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The Feeding of the Four Thousand

32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” 35 After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 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.[a] 37 They[b] all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Not counting children and women,[c] there were 4,000 men who ate.[d] 39 After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat[e] and went to the region of Magadan.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:36 tn Grk “was giving them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowd.”
  2. Matthew 15:37 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
  3. Matthew 15:38 tc ‡ Although most witnesses (B C L N W Γ Δ ƒ13 33 1424 M f sys,p,h mae) read “women and children” instead of “children and women,” this is likely a harmonization to Matt 14:21. A decision is difficult here, but since “children and women” is found in early and geographically widespread witnesses (e.g., א D [Θ ƒ1] 579 lat syc sa bo), and has more compelling internal arguments on its side, it is likely the reading of the initial text. NA28, however, agrees with the majority of witnesses.
  4. Matthew 15:38 tn Grk “And those eating were 4,000 men, apart from children and women.”
  5. Matthew 15:39 sn See the note at Matt 4:21 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
  6. Matthew 15:39 sn Magadan was a place along the Sea of Galilee, the exact location of which is uncertain.

Four Thousand Men Fed

32 (A)Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, (B)I feel compassion for the [a]people, because they [b]have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And He directed the [c]people to [d]sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after (C)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large (D)baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into (E)the boat and came to the region of (F)Magadan.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:32 Lit crowd
  2. Matthew 15:32 Lit are remaining
  3. Matthew 15:35 Lit crowd
  4. Matthew 15:35 Lit recline