Matthew 14:16-17

14:16 But he ¹  replied, “They don’t need to go. You ²  give them something to eat.” 14:17 They ³  said to him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

Matthew 15:33-34

15:33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” 15:34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven – and a few small fish.”

Mark 6:37-39

6:37 But he answered them, ⁴  “You ⁵  give them something to eat.” And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for two hundred silver coins ⁶  and give it to them to eat?” 6:38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five – and two fish.” 6:39 Then he directed them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.

Mark 8:4

8:4 His disciples answered him, “Where can someone get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy these people?”

Luke 9:13

9:13 But he said to them, “You ⁷  give them something to eat.” They ⁸  replied, ⁹  “We have no more than five loaves and two fish – unless ¹⁰  we go ¹¹  and buy food ¹²  for all these people.”

John 6:9

6:9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good ¹³  are these for so many people?”

¹ tc ‡ The majority of witnesses read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) here, perhaps to clarify the subject. Although only a few Greek mss, along with several versional witnesses (א* D Z^vid 579 1424 pc e k sy^s,c,p sa bo), lack the name of Jesus, the omission does not seem to be either accidental or malicious and is therefore judged to be most likely the original reading. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

² tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence has been changed for clarity.

⁵ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

⁶ sn The silver coin referred to here is the denarius. A denarius, inscribed with a picture of Tiberius Caesar, was worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer. Two hundred denarii was thus approximately equal to eight months’ wages. The disciples did not have the resources in their possession to feed the large crowd, so Jesus’ request is his way of causing them to trust him as part of their growth in discipleship.

⁷ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ tn Grk “said.”

¹⁰ tn This possibility is introduced through a conditional clause, but it is expressed with some skepticism (BDF §376).

¹¹ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

¹² sn Not only would going and buying food have been expensive and awkward at this late time of day, it would have taken quite a logistical effort to get the food back out to this isolated location.

¹³ tn Grk “but what are these”; the word “good” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.