Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 9:13
But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
13. We have no more but five loaves and two fishes ] Compare Num 11:22. It was Andrew who first mentioned this fact in a tentative sort of way. The little boy ( paidarion) who carried them seems to have been in attendance on the Apostles; evidently this was the food which they had brought for their own supply, and it proves their simplicity of life, for barley loaves (Joh 6:9) are the food of the poor (2Ki 4:42; Jdg 7:13; Eze 13:19; Eze 4:9).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Luk 9:13-17
Five loaves and two fishes
Feeding the five thousand
I.
All the people of God are stewards of the household of faith, and to God must they render an account.
II. We are to adopt all lawful means by which to escape impending danger. When our Lord was exposed to danger from Herod, though possessed of all power, he adopted human means to escape that danger. We must not allow any fear of encountering perils to deter us from duty.
III. We ought to esteem no sacrifice too great to be made for Christ and His gospel. The people referred to in the text did not think it too much to leave their comfortable homes; but, forsaking all, went into the desert to listen to Him who spake as never man spake. If called to hazard all, and even our life, for the gospel, let us commit ourselves to God.
IV. Our Lord welcomes all who come to Him by faith. When the people came to Him from the villages round about, He refused none, but healed all who had need.
V. Wherever true Christianity exists in the heart, it will manifest its presence by a spirit of benevolence. The disciples saw the night coming on, and wished the multitude to be dismissed, that they might retire to the comforts they needed. Christianity rejoices not only in our own salvation, but also in that of others.
VI. When human aid fails, Divine power is made manifest. VII. We should so receive and enjoy the blessings of heaven as to glorify God. When our Lord received the food, He returned thanks for it, and pronounced a blessing upon it.
VIII. When the mind reposes by faith on the Saviour, there will be ample supplies of grace and favour. Christ never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye My face in vain. Conclusion: In all situations of danger let the people put their trust in Jehovah, remembering that He who is for them is much greater than all who can be against them. (J. Henderson.)
Lessons from the miracle of multiplying the loaves
1. We learn from this miracle that it is our duty to do what we can to supply the bodily wants of others.
2. We here learn that those who follow Christ may trust to Him for the necessaries of life.
3. We are here reminded of the duty of what is commonly called saying grace at meals This was our Lords practice, and it is a duty often enjoined in Scripture.
4. From the particular direction our Lord here gave as to the fragments, we draw the general rule that nothing should be lost, or wasted. To waste our substance is a sinful abuse of Gods gifts. It is one thing to be generous and hospitable; it is quite another to be thoughtless, extravagant, and wasteful. Such wasting is not only offensive to God, but unjust and unkind to our fellow creatures. (J. Foote, M. A.)
Ability developed by responsibility
The vast hunger of the world is a vast responsibility upon the Church and a vast blessing. Christians must supply bread, or the people will perish. The necessity drives them to Christ, compels the bringing forth of their talents and resources, and works enlargement in volume and value.
I. Christ deals with us on principles of a wise economy, builds his supernatural work on our natural resources, and makes a little do the work of abundance.
II. Christ always makes that which we have and bring to Him for His blessing adequate for the needs of the hour. He takes us into partnership with Himself both in His work and its rewards.
III. Weakness made strong in effort for Him. (Anon.)
Food for hungry souls
The Lord helps our souls as He helps our bodies, through the aid of ordained means and sometimes He may cause these means to fall short, and then may supply them as suddenly and abundantly as He multiplied these loaves and fishes. A person may have but little learning–he may be quite unable to read, and may seem to himself as if he did not well understand what he hears–and yet, if he have the fear of God in his heart, and try to live accordingly, he shall eat and be filled with spiritual meat and drink. One good lesson, one verse, one prayer may be a treasure to him which he shall never lose. He may be a good way from Church, he may have few helps at home; but if he really try to make the most of what little he has, God can and will make a good deal of it–to him. Half a prayer remembered as having been learnt in childhood; an old loose Bible or Testament on a shelf; the remembrance of some good Christian formerly known, his sayings, his tone of voice, his manner of coming in and going out–all these and other such things are as the scanty fare of that multitude, which became abundant under His creative hand. (John Keble, M. A.)
Enough for all when Christ distributes
I. THE PEOPLES BODY NEED, AND SOUL NEED.
II. GODS PROVISION FOR BODY AND FOR SOUL.
III. GODS METHOD OF SUPPLY TO BODY AND TO SOUL. Ordinary. Miraculous. Moral. (The Weekly Pulpit.)
Christ in a fourfold aspect
I. Christ in MIRACULOUS BENEFICENCE. Omnipotence is ever instinct with love.
II. Christ in SOCIAL ORDER. Not a God of confusion.
III. Christ in FRUGAL ARRANGEMENT. Nothing in nature runs to waste.
IV. Christ in the PATRONAGE OF HOSPITALITY. Give ye them to eat. Help each other. Conclusion: Follow Christ in all this. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The miraculous feeding of five thousand
The disciples had just returned from the mission in which they had been engaged, and told Him all that they had done. The considerate Master saw that they were exhausted by the fatigue and excitement of their labours. He accordingly seeks to secure them quiet. This they could not have in Capernaum (see Mar 6:31). They take passage privately in a vessel to a desert place near to Bethsaida. In vain did they look here for solitude. They had been observed by the eager multitude, who followed on foot, and were at the landing-place before them. The Lord has compassion on them, and is solicitous for their physical as well as their spiritual well-being. On finding that there are five loaves and two small fishes, He gives the disciples directions for the orderly arrangement of the multitude into companies; and when all were in perfect order He took the loaves and the fishes, and blessed and brake and gave the disciples to set before the multitude. As they passed from hand to hand, the loaves and fishes multiplied so as to become more than sufficient for the great multitude. Every year in the harvest we see this miracle repeated.
1. Learn that order is Christlike, is Divine.
2. That economy is Divine. All the evangelists are careful to record that they gathered up the fragments left. Liberal profusion and true economy always go hand in hand.
3. Learn to relieve the wants of others even when we have but little. It is ours also to feed the hungry. Especially with the bread of life. (D. Longwill.)
Jesus and His bounty
I. THE PROBLEM OF THE DISCIPLES. The desert place, the night, the multitude without food, presented a problem that might well constitute a reason for anxiety to any who were of a sympathetic nature. The circumstances were new and surprising, and were such as to test the weakness, or bring out the strength, of their confidence in the Masters wisdom and power. We all need to be surprised in life. It is the unexpected that shows us what we are. The disciples were perplexed, and very human they were in their perplexity. For the time they seem to have forgotten several things.
1. That the people had followed their Master and not them, and that they were connected with the people through Him. Had the people followed them there would be nothing to do but to send them away. If the case today were between the disciples and the multitude, it would be hopeless.
2. That the Master knew as much, and more, of the multitude than they did.
3. That the Master was moved with compassion towards the people. They had forgotten the most important elements of the problem. They had been looking at the multitude and the night; had been realizing the difficulties very vividly. We, too, look at our multitude, and see the darkness in which they are involved, and tremble as we think of the possible, if not the inevitable issue of what we see. But we do not see the whole when we tremble. God is above the night, and pities all who are in it. God knows, and God pities, and that ought to be enough for our faith, if not for our reason. At length the disciples made their petition, saying, Send the multitude away. The very fact that He was there to receive their requests ought to have reminded them of some of the many things which they had forgotten. For if they had thought, had not He much more than they?
II. THE SOLUTION OF THE MASTER Give ye them to eat.
1. The command seemed extravagant, but they knew that it had not been His habit to gather in where He had not scattered abroad. It made them feel how inadequate they were, with the little they had, to obey it. They had only five loaves and two fishes, do as they would, with a multitude to feed. The loaves were, however, just what the people needed. We have all some little which, if wisely used, may be of benefit to our fellows. We have mind, heart, and opportunity.
2. The Master took the five loaves and the two fishes from the disciples, and manifested His great power through that which they gave Him. He brought them into the fellowship of His mystery. He blessed the loaves which they brought. Our first condition of usefulness is to take the little we have to Christ, if we have only the little. That which is blessed by Him is equal to all that lifes occasion demands.
3. After the blessing came the breaking, but it does not seem that the loaves appeared to be more than five after they were blessed.
4. Although there is enough and to spare, there is nothing to be wasted. (J. O. Darien.)
Give ye them to eats—
Duty not measured by our own ability
The narrative suggests and illustrates the following important principle:–THAT MEN ARE OFTEN, AND PROPERLY, PUT UNDER OBLIGATION TO DO THAT FOR WHICH THEY HAVE, IN THEMSELVES, NO PRESENT ABILITY. God requires no man to do, without ability to do; but He does not limit His requirements by the measures of previous or inherently contained ability. He has made provision in many ways for the enlargement of our means and powers so as to meet our emergencies. And He does this on a large scale, and by system–does it in the natural life, and also in the works and experiences of the life of faith.
1. To begin at the very lowest point, it is the nature of human strength and fortitude bodily to have an elastic measure, and to be so let forth or extended as to meet the exigencies that arise. Muscular strength and endurance are often suddenly created or supplied by some great emergency for which they are wanted.
2. So, also, it is in the nature of courage to increase in the midst of perils and because of them, and courage is the strength of the heart.
3. Intellectual force, too, has the same elastic quality, and measures itself, in the same way, by the exigencies we are called to meet. Task it, and for that very reason it grows efficient. It discovers its own force by the exertion of force. All great commanders, statesmen, lawgivers, scholars, preachers, have found the powers unfolded in their calling, and by their calling, which were necessary for it.
4. The same thing is true, and quite as remarkably, of what we call moral power. Not seldom is it a fact that the very difficulty and grandeur of a design, which some heroic soul has undertaken to execute, exalts him at once to such a pre-eminence of moral power that mankind are exalted with him, and inspired with energy and confidence by the contemplation of his magnificent spirit. The great and successful men of history are commonly made by the great occasions they fill. As with David, so with Nehemiah, Paul, Luther. A Socrates, a Tully, a Cromwell, a Washington, all the great master-spirits, the founders and law-givers of empires and defenders of the rights of man, are made by the same law.
5. How childish, then, is it in religion, to imagine that we are called to do nothing save what we have ability to do beforehand; ability in ourselves to do. We have, in fact, no such ability at all, no ability that is inherent, as respects anything laid upon us to do. Our ability is what we can have, and then our duty is graduated by what we can have. This is the Christian doctrine everywhere.
6. This doctrine opposed to two opposite errors:
(1) That of those who think the demand of the religious life so limited and trivial as to require but little care and small sacrifice; and
(2) that of those who look upon them as being so many and so great, that they are discouraged under them. (H. Bushnell, D. D.)
Between the Lord of life and the famishing multitudes
1. The multitude in a desert place was representative to the Saviours mind of vaster multitudes all over the earth.
2. The bread He supplied for mens bodies was suggestive of the bread He was to supply for their souls.
3. The position of the disciples, then, is the position of the disciples still–we stand between the Lord of life and the famishing multitudes. We may still hear the words ringing in our ears, Give ye them to eat.
I. IT IS A COMMAND ON BEHALF OF THE FAMISHING MULTITUDES.
1. They have not the knowledge of God.
2. They have not the knowledge of the meaning of life.
3. They have not the knowledge of the gospel.
II. IT IS A COMMAND FROM THE LORD OF LIFE.
1. He has compassion on the multitudes.
2. He has provided bread for the multitudes.
3. It is His prerogative to command to give to the multitudes,
III. IT IS A COMMAND TO DISCIPLES AS STANDING BETWEEN THE LORD OF LIFE AND THE FAMISHING MULTITUDES.
1. We are to sympathize with the multitudes.
2. We are to be the medium of communication between Christ and the multitudes in the distribution of bread.
3. We are to distribute to the multitudes in hope.
The day is coming when the Church, turning to its Lord, shall say, All the famishing multitudes are now fed. And after its task has been accomplished it will feel so strong in the means of extension, that there will be, as it were, twelve baskets over, out of which many more might have been fed. (R. Finlayson, B. A.)
Confidence in Christs power to supply necessity
During the retreat of Alfred the Great, at Athelney, in Somersetshire, after the defeat of his forces by the Danes, the following circumstance happened, which, while it convinces us of the extremities to which that great man was reduced, will give us a striking proof of his pious, benevolent disposition. A beggar came to his little castle there and requested alms, when his queen informed him that they had only one small loaf remaining, which was insufficient for themselves and their friends, who were gone in quest of food, though with little hopes of success. The king replied, Give the poor Christian one halt of the loaf. He that could feed five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes can certainly make that half loaf suffice for more than our necessity. Accordingly, the poor man was relieved, and this noble act of charity was soon recompensed by a providential store of fresh provisions, with which his people returned. (W. Buck.)
Valuable fragments
A carpet from the San Francisco Mint was burned the other day, and yielded 505 worth of gold dust, which had fallen in imperceptible particles during five years use. In life take care of the minute things. These particles of gold seemed little indeed as they floated away, but they made a grand total. So it will be in life if we improve every moment of time, every scrap of knowledge, every, degree of influence, every opportunity of being good, getting good, doing good. A wise economy of the grains of gold brings out massive talents some day. Take care and value apparently mean things. The carpet on which men walked in the Mint was sown with gold, although they knew it not. All our common things, tasks, duties, are full of the dust of gold. That on which men trample would yield crowns for their head if they only knew it and walked wisely. Make the best of a life of trifles, and we shall one day be astonished at the splendid result. God will not let our good doings perish, Small as they may be. He will gather up the fragments to our eternal enrichment. The body will dissolve in the crucible of the grave, the earth be burned up as the carpet was, but the fine gold of true human life shall be gathered up in an eternal weight of glory. (Christian Journal.)
Saying grace at meals
Without meaning to say that any precise form, or length, or numeration of particulars, is necessary, the following hints may be given as of general application. A grace is a prayer before, or after meat, which circumstances require to be short, but which ought always to be solemn and earnest, never formal and careless. It most expressly requires an acknowledgment of God as the Author of our mercies, and a petition for His blessing along with them: and, as presented by Christians, it ought, in some way, to refer to the gospel, and spiritual things, and be concluded in the name of Christ. At a solitary meal, the duty must by no means be neglected; and then ones own private feelings may be more particularly consulted as to the matter. At a social meal, time and circumstances, in what is indifferent, may be, and ought to be, considered; but all present ought to hear what is said, and join heartily in it, else it is no grace, no act of blessing and thanksgiving of theirs. Children ought to be early instructed in the nature of this duty, and taught and accustomed reverentially to discharge it. Nor ought it ever afterwards to be discontinued. The due observance of this pious custom adorns the best furnished table, and ennobles and sweetens the plainest fare. Let no man, who should be expected to discharge this honourable service before others, whether he be minister, or landlord, or other person residing, or taking a lead for the time, be afraid or ashamed so to do. (J. Foote, M. A.)
Ancient graces before meals
From the earliest time our Lords act has been taken as a model, and the Jewish custom, being reconfirmed by our Lords example, has passed into the practice of Christian people. Examples remain of the early graces, as used both in the Eastern and Western Churches. The postolical Constitutions furnish the following as a prayer at a mid-day meal: Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who feedest me from my youth up, who givest food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness; that, always having a sufficiency, we may abound unto every good work, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom be glory and honour and power unto Thee, world without end, Amen. This prayer, slightly varied, is also given to be said after meals in a treatise improbably ascribed to St. Athanasius. (Biblical things not generally known.)
Divine provision, human distribution
1. Rationalizing tendency to explain away miracles on natural grounds wrong, but like many wrong things, a perversion of that which is right. It is a right and a reverent thing not to suppose a miracle where natural explanation sufficient. Peculiarity of New Testament miracles, which distinguishes them from absurd stories of apocryphal Gospels, that they all have a worthy purpose, and a purpose which could only be attained by the putting forth a supernatural power. But not everything, even in a miracle, is miraculous, for–
2. Christ multiplied the loaves miraculously, but He distributed the provision thus made by natural means, human instrumentality. Necessity for miracle ceased with rendering supply sufficient.
3. We have in this an illustration of the method of Gods working. God does not need human co-operation to enable Him to carry out His purposes. But He chooses that, while the power which makes the provision is of necessity Divine, the instruments of its distribution shall be human. Reason to be found in constitution of human nature and in blessedness of results. Good for recipient that he shall receive from brother-man. More blessed still for distributor.
4. Each disciple would feel it an unspeakable privilege to be made a dispenser of Christs beneficence. Can you imagine one holding back? How is it now, with us?
5. The personal responsibility involved in this law of human instrumentality. Suppose one of the disciples had begun to argue with himself that it was folly to give away what they might need for themselves, and had hidden away a loaf in the folds of his robe, may we not imagine that in that case the reverse of the miracle would have been enacted? What I gave I kept, etc. (J. R. Bailey.)
Gave
kept giving; the tense shows the manner in which the increase of bread took place. (A. Cart, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
And he said to them, give ye them to eat,…. Signifying, that it was not his will to dismiss people, and send them scattering abroad into the adjacent cities, towns, or houses; and that there was no need of it, but that his will was, that they should be supplied with provisions out of their stock:
and they said, we have no more than five loaves and two fishes; and these loaves were barley loaves, and the fishes small, Joh 6:9
except we should go and buy meat for all this people; which would at least cost them two hundred pence; and which they represent as impossible to be done, either through want of so much money, or the scarcity of provision in those parts; where, had they money, it would be difficult, at least to get such a quantity of provisions at once, which so great a number of persons required.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Except we should go and buy food ( ). This is a condition of the third class with the aorist subjunctive (), where the conjunction is usually (with negative ), but not always or necessarily so especially in the Koine. So in 1Co 14:5 and in Php 3:12 . “Unless” is better here than “except.”
Food (), means eaten pieces from , to eat, somewhat like our “edibles” or vernacular “eats.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Give ye. The ye emphatic, closing the sentence in the Greek order. See on Mt 14:15.
Buy food. Compare Mr 6:37.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But he said unto them, give ye them to eat.” (eipen de pros autous dote autois phagein humeis) “Then he said directly to them (the twelve) you all give (dole out) to them to eat,” Mar 6:37; Mat 14:6. Jesus was no less tender to care for the masses than He was powerful to heal them. The church of the Lord should be the chief source of giving alms in every place.
2) “And they said, we have no more but five loaves and two fishes;” (hoi de eipan ouk eisin hemin pleion a artoi pente kai echthues duo) “Then they replied, we have no more than five loaves and two fishes,” five barley loaves, bread of the very poor, Joh 6:9. Yet Jesus used the “little” to bless the “many”, 1Co 1:27-28; Mar 6:38. It seemed but a slender bill of goods to feed that multitude.
3) “Except we should go and buy meat for all the people.” (ei meti poreuthentes hemis agorasomen eis panta ton laon touton bromata) “Unless we may go and buy food for all this people,” for this huge crowd, and they had only two hundred pennyworth with them, Mar 6:37. They (the disciples) could think of no other plan.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(13) Buy meat.Better, food.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘But he said to them, “You give them to eat.” ’
Jesus’ reply was, ‘You give to them to eat.” (The ‘you’ is emphasised). Compare Mar 6:37. Jesus had a number of lessons that He wanted to bring home to His disciples, and the first was their responsibility for ‘feeding’ the people, especially when He was gone (compare Joh 21:15-17).
We must take this statement at face value. His Apostles had now experienced what it was like to perform miracles of healing. They knew now that they were fully a part of His present mission. And He hoped that they knew that He was the Messiah. In that case, Jesus is asking, why did they not exercise their new found power and authority by doing as Elisha’s servant had done (2Ki 4:42-44), and feeding the crowd with whatever food they had? Note how His command to them is very similar to that of Elisha to the man who brought the loaves. There Elisha had given his command and Elisha’s deputy had fed the four hundred at Elisha’s command. Jesus wanted His disciples to do the same, acting as Hid deputies.
( In LXX Elisha says, ‘dote tow laow’ – ‘give to the people’. Here 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 Luk 9:43 where ‘the Lord’ says they shall eat. Luke may well have been distinguishing Jesus from Elisha by deliberately using the verb ‘the Lord’ used. And besides, while Luke does use a Greek text similar to LXX his quotations do not always by any means square with LXX, thus his version might have here used phagomai, which is synonymous with esthio).
But their faith was as yet insufficient for them to be willing to obey Him, and He had this confirmed when they began to speak of going and buying food. If only they had gone ahead distributing what little they had, what a blessing it would have been to them as it multiplied. But they still had much to learn, and they missed the opportunity.
This would not be the only time when Jesus told them to do something, and then let the matter drop when they proved to be obtuse (compare the swords – Luk 22:36-38). But when they did fail to respond Jesus knew what in the end He intended to do, and from it would come important lessons. (That they were at this time spiritually blind to the possibilities is forcibly brought out in Mar 8:14-21). These include:
That His disciples might see their own future in terms of meeting the needs of men and women. They must ‘give them to eat’. Having initially opened their ministry in their recent mission, it would continue to be their responsibility to provide both physical and spiritual sustenance to the people, in the same way as He provided it to the Apostles. With regard to the physical side they would in fact seek to carry this out literally in Acts (see Act 2:44-47; Act 4:32-37). And the church has rightly continued to see one of its functions as providing for the physical needs of the needy. But the equal importance of their ministering to the spiritual side also soon came home to them. They later knew that they were not to allow ‘serving tables’ to prevent their preaching of the word (Act 6:1-3).
That they might realise that He was now here as the Messiah to spread a table before those who looked to Him (compareIsa 25:6 and extratestamental literature). He wanted them to see Him as the source of true provision for all men’s needs. And this would in the end be ministered through His Apostles and those whom they appointed.
That they might appreciate that He was here among them as a second Moses, the one who gave them bread from Heaven to eat. Moses had been with the multitude in the wilderness, and had fed them ‘from Heaven’. Jesus was now here among them in the wilderness to give better bread than Moses gave them, the true Bread which has come down from Heaven to give life to the world (Joh 6:33).
That they might recognise that He was here among men in order to establish a new covenant, something symbolised by this covenant meal. A new covenant community was in process of formation, and this is what this meal symbolised. He emphasised this again shortly afterwards (Mat 16:18). It would be composed of all those who came in faith to Him for provision, expressing their need, including this crowd who had been willing to go so far out of their way to be here, which in itself expressed their faith. In Luk 22:19 the breaking of the bread would expand to symbolise His body. Here He was symbolising the fact that He could feed their souls (Joh 6:35). From this meal therefore all were to learn that if they would be spiritually fed it must be through Jesus Christ, and that He had sufficient and to spare in order to do this.
That they may know that He was among men in order to feed their inner beings (see John 6), something which in the end only He could do, and he would shortly make clear that this would be through His death (Joh 6:51-58). But His main aim was that this physical provision might be seen by them as an acted out parable similar to those of the prophets whereby they would recognise that He was offering to feed their souls. It was a display of quiet power that evidenced His limitless resources.
If they learned their lesson from it never again would the Apostles, or the other disciples, see any situation as impossible for Him to deal with.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fishes, unless we should go and buy food for all this people.” ’
The disciples blankly missed their opportunity, and He did not press it. Instead of obeying Him (they fell short of the obedience of Elisha’s servant) they pointed to what resources they had. They had five loaves and two fishes. As far as they were concerned in their state at that time that was insufficient.
The predominance in the passage of significant numbers stresses that the numbers were not only genuine (they were in proportion to each other) but also symbolic. Five in Israel is ever the number of covenant. This helps to bring out that this was to be a covenant meal, and that they were to learn that in the covenant they had sufficient provision for all their need. As well as the five indicating covenant the combination of five and two making seven indicated sufficiency of divine provision. These would then be supplied to five thousand men in groups of fifty, indicating a covenant community divided up in covenant fashion.
But the disciples were thinking ‘practically’. So they pointed out that this tiny meal (they would be small round barley loaves) could hardly begin to feed the crowd. The thought that they should obey Jesus does not even seem to have crossed their minds. They were still very much ‘half blind’ (see Mar 8:24 which deliberately pictured how the Apostles were at that time). They simply emphasised to Jesus the fact of the total inadequacy of supply. It is doubtful, in fact, if they had any other intention than that. They probably did not expect Jesus to do anything about it either. Their dull response would bring home to Jesus how far they still had to go in recognising their calling.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
Ver. 13. Except we should go, &c. ] Which is a thing not only improbable, but impossible. They held it an absurd notion.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13. ] unless indeed we were to go and buy, &c. On the construction see 1Co 9:11 (v. r.); Luk 14:5 : Rev 11:5 (re [74] .); and Winer, 41. b . 2 prope fin., edn. 6.
[74] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 9:13 . : on the construction, vide Winer, 58, 4 obs. 1. , unless perhaps we are to buy, etc.; with subjunctive is one of the forms of protasis in N. T. to express a future supposition with some probability, takes also present and future indicative. Vide Burton, M. and T., 252. That Lk. did not regard this proposal as, if possible, very feasible, appears from his mentioning the number present at this stage
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
no. Greek. ou. App-105.
fishes; except. Supply the logical Ellipsis (App-6): “fishes, [therefore we are not able to give them to eat] except we should go”, &c.
except = unless indeed.
meat = food.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
13.] -unless indeed we were to go and buy, &c. On the construction see 1Co 9:11 (v. r.); Luk 14:5 : Rev 11:5 (re[74].); and Winer, 41. b. 2 prope fin., edn. 6.
[74] TheTextus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Give: 2Ki 4:42, 2Ki 4:43, Mat 14:16, Mat 14:17, Mar 6:37, Mar 6:38, Joh 6:5-9
have: Num 11:21-23, Pro 11:24, Pro 11:25
Reciprocal: 2Ki 4:38 – Set on the great pot Mat 15:33 – to fill Mat 16:9 – the five loaves Mar 8:5 – How Luk 8:45 – the multitude Joh 4:8 – to buy Joh 6:1 – these Joh 6:9 – which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
NO POWER IN OURSELVES
Give ye them to eat.
Luk 9:13
There is an important principle underlying these words. It is that men are often put under obligation to do that for which they have, in themselves, no present ability.
I. Human strength.It is the nature of human strength and bodily fortitude to have an elastic measure, and to be so let forth or extended as to meet the exigencies that arise. Within certain limits, for man is limited in everything, the body gets the strength it wants in the exercise for which it is wanted. God may fitly call a given man to a course of life which requires much robustness and a high power of physical endurance, on the ground that when he is fully embarked on his calling, the robustness will come, or will be developed in it and by means of it, though previously it seemed not to exist.
II. Intellectual force.This, too, has the same elastic quality, and measures itself in the same way, by the exigencies we are called to meet. Task it, and for that very reason it grows efficient. Plunge it into darkness, and it makes a sphere of light. It discovers its own force by the exertion of force, measures its capacity by the difficulties it has endured, its appetite for labour by the labour it has endured. All great commanders, statesmen, lawgivers, scholars, preachers, have found the powers unfolded in their calling, and by it, which were necessary for it.
III. Moral power.The same also is true, quite as remarkably, of what we sometimes call moral power. By this we mean the power of a life and a character, the power of good and great purposes, that power which comes at length to reside in a man distinguished in some course of estimable or great conduct. No other power of man compares with this, and there is no individual who may not be measurably invested with it. Integrity, purity, goodness, success of any kind, in the humblest persons or in the lowest walks of duty, begin to invest them finally with a character, and create a certain sense of momentum in them. Other men expect them to get on because they are getting on, and bring them a repute that sets them forward, give them a salute that meanssuccess. This kind of power is neither a natural gift nor, properly, an acquisition; but it comes in upon one and settles on him like a crown of glory, while discharging with fidelity his duties to God and man.
Illustrations
(1) Who is that gracious Teacher who had compassion on this starving multitude in the wilderness and said to His disciples, Give ye them to eat? It is Jesus Himself, ever pitiful, ever kind, ever ready to show mercy, even to the unthankful and the evil. And He is not altered. He is just the same to-day as He was eighteen hundred years ago. High in heaven at the right hand of God He looks down on the vast multitude of starving sinners who cover the face of the earth. He still pities them, still cares for them, still feels for their helplessness and need. And He still says to His believing followers, Behold this multitude, give ye them to eat.
(2)But all things He forsook, to give Himself
To ministry among the poor and sad, wherever need
Was bitterest, and the heart was pierced the most;
Wherever want most sad, and pain most sore,
Through the dark hours His steadfast watchings wore,
The touches of His tenderness were spent;
Till from the saved, the succoured, the consoled,
One voice of blessing clung around His name.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
3
Jesus opened the exercises of the occasion by telling the apostles to feed the multitude. They explained how small was their supply of food at hand.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; {d} except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
(d) This is said imperfectly, and therefore we must understand it to mean something like this: “We cannot give them to eat unless we go and buy, etc.”.