Matthew 15:37-38

15:37 They ¹  all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 15:38 Not counting children and women, ²  there were four thousand men who ate. ³ 

Matthew 16:8-10

16:8 When Jesus learned of this, ⁴  he said, “You who have such little faith! ⁵  Why are you arguing ⁶  among yourselves about having no bread? 16:9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 16:10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up?

Matthew 16:2

16:2 He ⁷  said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’

Matthew 4:1-7

The Temptation of Jesus

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness ⁸  to be tempted by the devil. 4:2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. ⁹  4:3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” ¹⁰  4:4 But he answered, ¹¹  “It is written, ‘Man ¹²  does not live ¹³  by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ¹⁴  4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, ¹⁵  had him stand ¹⁶  on the highest point ¹⁷  of the temple, 4:6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ ¹⁸  and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ¹⁹  4:7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’” ²⁰ 

Mark 6:42-44

6:42 They all ate and were satisfied, 6:43 and they picked up the broken pieces and fish that were left over, twelve baskets full. 6:44 Now ²¹  there were five thousand men ²²  who ate the bread. ²³ 

Mark 8:8-9

8:8 Everyone ²⁴  ate and was satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 8:9 There were about four thousand ²⁵  who ate. ²⁶  Then he dismissed them. ²⁷ 

Mark 8:16-21

8:16 So they began to discuss with one another about having no bread. ²⁸  8:17 When he learned of this, ²⁹  Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing ³⁰  about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? 8:18 Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? ³¹  Don’t you remember? 8:19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Twelve.” 8:20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, ³²  “Seven.” 8:21 Then ³³  he said to them, “Do you still not understand?” ³⁴ 

John 6:12-14

6:12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus ³⁵  said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.” 6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves ³⁶  left over by the people who had eaten.

6:14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus ³⁷  performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet ³⁸  who is to come into the world.” ³⁹ 

[15:37]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:38]  ² tc ‡ Although most witnesses (B C L W ˹³ 33 Ï f sy^s,p,h mae) read “women and children” instead of “children and women,” it is likely that the majority’s reading is a harmonization to Matt 14:21. “Children and women” is found in early and geographically widespread witnesses (e.g., א D [Θ Ë¹] 579 lat sy^c sa bo), and has more compelling internal arguments on its side, suggesting that this is the original reading. NA²⁷, however, agrees with the majority of witnesses.

[15:38]  ³ tn Grk “And those eating were four thousand men, apart from children and women.”

[16:8]  ⁴ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[16:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “Those of little faith.”

[16:8]  ⁶ tn Or “discussing.”

[16:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” The construction has been simplified in the translation and δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Or “desert.”

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry.”

[4:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “say that these stones should become bread.”

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been changed for clarity.

[4:4]  ¹² tn Or “a person.” Greek ὁ ἄνθρωπος (Jo anqrwpo") is used generically for humanity. The translation “man” is used because the emphasis in Jesus’ response seems to be on his dependence on God as a man.

[4:4]  ¹³ tn Grk “will not live.” The verb in Greek is a future tense, but it is unclear whether it is meant to be taken as a command (also known as an imperatival future) or as a statement of reality (predictive future).

[4:4]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 8:3.

[4:5]  ¹⁵ sn The order of the second and third temptations differs in Luke’s account (4:5-12) from the order given in Matthew.

[4:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and he stood him.”

[4:5]  ¹⁷ sn The highest point of the temple probably refers to the point on the temple’s southeast corner where it looms directly over a cliff some 450 ft (135 m) high. However, some have suggested the reference could be to the temple’s high gate.

[4:6]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 91:11. This was not so much an incorrect citation as a use in a wrong context (a misapplication of the passage).

[4:6]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 91:12.

[4:7]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 6:16.

[6:44]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate a somewhat parenthetical remark by the author.

[6:44]  ²² tn The Greek word here is ἀνήρ, meaning “adult male” (BDAG 79 s.v. 1). According to Matt 14:21, Jesus fed not only five thousand men, but also an unspecified number of women and children.

[6:44]  ²³ tc Many good mss (Ì⁴⁵ א D W Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 700 2542 lat sa) lack τοὺς ἄρτους (tous artous, lit. “the loaves” [here translated “the bread”]). On the other hand, just as weighty mss (A B L 33 2427 Ï) have the words. Although a decision is not easy, the most satisfactory explanation seems to be that scribes were more prone to delete than to add the words here. They may have been puzzled as to why “the bread” should be mentioned without a corresponding mention of “fish.” Since neither Matt 14:21 or Luke 9:17 explicitly mention the bread, a desire for harmonization may have motivated the copyists as well. On the other hand, D and W are prone to longer, explanatory readings. Since they both lack the words here, it is likely that their archetypes also lacked the words. But given Mark’s pleonastic style, the good witnesses with “the bread,” and a reasonable explanation for the omission, “the bread” is most likely part of the original text of Mark.

[8:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “They.”

[8:9]  ²⁵ sn The parallel in Matt 15:32-39 notes that the four thousand were only men, a point not made explicit in Mark.

[8:9]  ²⁶ tn The words “who ate” are not in the Greek text but have been supplied for clarity.

[8:9]  ²⁷ sn Mark 8:1-10. Many commentators, on the basis of similarities between this account of the feeding of the multitude (8:1-10) and that in 6:30-44, have argued that there is only one event referred to in both passages. While there are similarities in language and in the response of the disciples, there are also noticeable differences, including the different number present on each occasion (i.e., 5,000 in chap. 6 and 4,000 here). In the final analysis, the fact that Jesus refers to two distinct feedings in 8:18-20 settles the issue; this passage represents another very similar incident to that recorded in 6:30-44.

[8:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And they were discussing with one another that they had no bread.”

[8:17]  ²⁹ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[8:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “discussing.”

[8:18]  ³¹ tn Grk “do you not hear?”

[8:20]  ³² tc ‡ A difficult textual problem is found here, involving three different variants: καὶ λέγουσιν (kai legousin) is found in א pc; οἱ δὲ εἶπον (Joi de eipon) is the reading of Ì⁴⁵ A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it; and καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ (kai legousin autw) is supported by B C L (Δ 579 892) 2427 pc. The first two variants would not be translated differently; the third reading, however, would add “to him” after “they replied.” What complicates the issue is that the external evidence is fairly evenly split between the second and third readings, though the first reading is in agreement with the second reading in lacking the dative pronoun. Indeed, another layout of the problem here could treat this as two distinct problems: καὶ λέγουσιν vs. οἱ δὲ εἶπον and αὐτῷ vs. omission of the word. In this second arrangement of the problem, the reading without the pronoun has slightly stronger support (Ì⁴⁵ א A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it). Internally, Mark never elsewhere uses the form εἶπον for the third person plural indicative form of this verb (it is always εἶπαν [eipan]). And although only one other time in Mark is the object lacking after λέγουσιν (6:38), it is a similar context (viz., the disciples’ response before Jesus feeds the 5000). Very tentatively, the reading that is followed here is καὶ λέγουσιν. NA²⁷ puts αὐτῷ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:21]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the implied sequence in the narrative.

[8:21]  ³⁴ sn Do you still not understand? The disciples in Mark’s Gospel often misunderstood the miracles of Jesus as well as his teaching. Between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Mark paints the most revealing portrait of the shortcomings of the Twelve (cf. 6:51-52; 7:17-19; 8:1-10, 14-21, 27-30, 33; 9:5, 10, 33; 10:28, 35-45; 14:19, 29-31, 32-37, 50, 66-72).

[6:12]  ³⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:13]  ³⁶ sn Note that the fish mentioned previously (in John 6:9) are not emphasized here, only the five barley loaves. This is easy to understand, however, because the bread is of primary importance for the author in view of Jesus’ upcoming discourse on the Bread of Life.

[6:14]  ³⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ³⁸ sn The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief.

[6:14]  ³⁹ sn An allusion to Deut 18:15.