Church Fathers Commentary Mark 6:35-44

"And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, The place is desert, and the day is now far spent; send them away, that they may go into the country and villages round about, and buy themselves somewhat to eat. But he answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred shillings` worth of bread, and give them to eat? And he saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go [and] see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them that all should sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake the loaves; and he gave to the disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they all ate, and were filled. And they took up broken pieces, twelve basketfuls, and also of the fishes. And they that ate the loaves were five thousand men." — Mark 6:35-44 (ASV)

Theophylact of Ohrid: The Lord, first placing before them what is most profitable—that is, the food of the word of God—afterward also gave the multitude food for their bodies. To begin this account, the Evangelist says, And when the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a desert place.

The Venerable Bede: The time being "far spent" indicates that it was evening. For this reason, Luke says, But the day had begun to decline.

Theophylact of Ohrid: See now how the disciples of Christ grow in love for humanity, for they pity the multitudes and come to Christ to intercede for them. But the Lord tested them to see whether they would recognize that His power was great enough to feed them.

Therefore, the account continues: He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat.

The Venerable Bede: With these words, He calls on His Apostles to break bread for the people, so that they would be able to testify that they had no bread, and thus the greatness of the miracle would become more widely known.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But the disciples thought that He did not know what was necessary to feed such a large multitude, for their answer shows that they were troubled.

For the account continues, And they said unto Him, Let us go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In the Gospel of John, this is Philip's answer, but Mark presents it as the disciples' answer, meaning for it to be understood that Philip spoke as a spokesman for the others. It is also possible that Mark, as is common, used the plural for the singular.¹

The account continues: And He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see.

The other Evangelists do not mention the Lord doing this.

It continues: And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

This suggestion, which came from Andrew as we learn from John, is attributed by the other Evangelists to the disciples in general, as they use the plural for the singular.

The account continues, And He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass, and they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties.

We should not be confused, even though Luke says they were ordered to sit down by fifties, while Mark says by hundreds and fifties. One evangelist has mentioned a part, and the other the whole; Mark, by mentioning the hundreds, completes what the other has left out.

Theophylact of Ohrid: We are meant to understand that they lay down in groups, separate from one another, because the word translated as "companies" is repeated in the Greek, as if to say "by companies and companies."

The account continues, And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them: and the two fishes divided He among them all.

St. John Chrysostom: It was fitting that He looked up to heaven, for the Jews, when receiving manna in the desert, dared to say of God, Can he give bread? (Psalm 78:20). Therefore, to prevent this, He referred what He was about to do to His Father before He performed the miracle.²

Theophylact of Ohrid: He also looks up to heaven to teach us to seek our food from God and not from the devil, like those who unjustly feed on the labor of others. By this, He also indicated to the crowd that He was not opposed to God, since He called upon God. And He gives the bread to His disciples to set before the multitude so that by handling the bread, they could see it was an undeniable miracle.

The account continues: And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments.

Twelve baskets of fragments were left over, so that each of the Apostles, carrying a basket on his shoulder, would recognize the indescribable wonder of the miracle. For it was a sign of overflowing power not only to feed so many people but also to leave such an abundance of leftovers. Even though Moses gave manna, what was given to each was measured by his need, and what was left over was overrun with worms. Elijah also fed the woman but gave her just enough; Jesus, however, being the Lord, gives His gifts with superabundant profusion.

The Venerable Bede: In a mystical sense, the Savior refreshes the hungry crowds at the day's end, either because the end of the world is approaching or because the Son of Justice has set in death for us, and we are saved from wasting away in spiritual hunger. He calls the Apostles to Him at the breaking of bread, indicating that our hungry souls are fed daily by them—that is, by their letters and examples. The five loaves represent the five books of Moses, and the two fish, the Psalms and the Prophets.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Or, the two fish are the discourses of the fishermen—that is, their Epistles and the Gospel.

The Venerable Bede:ⁱThere are five senses in the outer self, which shows that the five thousand men signify those who, while living in the world, know how to make good use of external things.

St. Gregory the Great: The different groups in which those who ate lay down represent the diverse churches that make up the one catholic Church.ⁱ The Jubilee rest is contained in the mystery of the number fifty, and fifty must be doubled to reach one hundred. Since the first step is to rest from doing evil, so that the soul may afterward rest more fully from evil thoughts, some lie down in groups of fifty, and others in groups of a hundred.³

The Venerable Bede: Again, those men who lie down on the grass and are fed by the Lord's food are those who have trodden their sinful desires underfoot through self-control and diligently apply themselves to hearing and fulfilling the words of God.ⁱ The Savior, however, does not create a new kind of food; for when He came in the flesh, He preached nothing other than what was predicted, but showed how the writings of the Law and the Prophets were filled with the mysteries of grace.

He looks up to heaven to teach us that we must look there for grace. He breaks the bread and distributes it to the disciples so that they may place it before the multitudes, because He has opened the mysteries of prophecy to holy teachers, who are to preach them to the whole world. What is left by the crowd is taken up by the disciples, because the more sacred mysteries, which cannot be received by the undiscerning, are not to be negligently passed over but are to be investigated by the spiritually mature. For the twelve baskets typify the Apostles and the teachers who followed them: externally despised by men, but inwardly full of wholesome food. For everyone knows that carrying baskets is a task for slaves.

Pseudo-Jerome: Or, the gathering of the twelve baskets full of fragments signifies the time when they will sit on thrones, judging all who are left of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the twelve tribes of Israel—when the remnant of Israel will be saved.

1. de Con. Evan., 2, 46
2. Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc., see Hom. in Matt., 49
3. Mor. 16, 55