Matthew 14:13-21 - The Feeding Of Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard about it He left there in a boat and went [across to the east side of the lake] to a deserted place. When the crowds found out [He was leaving] they followed Him [i.e., by traveling around] on the shore from the [surrounding] towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus came out [of His place of seclusion] and saw a large crowd, He felt a deep compassion for them and healed their sick people.

¹⁵ When it became evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This place is deserted and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the towns and buy food [for their supper]."

¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you men give them [something] to eat."

¹⁷ And they replied, "But we have here [only] five loaves of [barley] bread [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish."

¹⁸ And He said, "Bring the bread and fish here to me." ¹⁹ He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass. Then He took the five loaves of bread and two fish and, looking up to heaven, asked God's blessing on the food, broke it [in pieces], then gave it to the disciples to distribute to the crowds. ²⁰ They all ate until they were full, then gathered up twelve baskets full of the remaining broken pieces. ²¹ Those eating numbered about five thousand men, in addition to the women and children.

³⁰ Then the apostles got together with Jesus and told Him everything they had done and taught [on their mission]. ³¹ He said to them, "You men, leave here and go to a deserted place and rest for awhile." For there were so many people coming and going [i.e., to listen to preaching, receive healing, etc.], that they had no opportunity even to eat. ³² So, they [i.e., Jesus and His apostles] left by boat and went to a separate place [where they could be] alone. ³³ But the people saw them going and, since many recognized them, these people ran on ahead of them from all the [surrounding] towns. ³⁴ Then Jesus left [His place of seclusion] and, seeing the large crowd, He felt deep compassion for them because they were [as disoriented] as sheep without a shepherd, so He began teaching them.

³⁵ And when the day was nearly over His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is deserted and the day is almost over; ³⁶ send the crowd away so they can go into the surrounding countryside and towns to buy themselves something to eat."

³⁷ But He answered them, "You [men] give them something to eat." And they replied, "Should we go and buy a supply of bread to give them to eat?" [Note: The amount mentioned here indicates that it was two hundred days of a farm laborer's pay, or about $14,000 in 1994].

³⁸ And He said to them, "How many loaves [of bread] do you have? Go and see." And when had found out, they said, "Five [barley] loaves [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish."

³⁹ And He ordered all of them to recline in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So, they reclined in groups of fifty and one hundred. ⁴¹ Then He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He asked God's blessing on them. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to His disciples to set in front of the people [to eat]. He divided the two fish among them also ⁴² and they all ate until they were full. ⁴³ Then they gathered up twelve baskets full of broken pieces [of bread] and also some fish. ⁴⁴ The number eating the loaves of bread was five thousand men. [Note: This was besides women and children. See Matt. 14:21].

¹⁰ When the apostles returned they told Jesus what they had done. Then Jesus took them and went away privately to a town called Bethsaida. [Note: This town was on the east side of Lake Galilee, and apparently was a different "Bethsaida" from the one mentioned in Mark 6:45]. ¹¹ But the crowds found out about it [i.e., where Jesus had gone], so they followed Him [there]. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the [coming] kingdom of God and cured those who needed healing.

¹² Then late in the day the twelve apostles came and said to Jesus, "Send the crowd away so they can go into the villages and the surrounding countryside to find lodging and food because this place is deserted."

¹³ But He said to the apostles, "You men give them something to eat." But they replied, "We have only five loaves of [barley] bread [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish, unless we go and buy [more] food for all these people." ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men [there]. So, He said to His disciples, "Have these people recline [on the grass. See Matt. 14:19] in groups of about fifty each." ¹⁵ So, the disciples did this, and had all the people recline [on the grass in groups]. ¹⁶ Then Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, asked God's blessing on the food. [Then] He broke it [in pieces] and gave it to the disciples to distribute to the crowds. ¹⁷ They all ate until they were full, then gathered up twelve baskets [full] of the remaining broken pieces.

¹ After these things happened Jesus went across to the east side of Lake Galilee, also called Lake Tiberias. [Note: This lake also bore a name honoring the Roman Emperor Tiberias]. ² And a large crowd followed Him because they had seen the [miraculous] signs He had performed on sick people. ³ Then Jesus went up to a high plateau [Note: This place, northeast of Lake Galilee, is called "The Golan Heights," today] and sat down there with His disciples.

⁴ Now the time for the Jewish Passover Festival was getting close. ⁵ So Jesus, looking up and seeing a large crowd coming to Him, said to Philip [Note: He was one of the apostles, whose home town was at nearby Bethsaida. See 1:44], "Where are we going to buy [enough] bread, so that this crowd can eat?" ⁶ Now He said this to test Philip, for He [already] knew what He was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered Him, "Not even two hundred coins' worth of bread would be enough to feed them if everyone ate only a little bit." [Note: The amount here indicated was two hundred days of a farm laborer's pay, or about $14,000 in 1994].

⁸ [Then] one of His disciples, named Andrew, [who was] Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, ⁹ "There is a little boy here who has five [small] loaves of barley bread and two [probably smoked] fish. But what is this amount for [feeding] so many people?"

¹⁰ Jesus answered, "Have these people recline [on the ground]." Now there was a lot of grass in that place. So, the men, numbering about five thousand, reclined [on the grass]. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, and [after] giving thanks [to God], He distributed [pieces] to those who were reclining. He did the same thing with the fish, [giving them] as much as they wanted.

¹² And when the people were [all] full, Jesus said to His disciples, "Gather up the broken pieces that are left over so that nothing is wasted." ¹³ So, they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces left over from the five loaves of barley bread which they had eaten.

¹⁴ So, when the people saw the [miraculous] sign that Jesus had performed [i.e., the feeding of the large crowd with such a small amount of food], they said, "Truly, this is the prophet who was to come into the world." [Note: This was probably a reference to the promise made in Deut. 18:15-19]. ¹⁵ So, [when] Jesus knew that the people were about to come and forcibly take Him and make Him [their] king, He left there again and went to the high plateau [to be] alone [i.e., to pray. See Mark 6:46].