Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 15:32

"And Jesus called unto him his disciples, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat: and I would not send them away fasting, lest haply they faint on the way." — Matthew 15:32 (ASV)

I have compassion on the multitude — The obvious resemblance between this narrative and the feeding of the five thousand has led many critics, who do not view either as a record of fact, to treat this as just another version of the same incident—or, from their perspective, the same legend. However, the distinct details are too numerous to allow for that explanation. The number of people fed, their three-day wait until their food was gone, the number of loaves available, and the number of baskets used to collect the leftovers are all different.

Furthermore, the words translated as “basket” in the King James Version are not the same in the original Greek. In this account, the word is σπυρίς (spuris), a large provision hamper used for travel—large enough, as seen in Paul’s escape from Damascus, to hold a man (Acts 9:25). In the other miracle, the word was κόφινος (cophinus), a smaller basket that a person would carry by hand.

Finally, our Lord’s own words in Matthew 16:9-10 distinctly recognize the two separate miracles, connecting each event with the specific type of basket used. These words from Jesus must be seen as decisive proof of two distinct events. The only alternative is to adopt the incredible hypothesis that the original narrative was somehow disguised, losing its unique details, and that the Evangelists then invented our Lord’s words—with all their freshness and specific relevance—to fit this altered account.

It is significant that here, as so often before, this display of miraculous power does not originate from a challenge or as proof of a divine mission, but simply from compassion. For three days the crowds had hung on His words and waited for His loving acts, and now they were showing signs of exhaustion that moved His sympathy.