restored, and saw all things clearly. [The man's eyes were probably sore, and Jesus made use of saliva to soften and soothe them. But it was our Lord's custom to give variety to the manifestation of his power, sometimes using one apparent auxiliary means, and sometimes another; and also healing instantly or progressively, as he chose, that the people might see that the healing was altogether a matter of his will. The man had evidently not been born blind, else he would not have been able to recognize men or trees by sight, for those not used to employ sight can not by it tell a circle from a square.] 26 And he sent him away to his home, saying, Do not even enter into the village. [The man, of course, lived in the village, and to send him home was to send him thither, but he was to go directly home and not spread the news through the town, for if he did the population would be at once drawn to Jesus, thus breaking up the privacy which he sought to maintain.] [409]
[FFG 406-409]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v35 The miracle:
The miracle:
v. 35. And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
Read full note →
v. 36. And He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
v. 37. And they did all eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left, seven basketfuls.
v. 38. And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
v. 39. And He sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.
Christ now took the situation wholly in hand, disgusted, probably, with the denseness of His disciples. He had the crowds sit down in an orderly manner to facilitate the distribution of the food; He took the bread and the fishes, pronounced the blessing upon them, broke them, gave them to His disciples, who, in turn, distributed both bread and fishes to the people. After all had been fully satisfied, the remaining fragments filled seven baskets. They bear a different name here than in chapter 14:20, either because they were made by a different process, or because they were exceptionally large containers to be carried on the back, or because Matthew gives them the name by which they were known among the people of that region, whose characteristic was predominantly Gentile. The number of people in the multitude is again recorded: four thousand, without women and children. Jesus now dismissed them, and crossed over the sea into the region called Magdala, which, as far as can be determined, seems to have bordered on the region of Gennesaret on the south, having the town of Dalmanutha as its metropolis.
Summary.Jesus gives a lesson concerning defilement, heals the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, performs other acts of healing, and feeds four thousand men.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v36 He took the seven loaves and the fish
He took the seven loaves and the fish
"Jesus held the seven loaves and the fish in his hands"
Read full note →
he broke the loaves
"he tore the loaves"
gave them
"gave the bread and the fish"
they gathered
"the disciples gathered" or "some people gathered"
Those who ate
"The people who ate"
four thousand men
"4,000 men" (See: Numbers)
the region
"the area"
Magadan
This region is sometimes called "Magdala." (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
disciple
basket
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.