Matthew 14:13-33

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.

Walking on Water

14:22 Immediately Jesus ¹⁰  made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds. 14:23 And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 14:24 Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, ¹¹  was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. 14:25 As the night was ending, ¹²  Jesus came to them walking on the sea. ¹³  14:26 When ¹⁴  the disciples saw him walking on the water ¹⁵  they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear. 14:27 But immediately Jesus ¹⁶  spoke to them: ¹⁷  “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 14:28 Peter ¹⁸  said to him, ¹⁹  “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” 14:29 So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 14:30 But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, ²⁰  “Lord, save me!” 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 14:32 When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. 14:33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

[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.”

[14:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “The boat was already many stades from the land.” A stade (στάδιον, stadion) was a unit of distance about 607 feet (187 meters) long.

[14:25]  ¹² tn Grk “In the fourth watch of the night,” that is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

[14:25]  ¹³ tn Or “on the lake.”

[14:26]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:26]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “on the sea”; or “on the lake.” The translation “water” has been used here for stylistic reasons (cf. the same phrase in v. 25).

[14:27]  ¹⁶ tc Most witnesses have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), while a few lack the words (א* D 073 892 pc ff¹ sy^c sa bo). Although such additions are often suspect (due to liturgical influences, piety, or for the sake of clarity), in this case it is likely that ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς dropped out accidentally. Apart from a few albeit important witnesses, as noted above, the rest of the tradition has either ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς αὐτοῖς (Jo Ihsous autois) or αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (autois Jo Ihsous). In uncial letters, with Jesus’ name as a nomen sacrum, this would have been written as autoisois_ or ois_autois. Thus homoioteleuton could explain the reason for the omission of Jesus’ name.

[14:27]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he said to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[14:28]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:28]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answering him, Peter said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[14:30]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.