Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 6:37
He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
37. Shall we go and buy ] With one mouth they seem to have reiterated what St Philip had said earlier in the day.
two hundred pennyworth ] The specifying of this sum is peculiar to St Mark and St John. The word translated penny is the denarius, a silver coin of the value originally of 10 and afterwards of 16 ases. The denarius was first coined in b. c. 269, or 4 years before the first Punic war, and originally was of the value of 8 d. of our money, later it = 7 d. It was the day-wages of a labourer in Palestine (Mat 20:2; Mat 20:9; Mat 20:13). “It so happens that in almost every case where the word denarius occurs in the N. T. it is connected with the idea of a liberal or large amount; and yet in these passages the English rendering names a sum which is absurdly small.” Prof. Lightfoot on the Revision of the N. T. p. 166.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
37. He answered and said untothem“They need not depart” (Mt14:10).
Give ye them to eatdoubtlesssaid to prepare them for what was to follow.
And they say unto him, Shallwe go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them toeat?“Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of breadis not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little”(Joh 6:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat,…. This he said to try their faith, and make way for the following miracle:
and they say unto him, shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? This might be just the sum of money they now had in the bag, as Grotius, and others conjecture; and the sense be, shall we lay out the two hundred pence, which is all we have in hand, to buy bread for this multitude? is it proper we should? is it thy will that so it should be? and if we should do so, as Philip suggests, Joh 6:7, it would not be enough to give every one a little: wherefore they say this, as amazed that he should propose such a thing unto them: or the reason of mentioning such a sum, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, might be, because that this was a noted and celebrated sum among the Jews, and frequently mentioned by them. A virgin’s dowry, upon marriage, was “two hundred pence” c; and so was a widow’s; and one that was divorced d, if she insisted on it, and could make good her claim: this was the fine of an adult man, that lay with one under age; and of a male under age, that lay with a female adult e; and of one man that gave another a slap of the face f. This sum answered to six pounds and five shillings of our money.
c Misn. Cetubot, c. 1. sect. 2. & 4. 7. & 5. 1. d Ib. c. 2. sect. 1. & 11. 4. e Ib. c. 1. sect. 3. f Misn. Bava Kama, c. 6. sect. 8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall we go and buy, etc. This question and Christ ‘s answer are peculiar to Mark.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He answered and said unto them,” (ho de apokrithes eipen autois) “Then He replied to them,” responded to their request or suggestion to Him.
2) “Give ye them to eat.” (dote autois humeis phagem) “You all give them to eat,” something to eat, to satisfy their hunger, before they begin plodding away to find a resting place for the night, Mat 10:8 b; Joh 6:5-14.
3) “And they say into Him,” (kai legousin auto) “And they responded to Him,” to His instructions to them, Mat 14:15-21; Luk 9:10-17; Joh 6:1-14.
4) “Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread,” (apelthontes agorasomen denarion diakosion artous) “Shall we go out and buy two hundred denarii (pennyworth) of bread?” This is apparently all the money they had in their expense account at the time, about thirty dollars.
5) “And give them to eat?” (kai dosomen autois phagein) ”And just dole it out to them to eat?” Our lord had already taught them to “ask day by day” (one day at a time) for daily bread from the Father. Freely they had received what they had, of food, clothing, money, and spiritual blessings, “freely they were to share,” Luk 6:38; 2Co 9:6-8.
Let it be observed that in compassionate physical and social sharing with the needy the world may see Jesus Christ in true disciples, Mat 5:15-16; Joh 13:34-35.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘But he answered and said to them, “You give them to eat.”
We must not miss the force of these words. The ‘you’ is emphatic. Jesus knew that they had no food to give. He knew that they would be baffled. But He wanted them first to be aware that feeding this crowd would require something special, secondly that it was in the future to be their responsibility to feed His people, and thirdly that there were in Him the resources they needed for the task, something that they needed to become confident about. They must recognise that they could not foist the task off on others because of the difficulties. They had to be the shepherds with His support. And feed the crowds they in fact would. It was an important lesson.
This was an amplification of the lesson that they had learned about trusting God for provision while out on their ministries. Now they had to trust God for others too. It is difficult to avoid the impression that Jesus has 2Ki 4:42 in mind, where Elisha says to his followers, ‘Give to the people that they may eat’, at a time when there was patently too little food for everyone. There it was followed by the insufficient becoming sufficient and to spare. Was Jesus then testing out His disciples to see what they would do, and how they would respond? After all they had claimed that they had ‘understood’ about the coming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Mat 13:51). Did they have sufficient understanding and faith for this moment? There may have been a slight hope at the back of His mind that it would be so, but the more probable significance in what He is doing is that He wants His disciples to recognise that in following Him and being His Apostles they must take responsibility for believers, not leave them to themselves.
( In LXX Elisha says, ‘dote tow laow’ – ‘give to the people’. Here in the translation from the Aramaic Jesus says ‘dote autois’ – ‘give to them’. LXX then uses esthio while Jesus uses phagein, but it should be noted that LXX then has phagomai in Mar 6:43 where ‘the Lord’ says they shall eat. Mark’s source may well have been distinguishing Jesus from Elisha by deliberately using the verb ‘the Lord’ used).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii of bread and give them to eat?”
The disciples were both incredulous and possibly a little peeked (Matthew and Luke tone this down). They knew, and knew that Jesus knew, that they did not have enough funds. Food for this great crowd would take the day’s wages of two hundred men (a denarius was a day’s wage – Mat 20:2). How then could He expect them to feed them? It was not quite fair. Had this story been an invention there is no way that these words, spoken in this way, would have been included
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
Ver. 37. Shall we go and buy, &c. ] q.d. Yes, a likely matter surely; where’s your money? have we 200 pence to cater for such a company? It is interrogatio cum admiratione, atque adeo cum ironia quadam coniuncta, saith Beza. A question not without a jeer.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
37. ] This verse is to me rather a decisive proof that (see above) Mark had not seen John’s account; for how could he, having done so, and with his love for accurate detail, have so generalized the particular account of Philip’s question? That generalization was in the account which he used , and the circumstance was more exactly related by John, as also the following one concerning Andrew.
] I prefer placing the interrogation at the end of the sentence, as simpler and less harsh than the arrangement of Lachm. (interrog. af [21] . , full stop at end) or Tischd [22] . (comma, full stop). The two verbs will then be rendered must we go and buy, &c , and shall we (thus) give them to eat?
[21] ft after.
[22] ischdf Tischendorf.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 6:37 . . . , loaves of (purchasable for) 200 denarii; the sum probably suggested by what the Twelve knew they were in possession of at the time = seven pounds in the purse of the Jesus-circle (Grotius, Holtz., H. C.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
He = But He.
Give. This is the Lord’s higher thought.
Shall we go, &c. This question and Christ’s answer are a Divine supplement only here.
pennyworth. See App-51.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
37.] This verse is to me rather a decisive proof that (see above) Mark had not seen Johns account; for how could he, having done so, and with his love for accurate detail, have so generalized the particular account of Philips question? That generalization was in the account which he used, and the circumstance was more exactly related by John, as also the following one concerning Andrew.
] I prefer placing the interrogation at the end of the sentence, as simpler and less harsh than the arrangement of Lachm. (interrog. af[21]. , full stop at end) or Tischd[22]. (comma, full stop). The two verbs will then be rendered must we go and buy, &c , and shall we (thus) give them to eat?
[21] ft after.
[22] ischdf Tischendorf.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 6:37. , are we to buy) The disciples intimate, by this question, that there is on their part no want of the will, both to give their exertion in going away, and their money, as much as they had, in buying what was needed; but what is wanting is the ability to satisfy such a multitude. Therefore, in their question, they fix on the sum two hundred denarii,[48] not so much according to the supply which was in their purse at the time, as according to the number of the multitude. See what can be elicited from the data furnished to us: 5000 men is to 200 denarii, as one man is to 1/25th of a denarius, i.e. about half of a German kreuzer (halfpenny). We have, besides the argument of changing the old money [mintage] into new, that expression of Joh 6:7, that every one of them may take a little especially at that time of year, about the Passover, Joh 6:4, when the price of provisions is usually higher; we have also the rational computation of the disciples, whereby in contrast on the opposite side is illustrated the omnipotence of our Lord. The sum of 200 zuzi, or denarii, was among the Hebrews very frequent in the case of a dowry or fine: but this does not oppose the analogy of the 200 denarii and 5000 men.
[48] Pence: though the denarius, originally so called from being = 10 asses, is really somewhat more than 71/2 pence; or, according to its earlier value, 81/2 pence.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
give: Mar 8:2, Mar 8:3, 2Ki 4:42-44, Mat 14:16, Mat 15:32, Luk 9:13, Joh 6:4-10
Shall: Num 11:13, Num 11:21-23, 2Ki 7:2, Mat 15:33, Joh 6:7
pennyworth: “The Roman penny is sevenpence halfpenny; as Mat 18:28, *marg.
Reciprocal: Num 11:22 – General 2Ki 4:38 – Set on the great pot 2Ki 4:43 – What Mat 14:17 – General Mar 8:4 – From
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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The disciples did not understand how Jesus meant for them to reed them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
[Two hundred pence.] I. Denarius and zuz are of the same value among the Rabbins. “The fourth part of a shekel of silver in the Targum is one zuz of silver. For a shekel of the law was selaa. And so in the Targum, a shekel; is selaa; and is worth four denarii;” or pence.
But now a penny and zuz are the same: “They call pence; in the language of the Gemara, zuzim.”
II. But now two hundred zuzees; or pence; was a sum very famous, and of very frequent mention. “If one of elder years lay with a woman of less years, or if one of less years lay with a woman of elder years, or one that is wounded, their portion is two hundred zuzees.” “If one gives another a blow upon the cheek, let him give him two hundred zuzees.” “A woman that is now become a widow, or dismissed by a divorce, who was married a virgin, let her have for her portion two hundred zuzees.”
Hence, perhaps, is the same number of two hundred pence in the mouth of the disciples, because it was a most celebrated sum, and of very frequent mention in the mouths of all.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Verse 37
Two hundred pennyworth. The denominations and the value of money have so entirely changed since those times, that we cannot fix upon any sum of modern currency as corresponding to the amount here named. It was doubtless a large sum in relation to the resources of the disciples.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? 38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
Ah at least there was someone that was anticipating the need for food in the crowd. Someone had some bread and fish. Not exactly a value meal at McDonalds but better than nothing.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
6:37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, {r} Shall we go and buy {s} two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
(r) This is a kind of demand and wondering, with a subtle mockery, which men commonly use when they begin to get angry and refuse to do something.
(s) Which is about twenty crowns, which is five pounds.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus suggested that the disciples feed the people because He wanted them to realize their inability to do so. The word "you" is emphatic in the Greek text. Having admitted their inability, Jesus’ ability would make a greater impression on them. It would teach them that He was different from them. The disciples’ response shows that they had not yet learned to look to Jesus for all their needs. Instead of asking Him to provide what the people needed, they calculated the cost of the food and concluded that they could not afford to pay for it. Two hundred denarii was the equivalent to an entire year’s wages for a day laborer.