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.”

Numbers 11:21-23

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ¹  are 600,000 on foot; ²  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ³  that they may eat ⁴  for a whole month.’ 11:22 Would they have enough if the flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” 11:23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? ⁵  Now you will see whether my word to you will come true ⁶  or not!”

Psalms 78:19-20

78:19 They insulted God, saying, ⁷ 

“Is God really able to give us food ⁸  in the wilderness?

78:20 Yes, ⁹  he struck a rock and water flowed out,

streams gushed forth.

But can he also give us food?

Will he provide meat for his people?”

Mark 6:37-38

6:37 But he answered them, ¹⁰  “You ¹¹  give them something to eat.” And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for two hundred silver coins ¹²  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.”

Mark 8:4-5

8:4 His disciples answered him, “Where can someone get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 8:5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.”

Luke 9:13

9:13 But he said to them, “You ¹³  give them something to eat.” They ¹⁴  replied, ¹⁵  “We have no more than five loaves and two fish – unless ¹⁶  we go ¹⁷  and buy food ¹⁸  for all these people.”

John 6:5-9

6:5 Then Jesus, when he looked up ¹⁹  and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?” 6:6 (Now Jesus ²⁰  said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.) ²¹  6:7 Philip replied, ²²  “Two hundred silver coins worth ²³  of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.” 6:8 One of Jesus’ disciples, ²⁴  Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 6:9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good ²⁵  are these for so many people?”

[11:21]  ¹ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

[11:21]  ² tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

[11:21]  ³ tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

[11:21]  ⁴ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

[11:23]  ⁵ sn This anthropomorphic expression concerns the power of God. The “hand of the Lord” is idiomatic for his power, what he is able to do. The question is rhetorical; it is affirming that his hand is not shortened, i.e., that his power is not limited. Moses should have known this, and so this is a rebuke for him at this point. God had provided the manna, among all the other powerful acts they had witnessed. Meat would be no problem. But the lack of faith by the people was infectious.

[11:23]  ⁶ tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”

[78:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “they spoke against God, they said.”

[78:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “to arrange a table [for food].”

[78:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “look.”

[6:37]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence has been changed for clarity.

[6:37]  ¹¹ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[6:37]  ¹² 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.

[9:13]  ¹³ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[9:13]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “said.”

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn This possibility is introduced through a conditional clause, but it is expressed with some skepticism (BDF §376).

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[9:13]  ¹⁸ 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.

[6:5]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “when he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).

[6:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:6]  ²¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[6:7]  ²² tn Grk “Philip answered him.”

[6:7]  ²³ tn Grk “two hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth about eight months’ pay.

[6:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “one of his disciples.”

[6:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “but what are these”; the word “good” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.