Matthew 14:13-21

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

14:13 Now when Jesus heard this he went away from there privately in a boat to an isolated place. But when the crowd heard about it, ¹  they followed him on foot from the towns. ²  14:14 As he got out he saw the large crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 14:15 When evening arrived, his disciples came to him saying, “This is an isolated place ³  and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 14:16 But he ⁴  replied, “They don’t need to go. You ⁵  give them something to eat.” 14:17 They ⁶  said to him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” 14:18 “Bring them here to me,” he replied. 14:19 Then ⁷  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, ⁸  who in turn gave them to the crowds. ⁹  14:20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, twelve baskets full. 14:21 Not counting women and children, there were about five thousand men who ate.

[14:13]  ¹ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:13]  ² tn Or “cities.”

[14:15]  ³ tn Or “a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation).

[14:16]  ⁴ 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.

[14:16]  ⁵ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[14:17]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:19]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[14:19]  ⁸ 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.

[14:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.”