Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 8:6
And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and broke, and gave to his disciples to set before [them]; and they did set [them] before the people.
6. to sit down ] Where is not distinctly specified. All we can certainly gather is that it was on the eastern side of the Lake, and in a desert spot (Mat 15:33), possibly about the middle or southern end of the Lake.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground,….
[See comments on Mt 15:35];
and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake them;
[See comments on Mt 15:36];
and gave to his disciples to set before [them], the multitude,
and they did set [them] before the people; in which they were obedient to their Lord’s commands, though they were so forgetful, unbelieving, and stupid.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Brake and gave ( ). Constative aorist followed by imperfect. The giving kept on.
To set before them ( ). Present subjunctive describing the continuous process.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
To sit down [] . Lit., to recline.
Brake and gave. See on Mr 6:41.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground,” (kai parangellei to ochlo anapesein epi te ges) “And He appealed to (instructed) the crowd to sit down (or recline), orderly to be at ease on the ground,” and they obeyed Him, without question! 0! that sinners would obey His commands to them today, Joh 2:5; Joh 14:15; Joh 15:14; Jas 1:21.
2) “And He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks,” (kai labon tous hepta artous eucharistesas) “And taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks,” to the Father, using what they had, adding His blessings to those who obeyed, Joh 15:5.
3) “And brake and gave to His disciples,” (eklasen kai edidou tois mathetais autou) “He broke (the loaves) and doled them out to His disciples,” for them to distribute, thus training them in His service while demonstrating to them His miraculous power to provide.
4) ”To set before them (hina paratithosen) “In order that they might serve the crowd,” or give bread to the whole multitude, share with them, Ecc 11:1-3.
5) “And they did set them before the people.” (kai parethekan to ochlo) “And they served the crowd,” sat before the seated groups, passing them food from the Lord, to satisfy their hunger, in obedience to their Lord’s call to serve, Eph 2:10.
As great harvests come from few seeds, so much blessings come from faithful sowing, Psa 126:5-6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(6) To sit down.The Greek word implies the usual Eastern position of reclining, rather than our sitting.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke and gave to his disciples to set before them. And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish, and having blessed them he commanded to set these also before them.”
Some have likened this to the giving of bread at the Lord’s Supper, but while in some way it prepared for the latter it is interesting that here He gave thanks for the bread while in Mar 6:41 and Mar 14:22 He blessed it. Here it is the fish that He blessed. Had Mark intended to bring out the parallel this is not what we would have expected. (Interestingly in Mar 14:23 he gave thanks for the wine). Thus there is no slavish following of a recognised liturgy and we should recognise that what was done here simply followed the normal pattern of a Jewish meal. But certainly the significance is similar. He was offering Himself to them as the Bread of life (Joh 6:35).
‘Having given thanks He broke and gave to His disciples.’ As a Jewish father would give thanks and break and hand on pieces of bread, so did Jesus in His Father’s name. But there is symbolism here for it portrayed how once He was broken His disciples would minister Him as the Bread of life to the world.
The fish also were ‘blessed’, (that is God was blessed for their provision), and passed on, mentioned only because they were part of what happened, but stated separately and unnumbered lest they blur the significance of the seven loaves. In this account the stress is on the sevenfold, divinely perfect bread.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them ; and they did set them before the people.
Ver. 6. See Trapp on “ Mat 15:35 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mar 8:6 . Compare the meagre statement here with the picturesque description in Mar 6:38-40 . The evangelist seems to lack interest in the twice-told tale. Mar 8:7 . : another of Mark’s diminutives, but Matthew has it also (Mar 15:34 ), copied probably from Mark. In these two places only.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
people = crowd.
on = upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
brake. See notes on Mat 14:19. Isa 58:7.
gave = kept giving.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mar 8:6-7. -, giving thanks-blessing) Synonyms. They do right in taking food, who pray over the several courses.- , them also) Implying the liberal bountifulness of the feast.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
to sit: Mar 6:39, Mar 6:40, Mat 14:18, Mat 14:19, Mat 15:35, Mat 15:36, Luk 9:14, Luk 9:15, Luk 12:37, Joh 2:5, Joh 6:10
gave thanks: Mar 6:41-44, 1Sa 9:13, Mat 15:36, Mat 26:26, Luk 24:30, Joh 6:11, Joh 6:23, Rom 14:6, 1Co 10:30, 1Co 10:31, Col 3:17, 1Ti 4:3-5
Reciprocal: Psa 132:15 – I will satisfy Act 27:35 – and gave
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE DIVINE ECONOMY
He took the seven loaves.
Mar 8:6
The narrative is full of incident, and is most instructive to any Christian believer. It shows the sympathy of Christ, His generosity, His compassion. But what I want to direct your attention to to-day is rather the Divine economy.
Why did He take the seven loaves? Is He not Lord of heaven and earth? Does He not feed the multitudesthe whole world? Why should He take the few loaves that the disciples had put together for their own nourishment? He did not want them. And so we have this instance of the Divine economythat out of the past comes the present; that the Lord does not Himself act with spontaneity, but He takes that which has been and makes that which is.
I. In nature.Notice this economy regarding the fruits of the earth. Where does the harvest come from? The remains of the last years harvest. The Lord takes the seven loaves of last year, or the harvest before, and gives us the seven loaves of to-day.
II. In man.And what is true in nature is also true in the nature of man. Whence come the great men of the ages nowadays? Do they drop out of heaven like an aerolite by chance? No; they are the product of the ageof the time. When the art of printing gave the opportunity, there sprang to its existence literaturethe finest literature of the English landbut it was the seven loaves that had passed.
III. In the Christian Church.Well, then, what is true of nature and of men must be true of the Christian Church also? Certainly. Do we not sing in our evangelical canticle, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel? Is Israels God our God? Yes; the same God. We bless the God of Israel. The Lord never came to destroy the Law but to fulfil it, and our altars do not run with the blood of beasts, because the Lamb of God has been slain to take away the sins of the world; but we love the old.
IV. In our spiritual experience.And we go back and we say, Yes, we see the seven loaves in our spiritual experience. Have you never found the seven loaves in your spiritual experience? What about Judah and the slavery and the tyranny of sin? Have you never known that? What about the Red Sea and the passing to liberty through blood? Have you never known that? What about the weariness of the wilderness? Have you never known that? What about the manna that came down from heaven, so that we may eat angels food? Is that out of your experience? What about the seeing of the promised country? Have you never climbed the hill and looked at the valley of time, and seen the heavens open? What about the rolling of Jordan? Have you never thought of the river of Jordan, and how you and I have got to pass through the flood? What about the heavenly Jerusalem that is the Mother of us all? Seven loaves!spiritual experience.
Rev. A. H. Stanton.
Illustration
We must never allow ourselves to doubt Christs power to supply the spiritual wants of all His people. He has bread enough and to spare for every soul that trusts in Him. Weak, infirm, corrupt, empty as believers feel themselves, let them never despair while Jesus lives. In Him there is a boundless store of mercy and grace laid up for the use of all His believing members, and ready to be bestowed on all who ask in prayer. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell (Col 1:19).
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
6
They were to sit down for the sake of orderliness. The bread was first handed to the disciples who then did set (“place near”–Thayer) the bread before them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 8:6-9. He commanded the people to sit down The evangelists having, in the account of the former dinner, described the manner in which the multitude was set down, thought it needless on this occasion to say any thing of that particular, probably because they were ranged as before, in companies by hundreds and fifties. And he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks He gave thanks for the fishes separately, and distributed them separately. So they did eat Matthew, they did all eat, and were filled; were abundantly satisfied. And they took up of the broken meat, &c. Which Jesus ordered them to gather up, that he might thus convince them, in the strongest manner, of the greatness of the miracle; and teach them also, at the same time, to use a prudent frugality in the midst of plenty. This miracle, and also the former of the same kind, recorded Mar 6:40, &c., were intended to demonstrate, that Christ was the true bread which cometh down from heaven; for he who was almighty to create bread without means to support natural life, could not want power to create bread without means to support spiritual life. And this heavenly bread we stand so much in need of every moment, that we ought to be always praying, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mark explained exactly what Jesus did more particularly than Matthew did (Mat 15:36). This reflects his typical interest in detail.
"Comparing Jesus’ prayers offered before these two feeding miracles shows that the first included the Jewish blessing of looking toward heaven (Mar 6:41), whereas the second was a simple thanksgiving (Mar 8:6)." [Note: Bailey, p. 80.]