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Mark 6:41

in Mark 6

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus spoke a blessing and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And He divided the two fish among them all.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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.

KJV

And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

This verse in Mark 6

Commentary

13 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON · Written before 373.

Take note therefore of how his [creative] activity is mixed in with everything. When our Lord took a little bread, he multiplied it in the twinkling of an eye. That which [people] effect and transform in ten months with toil, his ten fingers effected in …

This site's exposition

looking up to heaven, Jesus spoke a blessing and broke the loaves

on Mark 6:41-42

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus spoke a blessing and broke the loaves, actions He repeats at the Last Supper. Then He gave them to His disciples to set before the people, so the disciples hand out what His hands multiply, a detail every account keeps. They all ate and were satisfied, and that is the measure the text gives.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. v. Chrys. Hom in Matt. 49) Now it was with fitness that He looked up to heaven, for the Jews, when receiving manna in the desert, presumed to say of God, Can he give bread? (Ps. 78:20) To prevent this therefore, before He performed the miracle, He referred to His Father what He was about to do.

A commentator

Prudentius

HYMNS 9 · Written before 410.

proposed

Thou, our bread, our true refreshment, never failing sweetness art; He can nevermore know hunger, who is at thy banquet fed, Nourishing not our fleshly nature, but imparting lasting life. … Every sickness now surrenders, every listlessness departs, Tongues long bound by chains of silence …

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 735.

proposed

(ubi sup.) Again, those men lie down on grass and are fed by the food of the Lord, who have trodden under foot their concupiscences by continence, and apply themselves diligently to hear and fulfil the words of God. The Saviour, however, does not create a new sort of food; for when He came in the flesh He preached no other things than were predicted, but showed how pregnant with mysteries of grace were the writings of the Law and the Prophets. He looks up to heaven, that He may teach us that there we must look for grace. He breaks and distributes to the disciples that they may place the bread before the multitudes, because He has opened the mysteries of prophecy to holy doctors, 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 foolish, are not to be passed by with negligence, but to be inquired into by the perfect. For by the twelve baskets, the Apostles and the following Doctors are typified, externally indeed despised by men, but inwardly full of healthful food. For all know that carrying baskets is a part of the work of slaves.

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Mark · Written before 1107.

proposed

The Lord looks up to heaven, first, to teach us to ask for our food from God, and not from the devil, as do people who live by unrighteous gains; and second, to show the people that Christ is not an opponent of God, but …

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Mark · Written before 735.

proposed

And taking the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke and gave to his disciples to set before them; and he divided the two fishes among them all. The Savior, to the hungry crowds, does not create new …
6 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

It goes on, And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them: and the two fishes divided he among them all. He also looks up to heaven, that He may teach us to seek our food from God, and not from the devil, as they do who unjustly feed on other men's labours. By this also He intimated to the crowd, that He could not be opposed to God, since He called upon God. And He gives the bread to His disciples to set before the multitude, that by handling the bread, they might see that it was an undoubted miracle. Or the two fishes are the discourses of fishermen, that is, their Epistles and Gospel.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And when he had taken the five loaves and two fishes,.... Out of the hands of those that brought them into his own: he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves: See Gill on Mat 14:19, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; the multitude, in order to eat of them: and the two fishes divided he among them all; that every one might have a part. The Syriac and Persic versions read, they divided; that is, the apostles.

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And blessed - I think the word God should be inserted here, as in Mat 14:19. See the note there. The food we receive from God is already blessed, and does not stand in need of being blessed by man; but God, who gives it, deserves our warmest thanksgivings, as frequently as we are called to partake of his bounty.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven--Thus would the most distant of them see distinctly what He was doing. and blessed--John (Joh 6:11) says, "And when he had given thanks." The sense is the same.
Of all our Lord Jesus Christ's miracles, none is so frequently described in the Gospels, as that which we have now read. Each of the four Evangelists was inspired to record it. It is evident that it demands a more than ordinary attention from every reader of God's word. Let us observe, for one thing, in this passage, what an example this miracle affords of our Lord Jesus Christ's almighty POWER . We are told that He fed five thousand men, with five loaves and two fish. We are distinctly told that this multitude had nothing to eat. We are no less distinctly told that the whole provision for their sustenance consisted of only five loaves and two fish. And yet we read that our Lord took these loaves and fish, blessed, broke, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And the conclusion of the narrative tells us, that "they ate, and were filled," and that "twelve baskets full of fragments" were taken up. Here was creative power, beyond all question. Something real, solid, substantial, must manifestly have been called into being, which did not before exist. There is no room left for the theory, that the people were under the influence of an optical delusion, or a heated imagination. Five thousand hungry people would never have been satisfied, if they had not received into their mouths material bread. Twelve baskets full of fragments would never have been taken up, if the five loaves had not been miraculously multiplied. In short, it is plain that the hand of Him who made the world out of nothing was present on this occasion. None but He who at the first created all things, and sent down manna in the desert, could thus have "spread a table in the wilderness." It becomes all true Christians to store up facts like these in their minds, and to remember them in time of need. We live in the midst of an evil world, and see few with us, and many against us.
Of all our Lord Jesus Christ's miracles, none is so frequently described in the Gospels, as that which we have now read. Each of the four Evangelists was inspired to record it. It is evident that it demands a more than ordinary attention from every reader of God's word. Let us observe, for one thing, in this passage, what an example this miracle affords of our Lord Jesus Christ's almighty POWER . We are told that He fed five thousand men, with five loaves and two fish. We are distinctly told that this multitude had nothing to eat.

The words behind it

32 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Corinthians 10:31

    So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

    it leads to

    • Colossians 3:17

      And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

    • Colossians 3:23

      Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,

    • 1 Peter 4:11

      If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through…

    • Deuteronomy 12:7

      There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

    • Deuteronomy 12:18

      Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within…

  • Through

    Luke 24:30

    While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 14:19

      And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Matthew 14:19

    And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and…

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 4:4–5

      For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 24:30

      While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633. Public domain.
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Prudentius, HYMNS 9; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.