Matthew 15:35
in Matthew 15And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
KJV
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
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This verse in Matthew 15
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBe attentive to the difference between those things that are written in the various places in regard to the loaves. I think that this passage belongs to a different order than the others. Note the differences. Those were fed on a mountain, these in a desert place. These were fed after they had continued three days with Jesus, but those one day, on the evening of which they were fed. Is there an implication that those to whom Jesus shows kindness are superior when he fed them on the spot to demonstrate his kindness?
This site's exposition
sit down on the ground
on Matthew 15:35-38
The multitude sits, the loaves are broken with thanksgiving, and the crowd of four thousand men besides women and children eats until filled, with seven baskets of fragments left over. Clarke points out that the Greek word for these baskets, spyrides, differs from the kophinoi of the five thousand's account in chapter 14, a large hamper rather than a personal wallet basket, a detail the older harmonists used to answer the charge that Matthew has simply doubled one story into two. The differing numbers, five loaves against seven, twelve baskets against seven, five thousand against four thousand, stand in the text as the marks of two distinct events rather than one retold.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
(Verse 33 and following) And His disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?" And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish." And He directed the people to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them, and He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied.
The multitudes sit down on the ground; for before they had not reposed on the works of the Law, but they had supported themselves on their own sins, as men standing on their feet.
(Sup. c. 14:15.) As we have spoken of this above, it would be tedious to repeat what has been already said; we shall therefore only dwell on those particulars in which this differs from the former. For these are not five, but four thousand; the number four being one always used in a good sense, and a four-sided stone is firm and rocks not, for which reason the Gospels also have been sacredly bestowed in this number. Also in the former miracle, because the people were neighbours unto the five senseso, it is the disciples, and not the Lord, that calls to mind their condition; but here the Lord Himself says, that He has compassion upon them, because they continue now three days with Him, that is, they believed on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 53 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Now all the rest He doth as on the former occasion; thus He both makes them sit down on the ground, and He makes the loaves multiply themselves in the hands of the disciples. For, "He commanded," it is said, "the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves, and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude."
The Medieval Church1 voice
He teaches frugality by having them sit on the ground; and He teaches us to give thanks before eating by Himself giving thanks. Do you ask why it is that when there were five loaves and five thousand being fed, twelve baskets remained, but here …
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
And he commanded the multitude to sit down upon the ground. Here the arrangement is set forth. And first, he arranges them; second, he takes the material; third, he gives thanks, and breaks, and distributes. He says therefore and he commanded. In the other feeding …
(ord.) The seven loaves are the Scripture of the New Testament, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit is revealed and given.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. Not regarding the smallness of the provisions, nor any further consulting with his disciples; but knowing his own power to increase this food, and determining to feed the multitude before he dismissed them, in an authoritative way ordered them to sit down upon the ground in rows, that they might be the better seen, and served.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The beginning of this passage contains three points which deserve our special attention. For the present let us dwell exclusively on them. In the first place, let us remark how much more pains people take about the relief of their bodily diseases than about their souls. We read that “ great multitudes came to Jesus having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed and many others.” Many of them, no doubt, had journeyed many miles, andgone through great fatigues. Nothing is so difficult and troublesome as to move sick people.
The beginning of this passage contains three points which deserve our special attention. For the present let us dwell exclusively on them. In the first place, let us remark how much more pains people take about the relief of their bodily diseases than about their souls. We read that “ great multitudes came to Jesus having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed and many others.” Many of them, no doubt, had journeyed many miles, andgone through great fatigues. Nothing is so difficult and troublesome as to move sick people. But the hope of being healed was in sight: such hope is everything to a sick man. We know little of human nature if we wonder at the conduct of these people. We need not wonder at all. They felt that health was the greatest of earthly blessings; they felt that pain was the hardest of all trials to bear. There is no arguing against sense. A man feels his strength failing; he sees his body wasting and his face becoming pale; he is sensible that his appetite is leaving him: he knows, in short, that he is ill, and needs a physician. Show him a physician within reach, who is said never to fail in working cures, and he will go to him without delay. Let us, however, not forget that our souls are far more diseased than our bodies, and let us learn a lesson from the conduct of these people. Our souls are afflicted with a malady far more deep-seated, far more complicated, far more hard to cure than any ailment that flesh is heir to. They are in fact plague-stricken by sin. They must be healed, and healed effectually, or perish everlastingly. Do we really know this? Do we feel it? Are we alive to our spiritual disease? Alas, there is but one answer to these questions! The bulk of mankind do not feel it at all. Their eyes are blinded. They are utterly insensible to their danger.
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| παραγγείλας | parangeilas | He having commanded | G3853 → | |
| τῷ | to | to the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὄχλῳ | ochlo | crowd | G3793 → | 175 times |
| ἀναπεσεῖν | anapesein | to sit down | G377 → | |
| ἐπὶ | epi | on | G1909 → | 883 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γῆν | gen | ground | G1093 → | 248 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
παραγγείλαςHe having commanded
parangeilasG3853 →
τῷto the
toG3588 →19766 times
ὄχλῳcrowd
ochloG3793 →175 times
ἀναπεσεῖνto sit down
anapeseinG377 →
ἐπὶon
epiG1909 →883 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
γῆνground
genG1093 →248 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 6:10“Have the people sit down,” Jesus said. Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
it leads to
- Luke 9:14–16
(There were about five thousand men.) He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
- Matthew 14:18–19
“Bring them here to Me,” Jesus said.
- Mark 8:6–7
And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And…
- Mark 6:39–41
Then Jesus directed them to have the people sit in groups on the green grass.
- Matthew 15:35–36
And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.
- Luke 9:14–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Matthew
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 53; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.19; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.