And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
20. they took up of the fragments ] The Greek word for fragments is connected with the verb “to break” in the preceding verse. The true meaning of the word is therefore “the portions broken off for distribution.”
twelve baskets ] The same word kophinoi is used for baskets in the four accounts of this miracle, and also by our Lord, when He refers to the miracle (ch. Mat 16:9); whereas a different word is used in describing the feeding of four thousand and in the reference made to that event by our Lord (ch. Mat 16:10). The Roman poet Juvenal describes a large provision-basket of this kind, together with a bundle of hay, as being part of the equipment of the Jewish mendicants who thronged the grove of Egeria at Rome. The motive for this custom was to avoid ceremonial impurity in eating or in resting at night.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 20. They did all eat, and were filled] Little or much is the same in the hands of Jesus Christ. Here was an incontestable miracle – five thousand men, besides women and children, fed with five cakes and two fishes! Here must have been a manifest creation of substance – the parts of the bread were not dilated to make them appear large, nor was there any delusion in the eating-for they all ate, and were all filled. Here then is one miracle of our Lord attested by at least five thousand persons! But did not this creation of bread prove the unlimited power of Jesus? Undoubtedly: and nothing less than eternal power and Godhead could have effected it.
They took up – twelve baskets] It was customary for many of the Jews to carry a basket with them at all times: and Mr. Wakefield’s conjecture here is very reasonable: – “By the number here particularized, it should seem that each apostle filled his own bread basket.” Some think that the Jews carried baskets in commemoration of their Egyptian bondage, when they were accustomed to carry the clay and stubble to make the bricks, in a basket that was hung about their necks. This seems to be what Sidonius Apollinaris refers to in the following words, Epist. vii. 6. Ordinis res est, ut, (dum in allegorica versamur AEgypto) Pharao incedat cum diademate, Israelita cum COPHINO.
These words of Alcimus Avitus, lib. v. 30, are to the same effect:-
Servitii longo lassatam pondere plebem,
Oppressos cophinis humeros, attritaque collo.
It appears that a basket about the neck, and a bunch of hay, were the general characteristic of this long enslaved and oppressed people in the different countries where they sojourned.
Juvenal also mentions the basket and the hay: –
Cum dedit ille locum, cophino faenoque relicto,
Arcanam Judaea tremens mendicat in aurem.
Sat vi. 542.
A gypsy Jewess whispers in your ear–
Her goods a basket, and old hay her bed,
She strolls, and telling fortunes, gains her bread.
Dryden.
And again, Sat iii. 13: –
Nunc sacri fontis nemus, et delubra locantur
Judaeis, quorum cophinus, faenumque supellex.
Now the once hallowed fountain, grove, and fane,
Are let to Jews, a wretched, wandering train,
Whose wealth is but a basket stuff’d with hay.
Gifford.
The simple reason why the Jews carried baskets with them appears to be this:-When they went into Gentile countries, they carried their own provision with them, as they were afraid of being polluted by partaking of the meat of heathens. This also obliged them probably to carry hay with them to sleep on: and it is to this, in all likelihood, that Juvenal alludes.
After five thousand were fed, twelve times as much, at least, remained, as the whole multitude at first sat down to! See Clarke on Lu 9:16.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they did all eat,…. Christ and his twelve disciples, and the five thousand men, with the women and children, of the five loaves and two fishes; everyone had their portion,
and were filled; they were satisfied, they had a full meal, they had enough, and to spare; see 2Ch 31:10 which the Targumist paraphrases thus.
“And Azariah said unto him, who was appointed chief over the house of Zadok, and said, from the time that they began to separate the offering, to bring it into the sanctuary of the Lord, , “we have eat and are filled”, and have “left much”; for “the word of the Lord” hath blessed his people, and what is left, lo! it is this plenty of good.”
The Jews used not to reckon it a meal, unless a man was filled, and account it an ill sign, if nothing was left: but here was fulness, and more left than was first had; which was gathered up, either for the use of the poor, or reserved for after service; teaching us liberality to the needy, and frugality, not to waste that which is left.
And they took up of the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full; according to the number of the disciples, every man had his basket full. It may be inquired, where they could have so many baskets in the wilderness? It is not likely, that everyone of the apostles had a basket with him; it is indeed not improbable, but that they might be furnished with them from some in the company, who might bring provisions with them, either for their own use, or to sell; see Joh 6:9 but perhaps the reason why they were so easily supplied with such a number of baskets in a desert place, might be a custom which the Jews h had of carrying baskets with hay and straw, in commemoration of what they did in Egypt; when they were obliged to carry bricks in baskets, and to go about and pick up straw in baskets to make bricks; hence the i Epigrammatist calls a “Jew”, “cistifer”, a “basket bearer”, or “carrier”; and Juvenal k laughs at these people, as if all their household goods lay in a basket, and a little hay, or straw: it is said of R. Siraeon, that when he went to the school, , “he carried a basket” on his shoulders l; the gloss suggests, it was to sit upon; but a basket is not very proper for a seat; very likely it was for the above reason: such a custom will account for it, how such a number of baskets could be come at in the wilderness.
h Nicholas de Lyra, in Psal. lxxxi. 6. i Nubere: nupsisti Gellia Cistifero. Martial. Epigram. 1. 5. ep. 17. k Judaeis: quorum Cophinus foenumque supellex. Juvenal. Satyr. 3. cum dedit ille locum, Cophino, foenoque relicto. ib. Satyr. 6. l T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 49. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Were filled (). Effective aorist passive indicative of . See Mt 5:6. From the substantive grass. Cattle were filled with grass and people usually with other food. They all were satisfied.
Broken pieces ( ). Not the scraps upon the ground, but the pieces broken by Jesus and still in the “twelve baskets” ( ) and not eaten. Each of the twelve had a basketful left over ( ). One hopes that the boy (Joh 6:9) who had the five loaves and two fishes to start with got one of the basketsful, if not all of them. Each of the Gospels uses the same word here for baskets (), a wicker-basket, called “coffins” by Wycliff. Juvenal (Sat. iii. 14) says that the grove of Numa near the Capenian gate of Rome was “let out to Jews whose furniture is a basket (cophinus) and some hay” (for a bed). In the feeding of the Four Thousand (Matthew and Mark) the word is used which was a sort of hamper or large provisions basket.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Were filled [] . See on Mt 5:6.
Baskets [] . Wyc., coffins, a transcription of the Greek word. Juvenal, the Roman satirist, describes the grove of Numa, near the Capenian gate of Rome, as being “let out to the Jews, whose furniture is a basket [] and some hay” (for a bed), “Sat.” 3 14. These were small hand – baskets, specially provided for the Jews to carry levitically clean food while travelling in Samaria or other heathen districts. The word for basket used in relating the feeding of the four thousand (Mt 14:37) is spuriv, a large provision – basket or hamper, of the kind used for letting Paul down over the wall at Damascus (Act 9:25). In Mt 16:9, 10, Christ, in alluding to the two miracles, observes the distinctive term in each narrative; using kofinouv in the case of the five thousand, and spuridav in the other. Burgon (” Letters from Rome “) gives a drawing of a wicker basket used by the masons in the cathedral at Sorrento, and called coffano. He adds, “Who can doubt that the basket of the gospel narrative was of the shape here represented, and that the denomination of this basket exclusively has lingered in a Greek colony, where the Jews (who once carried the cophinus as a personal equipment) formerly lived in great numbers?”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they did eat, and were filled:” (kai ephagon pantes kai echortasthesan) “And they all ate and were satisfied from their hunger. It was no “snack meal;” There was enough food to satisfy the hunger of all, Php_4:19; Mr 6:42; Mal 3:10.
2) “And they took up of the fragments that remained,” (kai eran to perisseoun ton klasmaton) “And they took up the excess or surplus of the fragments,” of the food left over. Our Lord taught His disciples to practice both thrift and economy with God’s gifts, a principle of good stewardship, 1Co 4:2; 2Ki 4:1-7; 2Ki 4:42-44; Mat 15:27.
3) “Twelve baskets full.” (dodeka kophimods plereis) “Twelve full baskets,” of the excess or left over fragments of fishes and loaves, Mr 6:43; Luk 9:17. Each of the twelve had a basket.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
20. And carried away what was left. The fragments that remained after satisfying so vast a multitude of men were more than twelve times larger in quantity than what was at first put into their hands, and this contributed not a little to the splendor of the miracle. In this way all came to know that the power of Christ had not only created out of nothing the food that was necessary for immediate use, but that, if it should be required, there was also provision for future wants; and, in a word, Christ intended that, after the miracle had been wrought, a striking proof of it should still remain, which, after being refreshed by food, they might contemplate at leisure.
Now though Christ does not every day multiply our bread, or feed men without the labor of their hands or the cultivation of their fields, the advantage of this narrative extends even to us. If we do not perceive that it is the blessing of God which multiplies the corn, that we may have a sufficiency of food, the only obstacle is, our own indolence and ingratitude. That, after we have been supported by the annual produce, there remains seed for the following year, and that this could not have happened but for an increase from heaven, each of us would easily perceive, were he not hindered by that very depravity which blinds the eyes both of the mind and of the flesh, so as not to see a manifest work of God. Christ intended to declare that, as all things have been delivered into his hands by the Father, so the food which we eat proceeds from his grace.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) Twelve baskets full.The basket here is the cophinus, a small basket carried in the hand, and often used by travellers to hold their food. So Juvenal (Sat. iii. 14) describes the Jews of Italy as travelling with their cophinus and a wisp of hay, by way of pillow, as their only luggage. St. John records that the gathering was made by our Lords express commands, that nothing be lost. The marvellous display of creative power was not to supersede forethought, thrift, economy in the use of the gifts it had bestowed. It is probable, from the language of the disciples in Mar. 6:37, and from Joh. 13:29, that they were in the habit of distributing food to the poor in the villages and towns in which they preached, and the fragments were, we may believe, reserved for that use.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. All eat, and were filled Like the widow’s cruse of oil, when a part was taken, its place was instantly supplied by divine power. The loaf remained still as large when the piece was broken off, and each piece in hand imperceptibly became large as the loaf. Was this an original act of creation? Not necessarily. He who guided through the water the fishes to Peter’s net could guide the invisible atomic elements, in however gaseous a form through the air, to form upon the loaf, the material bread. This is but hastening the process that ever is taking place in the growth of the grain. There is but the additional modification produced by heat in the oven; but even this is only a different arrangement of the particles. Twelve baskets full This shows that the miracle was performed upon the bread and not upon the stomach. There was an actual increase of the amount of the material, not a supernatural cessation of the appetite under an imaginary or conceptual food.
The lad’s basket could doubtless have carried the original loaves and fishes. But when a divine bounty gives (so the Saviour’s miracle teaches) it gives plentifully and worthily, the wealth of a God.
The multitudes, John informs us, felt the bounty and the miracle. Tradition had reported to them that the Messiah would rain manna from heaven; and they now exclaim: “This is of a truth that prophet which should come into the world.” They were ready to place upon him the Messianic crown, with the expectation that the time of miraculous plenty and easy life was at hand under his reign. So little, alas! did the most munificent miracle spiritualize their hearts.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they all ate, and were filled, and they took up what remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.’
We may compare here Psa 78:25, ‘He sent them food to the full’; and 2Ki 4:44, ‘they ate and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord’. For these people ate to the full of the Lord’s provision, so much so that of what remained the disciples were able to gather twelve wicker basketfuls, that is, sufficient for ‘the twelve tribes of Israel’. This last was the guarantee of their future provision at His hands. He not only fed them now, He would continue to feed them in the future.
‘And were filled.’ Compare ‘blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled’ (Mat 5:6). It is not only their physical hunger that is to be satisfied. They are also to be satiated with righteousness and salvation. See also Isa 55:2
So that day the needs of His people were met, and both their spirits and their bodies had been satisfied. His own countrymen might turn against Him (Mat 13:53-58), the authorities and Herod could do their worst (Mat 14:1-12), but nothing could hinder the forward movement of God’s purposes through His Deliverer as He led them forward in a new Exodus, feeding them upon Himself as the bread of life received by coming to Him and believing on Him (Joh 6:35).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 14:20 f. . is independent of . ( the fragments that were over ), with which latter also . , twelve baskets full , is in apposition. In travelling, the Jews carried small baskets with them to hold their provisions and other necessaries. For , see Jacobs, ad Anthol. IX. p. 455. It is more general (in Xen. Anab . iii. 8. 6, it is used in the sense of a dung -basket) than (Mat 15:37 ; Act 9:25 ).
] they took up , from the ground on which the people had been eating. The subject of the verb is the apostles (Joh 6:12 ); each of the Twelve fills his travelling-basket. But the are the pieces (comp. Mat 14:19 , ) into which the loaves had been divided, and which had so multiplied in the course of distribution that a great quantity still remained over.
. . .] occurring frequently in classical writers, and sometimes with the order of the words inverted; Maetzner, ad Lycurg . p. 75. But observe here the diminutive , little children , whom their mothers either carried in their arms or led by the hand.
REMARK.
To explain away the miracle , as Paulus has done (who thinks that the hospitable example of Jesus may have induced the people to place at His disposal the provisions they had brought along with them; comp. Gfrrer, Heiligth. u. Wahrh. p. 171 ff.; Ammon, L. J. II. p. 217 f.), is inconsistent with the accounts of all the evangelists, and especially with that of the eye-witness John. Notwithstanding this, Schleiermacher, L. J. p. 234, thought that, even on exegetical principles, the plural in Joh 6:26 (but see note on this passage) would justify him in declining to rank the incident among the miracles; whilst Schenkel thinks he sees his way to an explanation by supposing what is scarcely possible, viz. that Jesus fed the multitude with a rich supply of the bread of life from heaven , which caused them to forget their ordinary food , though at the same time He devoutly consecrated for their use the provisions which they had brought with them, or had managed to procure for the present emergency. Weizscker likewise leaves the fact, which is supposed to underlie the present narrative, too much in a state of perplexing uncertainty; this element of fact, he thinks, must somehow correspond with the symbolism of the miracle, which is intended to teach us that there is no sphere in which the believer may not become a partaker of the fulness of Jesus’ blessing. Keim, adhering above all to the ideal explanation that the bread which Jesus provided was spiritual bread, and referring by way of parallel to the story of the manna and the case of Elisha, follows the Paulus-Schenkel line of interpretation, in conceding a residuum of historical fact, though he seems to doubt whether that residuum will be considered worth retaining. But to eliminate the element of fact altogether , is no less inconsistent with historical testimony. This, however, has been done by Strauss, who thereupon proceeds to account for the narrative, partly by tracing it to some original parable (Weisse, I. p. 510 ff.), partly by treating it as a myth , and deriving it from the types of the Old Testament (Exo 16 ; 1Ki 17:8-16 ; 2Ki 4:42 ff.) and the popular Messianic ideas (Joh 6:30 f.), partly by supposing it to belong to the lofty sphere of ideal legend (Ewald, see note on Joh 6:12 ), and partly by understanding it in a symbolic sense (Hase, de Wette). Such a mode of dealing with this incident is the result of denying the possibility of bringing a creative agency to bear upon dead, rather upon artificially prepared materials, a possibility which is not rendered more conceivable by having recourse to the somewhat poor expedient of supposing that what was done may have been brought about by an accelerated natural process (Olshausen). But that such agency was actually brought to bear, is a historical fact so well established by the unanimous testimony of the evangelists, that we must be contented to accept it with all its incomprehensibility, and, in this case not less than in that of the changing of water into wine at Cana, abandon the hope of being able to get a clearer conception of the process of the miracle by the help of natural analogies. The symbolical application , that is, to the higher spiritual food, was made by our Lord Himself in Joh 6:26 ff.; but, in doing so, He takes the miraculous feeding with material bread as His historical basis and warrant. Moreover, the view of Origen, that it was that Jesus caused the bread to multiply, is greatly favoured by the fact that the circumstance of the thanksgiving is mentioned by the whole four evangelists, and above all by Luke’s expression: .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
Ver. 20. And were filled ] So David’s cup overflowed, Psa 23:5 ; he had not only a sufficience but an affluence. So, at the marriage of Cana, Christ gave them wine enough for 150 guests, Joh 2:10 . Howbeit he hath not promised us superfluities. Having food and raiment, let us be content, 1Ti 6:8 . A little of the creature will serve to carry us through our pilgrimage.
And they took up of the fragments ] Thrift is a great revenue ( ingens vectigal parsimonia ), and good husbandry well pleasing to God, Pro 27:26-27 , so it degenerate not into niggardise.
Twelve baskets full ] If we consider what they are, we may wonder they left anything, as if, what they left, that they ate anything.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20. ] in the construction, is in apposition with .
The cophinus was the usual accompaniment of the Jew: see Juv [137] Sat. iii.14 ‘Judis, quorum cophinus fnumque supellex;’ and Sat. vi. 542. Reland, whom Schttgen (in loc.) follows, supposes that the basket was to carry their own meats on a journey, for fear of pollution by eating those of the Gentiles, and the hay to sleep on for the same reason.
[137] Juvencus , 330
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 14:20 . . . is in appos. with . . They took the surplus of the broken pieces to the extent of twelve baskets. , answering to the Rabbinical , a basket of considerable size (“ein grosses Behltniss,” Wnsche). Each of the Twelve had one. The word recalls the well-known line of Juvenal ( Sat. iii. 14): “Judaeis, quorum cophinus foenumque suppellex,” on which and its bearing on this place vide Schttgen (Hor. Tal.) and Elsner.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
filled = satisfied.
baskets. Greek. kophinos. A small wicker hand-basket.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20. ] in the construction, is in apposition with .
The cophinus was the usual accompaniment of the Jew: see Juv[137] Sat. iii.14-Judis, quorum cophinus fnumque supellex; and Sat. vi. 542. Reland, whom Schttgen (in loc.) follows, supposes that the basket was to carry their own meats on a journey, for fear of pollution by eating those of the Gentiles, and the hay to sleep on for the same reason.
[137] Juvencus, 330
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 14:20. , all) How much more can all partake of the one body of the Lord in the Holy Super.-, of fragments) of most excellent bread; cf. Joh 2:10. A most substantial miracle. The people were not permitted to carry any away for the sake of curiosity.-, twelve) see Gnomon on ch. Mat 16:9. There were remnants also of fishes; see Mar 6:43. They were preserved for future eating, not, like manna, as a memorial.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
were: Mat 5:6, Mat 15:33, Exo 16:8, Exo 16:12, Lev 26:26, 1Ki 17:12-16, 2Ki 4:43, 2Ki 4:44, Pro 13:25, Eze 4:14-16, Hag 1:6, Luk 1:53, Luk 9:17, Joh 6:7, Joh 6:11
and they took: Mat 15:37, Mat 15:38, Mat 16:8-10, 2Ki 4:1-7, Mar 6:42-44, Mar 8:8, Mar 8:9, Mar 8:16-21, Joh 6:12-14
Reciprocal: Rth 2:14 – she did 2Ki 4:6 – when the vessels Psa 78:25 – he sent
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:20
Even had the whole multitude been able each person to have tasted of the amount of bread the disciples had, it would not have been a miracle although a remarkable thing. They not only tasted but ate-not only ate but were filled; which could not have been accomplished naturally with five loaves. And to show that filled was not figurative there were twelve baskets full of fragments taken up. Why bother with these scraps when it was so easy to obtain bread with Jesus with them? Joh 6:12 reports the same event and adds the reason given by Jesus was “that nothing be lost.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
[And they did all eat, and were filled.] So eating; or a repast after food; is defined by the Talmudists; namely, “When they eat their fill. Rabh saith, All eating, where salt is not, is not eating.” The Aruch citing these words, for salt; reads something seasoned; and adds, “It is no eating, because they are not filled.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 14:20. And were filled. Philip had said that 200 pennyworth of bread would only give each a little, but now all had received enough.
Of the broken pieces. The pieces they distributed, pieces, not the refuse.
Twelve baskets full. Baskets such as travellers carried with them. They may have belonged to the disciples, who collected the broken pieces. What was gathered exceeded what was first given out Christ was no waster; He enjoined (Joh 6:12) carefulness and economy at the close of His most abundant bestowment. These fragments were probably for the use of the Twelve, since such miraculous increase was not the rule, but the exception. This circumstance mentioned by all four Evangelists was designed to impress the miracle upon the disciples (comp. chap. Mat 16:9).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
They did all eat, not a crumb or a bit, but to satiety and fullness: They did eat and were filled, yet twelve baskets remained; more was left than was at first set on. So many bellies, and yet so many baskets filled. The miracle was doubled by an act of boundless omnipotency. It is hard to say, which was the greater miracle, the miraculous eating, or the miraculous leaving. If we consider that they ate, we may justly wonder that they left any thing.
Observe farther, these fragments, though of barley bread and fish bones must not be lost; but by our Saviour’s command, gathered up. The liberal housekeeper of the world will not allow the loss of his orts. O how fearful then will the account of those be, who have large and plentiful estates to answer for as lost, being spent upon their lusts in riot and excess!