Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:9
There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
9. a lad ] And therefore able to carry very little. The word is a diminutive in the Greek, a little lad; it might also mean ‘servant,’ but this is less likely.
barley loaves ] The ordinary coarse food of the lower orders; Jdg 7:13. S. John alone mentions their being of barley, and that they belonged to the lad, who was probably selling them. With homely food from so scanty a store Christ will feed them all. These minute details are the touches of an eyewitness.
two small fishes ] Better, two fishes, although the Greek ( opsaria) is a diminutive. The word occurs in this Gospel only ( Joh 6:11, Joh 21:9-10; Joh 21:13), and literally means a little relish, i.e. anything eaten with bread or other food: and as salt fish was most commonly used for this purpose the word came gradually to mean ‘fish’ in particular. Philip had enlarged on the greatness of the difficulty; Andrew insists rather on the smallness of the resources for meeting it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 9. There is a lad here] , a little boy, or servant, probably one who carried the apostles’ provisions, or who came on purpose to sell his bread and fish.
Five barley loaves] Barley scarcely bore one-third of the value of wheat in the east: see Re 6:6. That it was a very mean fare appears from Eze 13:19, where the false prophetesses are said to pollute the name of God for handfuls of barley, i.e. for the meanest reward. And Plutarch, in Apoph. p. 174, speaking concerning the flight of Artaxerxes Mnemon, says he was reduced to such distress as to be obliged to eat barley bread. See Kypke. From this and other circumstances we may plainly perceive that the self-denying doctrine preached by Christ and his apostles was fully exemplified in their own manner of living.
Two small fishes] . The word of signifies whatever is eaten with bread, to perfect the meal, or to make it easy of deglutition, or to help the digestion. There is no word in the English language for it, which is a great defect. The inhabitants of Scotland, and of the north and north-west of Ireland, use the word kytshen, by which they express what ever is eaten with bread or potatoes, as flesh, fish, butter, milk, eggs, c., no satisfactory etymology of which word I am able to offer. In the parallel places in the other three evangelists, instead of , is used so that the word evidently means fish in the text of St. John: See Clarke on Joh 21:5.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There is a lad here,…. Who either belonged to Christ and his disciples, and was employed to carry their provisions for them; which, if so, shows how meanly Christ and his disciples lived; or he belonged to some in the multitude; or rather he came here to sell what he had got:
which hath five barley loaves. The land of Canaan was a land of barley, as well as wheat, De 8:8; this sort of grain grew there in plenty, and was in much use; the Jews had a barley harvest, Ru 1:22, which was at the time of the passover; for on the second day after the passover, the sheaf of the first fruits was waved before the Lord, which was of barley; hence the Targumist on the place just cited, paraphrases it thus;
“they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the passover, and on the day the children of Israel began to reap the sheaf of the wave offering, which was of barley.”
And it was now about the time of the passover, as appears from Joh 6:4, and had it been quite the time, and the barley sheaf had been waved, it might have been thought that these loaves were made of the new barley; but though barley was in use for bread among the Jews, as is evident, from the mention that is made of barley loaves and cakes, 2Ki 4:42; yet it was bread of the coarsest sort, and what the meaner sort of people ate; see Eze 4:12. Yea, barley was used for food for horses and dromedaries, 1Ki 4:28; and since therefore these loaves were, if not designed for the use of Christ and his twelve apostles, yet for some of his followers, and which they all ate of; it is an instance of the meanness and poverty of them: but however, they had better bread than this, even the bread of life, which is afterwards largely treated of in this chapter, which some of them at least ate of; and as our countryman Mr. Dod used to say,
“brown bread and the Gospel are good fare:”
and it may be further observed, that the number of these loaves were but few; there were but “five” of them, for “five thousand” persons; and these do not seem to be very large ones, since one lad was able to carry them; and indeed, these loaves were no other than cakes, in which form they used to be made:
and two small fishes; there were but “two”, and these “small”; it is amazing, that five thousand persons should everyone have something of them, and enough: these fishes seem to be what the Jews c call
, and which the gloss interprets “small fishes”: and by the word which is used of them, they seem to be salted, or pickled fishes, and such it is very probable these were; Nonnus calls them,
, “fishes which were broiled”, or perhaps dried in the sun; see Lu 24:42.
But what are they among so many? everyone cannot possibly have a taste, much less any refreshment, still less a meal.
c T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 60. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 49. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A lad here ( ). Old word, diminutive of , here only in N.T., not genuine in Mt 11:16. How he came to have this small supply we do not know.
Barley (). Adjective, here and verse 13 only in N.T., in the papyri, from , barley (Re 6:6). Considered an inferior sort of bread.
Fishes (). Late diminutive of , common in papyri and inscriptions for delicacies with bread like fish. In N.T. only here, verse John 6:11; John 21:9-13. Synoptics have .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A lad [] . Diminutive. Only here in the New Testament. 28 Only John mentions the lad.
Barley [] . A detail peculiar to John. The word occurs in the New Testament only here and ver. 13. An inferior sort of bread is indicated by the term. Pliny and some of the Jewish writers describe barley as food fit for beasts. Suetonius speaks of a turgid rhetorician as a barley orator, inflated like barley in moisture : and Livy relates how cohorts which had lost their standards were ordered barley for food. Fishes [] . The word occurs only here and at Joh 21:9. The Synoptists use ijcquev. The A. V., small fishes, is intended to render the diminutive. 29 The word means anything that is eaten with bread, and may apply to meat generally, or to what is eaten with bread as a relish. Homer speaks of an onion as a relish [] for drink (” Iliad, ” 11, 630). The term was applied to fish par excellence. Fish became among the Greeks a chief dainty to gourmands, so that Demosthenes describes a glutton and spendthrift as one who is extravagant in fish.
But what are they among so many? Peculiar to John, though the idea is implied in Luk 9:13.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “There is a lad here,” (estin paidarion hode) “There is (exists) a lad here,” at hand, available, one little boy.
2) ”Which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes,” (hos echei pente artous krithinous kai duo opsaria) ”Who has five barley loaves, the cheapest kind of bread, and two fishes,” which he held in charge for the company of the multitude to which lie belonged.
3) “But what are they among so many?” (alla tauta ti estin eis tosoutous) “But what are these among so many?” these few loaves and two small fish, among such a multitude of a weary, hungry caravan? Joh 6:5. We thus observe doubt and skepticism, audibly expressed by two of our Lord’s disciple-apostles, regarding their own ability, from what they had, to feed the great company, Remember our Lord’s inquiry to Philip, in the first place, was to try or test his faith, Joh 6:6. Men of God should still examine” themselves, “whether they be in the faith,” when faced with any seeming crisis in the work of the Lord, 2Co 13:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(9) Again the account of the eye-witness is the more full and life-like. All tell of the five loaves and two fishes. John knows that they are barley loavesthe ordinary black bread of the Galilean peasant; and that the loaves and fishes are not the property of the disciples, but of a lad or slave who has followed the crowd, in the hope, it may be, of finding a purchaser for them.
The word for lad is a diminutive occurring only here (not in the best text of Mat. 11:16), and in many MSS. is accompanied by one. The word may mean a servant, but it more probably means a child. One lad! What could he bear for so many?
Two small fishes.Better, two fishes. This word, too, is rightly regarded as a diminutive, but it is not a diminutive of fish. The original root means to boil; thus the substantive is used, as in Homer, of boiled meat, and then of anything eaten as a relish with bread, and specially of fish. This diminutive is used in the New Testament only here and in Joh. 6:11, and in Joh. 21:9-10; Joh. 21:13. A comparison of the passages will make it clear that St. John means by the word the ordinary relish of fish, which formed, with bread, the staple food of the people.
The whole force of Andrews remark, with its diminutive words, rests upon the smallness of their power to help, while Philip had dwelt on the greatness of the need.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
Ver. 9. Five barley loaves and two small fishes ] Was not Tyrabosco hardly driven, when from these five loaves and two fishes, he concluded seven sacraments? So in the second Council of Nice under Irene, John (one of the envoys of the Eastern churches) proved the making of images lawful, because God had said, “Let us make man after our own image.” A sound argument to overthrow one of God’s commandments! and yet it prevailed.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9. ] , the usual barley bread of the lower orders.
= , Suidas, but of later Greek usage: at first used to signify any thing subsidiary to bread as a relish, such as meat of all kinds, and condiments. Later however, from fish being, in the deeply coast-indented country of Greece, the most common animal food, it came to be applied to that alone or principally (see art. Opsonium in the Dictionary of Gr. and Rom. Antiquities).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 6:9 . . The Synoptic account speaks of these provisions as already belonging to the disciples. , the cheapest kind of bread; see Eze 13:19 , and the extraordinary profusion of illustrations in Wetstein, among which occurs one from the Talmud: “Jochanan dixit, hordeum factum est pulchrum. Dixerunt ei: nuncia equis et asinis”; and from Livy, “Cohortibus, quae signa amiserant, hordeum dari jussit”. , in Mat 14:17 , , see also Joh 21:10 . is whatever is eaten with bread as seasoning or “kitchen,” hence, pre-eminently, fish. So Athenaeus, cited by Wetstein. In Num 11:22 we have . ; exhibiting the helplessness of the disciples and inadequacy of the means, as the background on which the greatness of the miracle may be seen.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
a lad = a little boy. Greek. paidarion. App-108. The “baker boy”, with his basket of barley-loaves, is still to be seen where people congregate.
five. See App-10.
barley. Greek. krithinos. Occurs only here and Joh 6:13. Compare Jdg 7:13. 2Ki 4:42. Eze 13:19.
small fishes. Greek. opsarion. Occurs only here, Joh 6:11, and Joh 21:9, Joh 21:10, Joh 21:13.
among = for. Greek. eis. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] , the usual barley bread of the lower orders.
= , Suidas, but of later Greek usage:-at first used to signify any thing subsidiary to bread as a relish, such as meat of all kinds, and condiments. Later however, from fish being, in the deeply coast-indented country of Greece, the most common animal food, it came to be applied to that alone or principally-(see art. Opsonium in the Dictionary of Gr. and Rom. Antiquities).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 6:9. , a lad) Therefore the load was not a heavy one, consisting of five loaves, especially as there were fishes in addition.-, one [So [115][116] Vulg. But [117][118][119][120][121] omit ]) There was no other source of supply.-) Barley loaves seem to have been smaller than wheaten loaves. Jdg 7:13, [The Midianites dream] A cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, etc. There is no doubt but that the taste of barley bread was perceived by all who then were eating.- , what are they) A form of depreciating.- ; who are ye? [The evil spirit addressing the sons of Sceva] Act 19:15.
[115] the Alexandrine MS.: in Brit. Museum: fifth century: publ. by Woide, 1786-1819: O. and N. Test. defective.
[116] Colbertinus, do.
[117] Veronensis, do.
[118] Bez, or Cantabrig.: Univ. libr., Cambridge: fifth cent.: publ. by Kipling, 1793: Gospels, Acts, and some Epp. def.
[119] Cod. Reg., Paris, of the Gospels: the text akin to that of B: edited by Tisch.
[120] Vercellensis of the old Itala, or Latin Version before Jeromes, probably made in Africa, in the second century: the Gospels.
[121] Veronensis, do.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 6:9
Joh 6:9
There is a lad here, who hath five barley loaves, and two fishes: but what are these among so many?-They were in the wilderness where food could not be obtained, and Andrew suggested that they had these few loaves and fishes as the only chance for bread of which he knew. [Barley was the food only of the lower classes. Probably this was the whole stock of food at the command of the disciples-no more than enough for them.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
which: Mat 14:17, Mat 16:9, Mar 6:38, Mar 8:19, Luk 9:13
barley: Deu 8:8, Deu 32:14, 1Ki 4:28, 2Ki 7:1, Psa 81:16, Psa 147:14, Eze 27:17, 2Co 8:9, Rev 6:6
but: Joh 6:7, Joh 11:21, Joh 11:32, 2Ki 4:42-44, Psa 78:19, Psa 78:41
Reciprocal: Num 11:22 – General 2Ki 4:43 – What Pro 27:7 – to Mat 15:33 – to fill
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
[Five barley loaves.] Compare 2Ki 4:42; and see Chetub; where the masters enhance the number of men fed by Elisha to two thousand two hundred. “Every hundred men had their single loaf set before them.” The Gloss is, “Twenty loaves, and the loaf of the first fruits, behold one-and-twenty; the green ear; behold two-and-twenty: these were all singly set, each of them before a hundred men; and so behold there were two thousand and two hundred fed.” By the same proportion, in our Saviour’s miraculous feeding the people, one single loaf must serve for a thousand.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 6:9. There is a little lad here which hath five barley loaves and two fishes: but what are they among so many? John shows Andrew as standing somewhat in advance of Philip, in that he does not hesitate to think that their little store may be set before the multitude, though he is perplexed at his own suggestion. This is in accordance with the fact that in the lists of the apostles Andrew takes precedence of Philip.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 9
A lad here; perhaps an attendant employed to carry provisions.