The feeding of the four thousand

St Mark Chapter VIII : Verses 1-9

And they did eat and were filled. J-J Tissot

[1] In those days again, when there was a great multitude, and had nothing to eat; calling his disciples together, he saith to them: 

[2] I have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat. 

[3] And if I shall send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; for some of them came from afar off. 

[4] And his disciples answered him: From whence can any one fill them here with bread in the wilderness?

[5] And he asked them: How many loaves have ye? Who said: Seven.

[6] And taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he broke, and gave to his disciples for to set before them; and they set them before the people. 

[7] And they had a few little fishes; and he blessed them, and commanded them to be set before them. 

[8] And they did eat and were filled; and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets. 

[9] And they that had eaten were about four thousand; and he sent them away.

[1] In diebus illis iterum cum turba multa esset, nec haberent quod manducarent, convocatis discipulis, ait illis : [2] Misereor super turbam : quia ecce jam triduo sustinent me, nec habent quod manducent : [3] et si dimisero eos jejunos in domum suam, deficient in via : quidam enim ex eis de longe venerunt. [4] Et responderunt ei discipuli sui : Unde illos quis poterit saturare panibus in solitudine? [5] Et interrogavit eos : Quot panes habetis? Qui dixerunt : Septem. [6] Et præcepit turbæ discumbere super terram. Et accipiens septem panes, gratias agens fregit, et dabat discipulis suis ut apponerent, et apposuerunt turbæ. [7] Et habebant pisciculos paucos : et ipsos benedixit, et jussit apponi. [8] Et manducaverunt, et saturati sunt, et sustulerunt quod superaverat de fragmentis, septem sportas. [9] Erant autem qui manducaverunt, quasi quatuor millia : et dimisit eos.

Notes

1. In those days. Some time during our Lord’s ministry in Northern Galilee.

    again when there was a great multitude, etc. : evidently a reference to the previous miracle of the feeding of the five thousand.

    calling his disciples. In order to prepare them for the miracle which He was about to work by giving the reasons why He should help the people. His compassion was excited by —

(a) Their perseverance in following Him for three days.

(b) Their extreme poverty : they lacked necessary food.

(c) They were exhausted in consequence, and unable to return without fainting in the way.

    Notice that man’s necessity always calls forth God’s compassion.

4. From whence, etc. The disciples, again without knowledge , and still wanting understanding concerning the loaves, which Christ had previously multiplied, did not seem to anticipate another miracle. Perhaps their faith was not strong enough to lead them to expect a repetition, or it is possible that, as many of the multitude would necessarily be Gentiles, they imagined Jesus would not work a like miracle for them.

    wilderness. Which wilderness is not mentioned. We know it was on the eastern side of the lake, and probably farther south than the scene of the first miracle.

5. How many loaves have ye ? This time the loaves and fishes evidently belonged to the Apostles.

6. taking the seven loaves. In exactly the same order as on the first multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks (consequently He blessed the loaves), and gave to his disciples to distribute.

8. seven baskets. The “ spuris ” or rope basket used by fishermen. In such a basket or net, St Paul was let down from the window when he escaped from Damascus. But the disciples taking him in the night , conveyed him away by the wall , letting him down in a basket (Acts ix. 25).

    Comparison between the two multiplications of loaves and fishes.

(A) Points of Resemblance. In both cases —

1. The multitudes (men, women, and children) were in a desert place.

2. Our Lord consulted His disciples about the needs of the multitude.

3. Jesus multiplied the food which was at hand.

4. Jesus took the food, blessed, and gave it to the Apostles to distribute.

5. The multitudes were bidden to sit down.

6. Fragments were gathered up.

7. Jesus departed at once from the scene of the miracle.

(B) Points of Contrast.

The two Miracles of Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes

    

From the fact that the disciples, on the second occasion of a large multitude being without food, make no allusion to our Lord having previously and so recently worked a miracle under similar circumstances, some commentators have concluded that this account of the four thousand being fed in the desert is merely a different version of the feeding of the five thousand. In answer to their arguments we can reply : —

(1) The Apostles were proverbially slow of understanding until after the descent of the Holy Ghost.

(2) On the supposition that, in the second case, many Gentiles were included in the multitude, the Apostles may have thought that our Lord would not repeat His former miracle for them.

(3) A myth generally grows by accretion, so if only one miraculous multiplication had taken place we should have expected the account concerning the 4000 to have been first mentioned, since the second is the less important as regards numbers and consequences.

(4) Lastly, Jesus Himself refers to two miracles of multiplication. “ When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets of fragments took you up ? And they say to him, Seven. And he said to them : How do you not yet understand ? ” (viii. 19, 21).

    St Chrysostom (Horn, liii.) remarks : “ He rouses their recollection by the difference, that by the variation they might be reminded both of one and the other. Accordingly in that case (the first) He makes the baskets full of fragments in number to His disciples, and in this, the baskets equal the loaves. ”

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.