Matthew 14:18-19

14:18 “Bring them here to me,” he replied. 14:19 Then ¹  he instructed the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He gave them to the disciples, ²  who in turn gave them to the crowds. ³ 

Matthew 15:35-36

15:35 After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 15:36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds. ⁴ 

Mark 6:39-41

6:39 Then he directed them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 6:40 So they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. 6:41 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He ⁵  gave them to his ⁶  disciples to serve the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.

Mark 8:6-7

8:6 Then ⁷  he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. After he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples to serve. So ⁸  they served the crowd. 8:7 They also had a few small fish. After giving thanks for these, he told them to serve these as well.

Luke 9:14-16

9:14 (Now about five thousand men ⁹  were there.) ¹⁰  Then ¹¹  he said to his disciples, “Have ¹²  them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 9:15 So they did as Jesus directed, ¹³  and the people ¹⁴  all sat down.

9:16 Then ¹⁵  he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks ¹⁶  and broke them. He gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

² tn Grk “And after instructing the crowds to recline for a meal on the grass, after taking the five loaves and the two fish, after looking up to heaven, he gave thanks, and after breaking the loaves he gave them to the disciples.” Although most of the participles are undoubtedly attendant circumstance, there are but two indicative verbs – “he gave thanks” and “he gave.” The structure of the sentence thus seems to focus on these two actions and has been translated accordingly.

³ tn Grk “to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.”

⁴ tn Grk “was giving them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowd.”

⁵ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁶ tc ‡ Most mss (Ì⁴⁵ A D W Θ Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy) have αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after τοῖς μαθηταῖς (toi" maqhtai", “the disciples”), but several excellent witnesses (א B L Δ 33 579 892 1241 1424 2427 pc) lack the pronoun. This kind of variant is often a predictable expansion of the text; further, that many important mss lack the pronoun gives support for the shorter reading. For these reasons, the pronoun is considered to be secondary. NA²⁷ puts αὐτοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

⁹ tn The Greek text reads here ἄνδρες (andres) – that is, adult males. The actual count would be larger, since the use of this Greek term suggests that women and children were not included in this number (see the parallel in Matt 14:21).

¹⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹² tn Or “Make” (depending on how the force of the imperative verb is understood). Grk “cause them to recline” (the verb has causative force here).

¹³ tn Grk “And they did thus.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the disciples’ action was a result of Jesus’ instructions. The adverb οὕτως ({outw", “thus”) has been expanded in the translation to “as Jesus directed” to clarify what was done.

¹⁴ tn Grk “and they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁶ sn Gave thanks adds a note of gratitude to the setting. The scene is like two other later meals: Luke 22:19 and 24:30. Jesus gives thanks to God “with respect to” the provision of food. The disciples learn how Jesus is the mediator of blessing. John 6 speaks of him in this scene as picturing the “Bread of Life.”