And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and broke, and gave the loaves to [his] disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
19. to sit down on the grass ] Rather, grassy places. St Mark and St Luke mention that they sat in companies “by hundreds and by fifties” (Mark), “by fifties” (Luke). St John notes the time of year; “the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. And took the five loaves, c.] This was the act of the father of a family among the Jews-his business it was to take the bread into his hands, and render thanks to God, before any of the family was permitted to taste of it.
Looking up to heaven] To teach us to acknowledge GOD as the Supreme Good, and fountain of all excellence.
He blessed] The word God should, I think, be rather inserted here than the word them, because it does not appear that it was the loaves which Christ blessed, but that God who had provided them and this indeed was the Jewish custom, not to bless the food, but the God who gave it. However, there are others who believe the loaves are meant, and that he blessed them in order to multiply them. The Jewish form of blessing, or what we term grace, before and after meat, was as follows:-
BEFORE MEAT.
Barnuc attah Elohinoo melec haolam hamoise lechem min haarets:
Blessed art thou, our God, King of the universe, who bringest
bread out of the earth!
AFTER MEAT.
Barnuc Elohinoo melec haolam bore peri hagephen:
Blessed art thou, our God, King of the universe, the Creator
of the fruit of the vine!
And brake] We read often in the Scriptures of breaking bread, never of cutting it: because the Jews made their bread broad and thin like cakes, and to divide such, being very brittle, there was no need of a knife.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass,…. The other evangelists say, that he ordered the disciples to cause the people to sit down; both no doubt were done: the multitude were commanded to sit down by Christ, which, without his orders, they would never have done; and the disciples were enjoined to place them in form, by companies, in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties, that their number might be the better taken, and the food more orderly distributed by the apostles:
and took the five loaves and the two fishes: into his hands, lifting them up, that they might be seen by the whole company; and they be fully convinced of the miracle going to be wrought by him:
and looking up to heaven; to his Father in heaven, who is the Father of mercies; and from whom every mercy and blessing of life comes; and giving thanks to him for the same, as was usually done by him,
he blessed the five loaves and the two fishes;
and brake the loaves, and divided the fishes;
and gave the loaves, and fishes also,
to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude; who were the ministers and servants of Christ, employed by him in this manner, for the more orderly and quick dispatch of this business: and which was an emblem of their spiritual work and office: who received all their food from Christ, which they distributed to the churches, and fed them with.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To sit down on the grass ( ). “Recline,” of course, the word means, first aorist passive infinitive. A beautiful picture in the afternoon sun on the grass on the mountain side that sloped westward. The orderly arrangement (Mark) made it easy to count them and to feed them. Jesus stood where all could see him “break” () the thin Jewish cakes of bread and give to the disciples and they to the multitudes. This is a nature miracle that some men find it hard to believe, but it is recorded by all four Gospels and the only one told by all four. It was impossible for the crowds to misunderstand and to be deceived. If Jesus is in reality Lord of the universe as John tells us (Joh 1:1-18) and Paul holds (Col 1:15-20), why should we balk at this miracle? He who created the universe surely has power to go on creating what he wills to do.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Brake. As the Jewish loaves were thin cakes, a thumb’s breadth in thickness, and more easily broken than cut.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass,” (kai keleusas tous ochlous anaklithemai eip tou chortou) “And he commanded the crowd to recline (sit down) quickly upon the grass,” in companies, an indication of His sense of crowd control, and preparation for orderly serving them, at the hand of His disciples, of that which was put into His hands by the lad, Mr 6:39,40.
2) “And took the five loaves, and the two fishes,” (labon tous pente artous kai tous duo ichthuas) “Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes;” He used what they jointly had and put into His hands, all that the Lord requires of any person, who would do His will, Mr 6:41; Luk 9:16.
3) “And looking up to heaven, he blessed,” (anablepsas eis ton ouranon eulogesen) “And looking up into the heaven (where His Father was) He gave thanks,” Mr 6:41; Joh 11:41-42. This was in keeping with Jewish custom, Luk 22:19; Luk 24:30.
4) “And brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples,” (kai klasas edoken tois mathetais tous artous) “And while dividing or breaking (piece after piece) the loaves, he gave to the disciples,” Mr 6:41.
5) “And the disciples to the multitude.” (hoi de mathetai tois ochlois) “Then the disciples (in turn gave) to the crowds,” that were reclining on the grass. Those who obey the Lord, whether sitting and waiting obediently, or serving, are blessed by their obedience to the Lord, Luk 9:16. There was no scrambling, but decency and order prevailed, by this method of distribution, 1Co 14:40.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
19. He blessed. In this passage, as in many others, blessing denotes thanksgiving. Now Christ has taught us, by his example, that we cannot partake of our food with holiness and purity, unless we express our gratitude to God, from whose hand it comes to us. Accordingly, Paul tells us, that every kind of food which God bestows upon us is sanctifed by the word of God and prayer, (1Ti 4:5😉 by which he means, that brutal men, who do not regard by faith the blessing of God, and do not offer to him thanksgiving, corrupt and pollute by the filth of their unbelief all that is by nature pure; and, on the other hand, that they are corrupted and defiled by the food which they swallow, because to unbelievers nothing is clean. Christ has therefore laid down for his followers the proper manner of taking food, that they may not profane their own persons and the gifts of God by wicked sacrilege.
Raising his eyes towards heaven. This expresses warm and earnest supplication. Not that such an attitude is at all times necessary when we pray, but because the Son of God did not choose to disregard the outward forms which are fitted to aid human weakness. It ought also to be taken into account, that to raise the eyes upwards is an excitement well fitted to arouse us from sloth, when our minds are too strongly fixed on the earth.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass.This, too, was done with a calm and orderly precision. They were to sit down in companies of fifty or a hundred each, and thus the number of those who were fed became a matter of easy calculation. St. Mark, with a vivid picturesqueness, describes them as presenting the appearance of so many beds of flowers in a well-ordered garden. The bright colours of Eastern dress probably made the resemblance more striking than it would be with a like multitude so arranged among ourselves.
Looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake.The act was natural and simple enough, the saying grace (St. John uses the word, giving thanks) of the head of a Jewish household as he gathered his family around him. The formul in such cases were commonly short and simple, like our own, such e.g. as, May God, the ever-blessed One, bless what He has given us. Looking, however, to the teaching which followed the miracle, as in John 6, and to our Lords subsequent use at the Last Supper of the same words and acts, with others which gave them a new and higher meaning, we can hardly be wrong in thinking that as He now distributed the earthly bread to the hungering crowd, through the agency of His Apostles, there was present to His mind the thought that hereafter He would, through the same instrumentality, impart to souls that hungered after righteousness the gift of communion with Himself, that thus they might feed on the true Bread that cometh down from heaven.
It lies in the nature of the case, as a miracle of the highest order, that the process of multiplication is inconceivable in its details. Did each loaf, in succession, supply a thousand with food, and then come to an end, its place taken by another? Was the structure of the fishes, bone and skin and head, reproduced in each portion that was given to the guests at that great feast? We know not, and the Evangelists did not care to ask or to record. It was enough for them that the multitude did all eat, and were filled.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. On the grass It is called a desert as being uninhabited, not as being barren. It seems to have been a grassy plain. Sit down In parties, or as we may say, in separate tables, as Mark informs us. Thus the whole was more orderly.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he commanded the crowds to recline on the grass, and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.” ’
‘He commanded the crowds to recline on the grass.’ Reclining was the attitude taken up for a banquet. This was to be no symbolic meal, but genuine provision. This day they were to be fed to the full.
Then Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes and looking up to Heaven blessed them and broke them, and gave them to His disciples. And the disciples gave them to the crowds. No explanation is given. It is written as though this was just another ordinary meal. The miraculous is simply assumed as though, with Jesus there, what else could people expect.
The description ‘looking up to Heaven He blessed and broke the loaves and the fishes’ is a typical statement of what would actually happen at a Jewish meal table. It would certainly remind Matthew’s readers of their own later covenant meal, which followed the same pattern, but it would only do so as a reminder of God as the great Provider. For the inclusion of the fishes, when they could so easily have been quietly dropped, demonstrates that ‘the Lord’s Table’ is not in mind. The point of the full repetition of the detail, by a Matthew who usually abbreviates, indicates rather the source of what followed. It indicates that the answer is coming from Heaven, as the manna once did. ‘He gave them bread from Heaven to eat’ (Joh 6:31 citing Psa 78:24) as the were beginning the new Exodus. It was bread that was without money and without price’ which gave life to the soul (Isa 55:2), ‘bread for the eater’ symbolic of the fruitfulness of His powerful word (Isa 55:10). And all these as pictures of the good things that God has for those who love Him, the bread of life received by coming to Him and believing on Him (Joh 6:35), life-giving bread for the soul received freely from God (Isa 55:2-3), bread for the eater because it accomplishes what He pleases (Isa 55:11). A further emphasis is on the fact that this is a ‘family’ meal. They are come together with Jesus as the head of the family. They are His mother, His brothers and His sisters (Mat 12:50). They are now one community looking to Jesus as their head.
‘He blessed.’ This is the normal word for the giving of thanks at a meal. The ‘blessing’ is of God, (‘Blessed are You’), not of the food. The breaking of the food was for distribution.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 14:19. And he commanded the multitude, &c. See the note on Joh 6:11 where this miracle is related more circumstantially, and where we shall speak more fully concerning it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 14:19 . . .] upon the grass , Mat 13:2 .
Participle following upon participle without conjunctions, and in logical subordination. See Stallbaum, ad Plat. Apol. p. 27 A; Khner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 1. 18; Dissen, ad Dem. de cor. p. 249.
] The loaves were in the form of cakes, a thumb’s breadth in thickness, and about the size of a plate. Winer, Realwrterbuch , under the word Backen . Robinson, Pal. III. pp. 40, 293.
In saying grace Jesus did what was done by the father of a family. In John it is expressed by , because the meaning of the grace was the giving of thanks (comp. notes on Mat 26:26 f.; 1Co 10:16 ; 1Co 14:16 ); Luke again says: , where we have the idea of a consecrating prayer, as in the case of the Lord’s supper.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Ver. 19. And looking up to heaven, he blessed ] Heathens consecrated their cares before they tasted them, as appears by many passages in Homer and Virgil. Some say that the elephant, ere he eats his food, turns up with his trunk the first sprig towards heaven. The Scripture, we are sure, says, that “men eat to God when they give thanks,” Rom 14:6 . To whom then do they eat that give none?
And the disciples, to the multitude ] They grudged not of their little to give others some, and it grew in their hands, as the widow’s oil did in the cruse. Not getting, but giving, is the way to thrive. Nothing was ever lost by liberality.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19. ] Luke supplies , the loaves and fishes: John has for it . Both are one. The thanks to heaven is the blessing on the meat. , . . . . . ., . . . Orig [136] in loc. This miracle was one of symbolic meaning for the twelve, who had just returned from their mission, as pointing to the , of ch. Mat 10:8 in a higher sense than they then could have understood it: but see the symbolic import of the miracle treated in the notes to Joh 6:1-71 .
[136] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
Meyer well remarks that the process of the miracle is thus to be conceived: the Lord blessed, and gave the loaves and fishes to the disciples, as they were; and then, during their distribution of them , the miraculous increase took place, so that they broke and distributed enough for all.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 14:19 . , , , participles without copula all leading up to , the central chief action: rapid, condensed narrative, briefly, simply, recounting an amazing event. with accusative ( ) understood. He blessed the loaves and fishes. , then dividing them gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave to the multitude. , Origen.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
on = upon. Greek. epi.
to = into. Greek. eis.
heaven = the heaven (sing). See note on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10. brake = after breaking. The bread was made in thin cakes, which had to be broken (not cut) before they could be eaten. Hence the idiom “to break bread” means to eat bread, as in Luk 24:35; Act 27:35. See notes on Num 18:19, and Isa 58:7. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of the Adjunct). App-6.
to = [gave] to. The Ellipsis must be thus supplied from the preceding clause.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
19. ] Luke supplies , the loaves and fishes: John has for it . Both are one. The thanks to heaven is the blessing on the meat. , . . . . . ., . . . Orig[136] in loc. This miracle was one of symbolic meaning for the twelve, who had just returned from their mission, as pointing to the , of ch. Mat 10:8 in a higher sense than they then could have understood it:-but see the symbolic import of the miracle treated in the notes to Joh 6:1-71.
[136] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
Meyer well remarks that the process of the miracle is thus to be conceived:-the Lord blessed, and gave the loaves and fishes to the disciples, as they were; and then, during their distribution of them, the miraculous increase took place, so that they broke and distributed enough for all.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 14:19. , to be seated) The faith of the people is thus exercised.- , the loaves) sc. whatever was there.-, looking up) Jesus referred everything to the Father (see Joh 11:41; Joh 17:1) with the most entire confidence: far different from the practice of sinners; see Luk 18:13.- , but His disciples) A prelude to their future administration.[671] See Act 4:35.
[671] Sc. of the charities distributed to the needy brethren.-ED.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
he commanded: Mat 15:35, Mar 6:39, Mar 8:6, Luk 9:14, Joh 6:10
looking: Mar 6:41, Mar 7:34, Luk 9:16, Joh 11:41
he blessed: Mat 15:36, Mat 26:26, Mat 26:27, 1Sa 9:13, Mar 8:6, Mar 14:22, Mar 14:23, Luk 22:19, Luk 24:30, Joh 6:11, Joh 6:23, Act 27:35, Rom 14:6, 1Co 10:16, 1Co 10:31, 1Co 11:24, Col 3:17, 1Ti 4:4, 1Ti 4:5
Reciprocal: Deu 8:10 – thou hast 1Ki 17:6 – the ravens Psa 132:15 – bless her provision Mar 8:7 – he blessed 1Ti 4:3 – with
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:19
Grass is mentioned which indicates that the place was not without moisture even though it was called a desert. The word means a territory that was not occupied generally by people. It would be more orderly to serve a large crowd if sitting than while standing. Looking up to heaven was a gesture of recognition of the source of the good things at hand. Blessed is from EULOGEO and Thayer’s first definition is, “to praise, celebrate with praises.” The clause means that Jesus took the bread in his hands before serving, then looked up toward heaven and “Praised God from whom all blessings flow.” It was orderly to pass the bread out through the hands of the disciples, besides it made them partakers with Jesus in the service of the hour.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 14:19. To recline on the grass. Now there was much grass on the place, Joh 6:10. At that season it would be luxuriant, forming an easy and convenient resting-place. They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties (Mar 6:40; Luk 9:14); thus confusion was avoided and the distribution made easy. Such an arrangement precluded deception. There was no disorderly running after the loaves and fishes; Christs blessings were received through those He commanded to impart them.
Looking up to heaven, he blessed; and breaking the loaves, he gave them. The description recalls the Last Supper, of which this miracle is a premonition. The word bless in the Bible means Gods favoring us, our asking favors of Him and our thanksgiving for such favors; the three senses are always more or less connected. The form of the Greek disconnects the loaves from the word bless. The blessing was therefore mainly a thanksgiving (comp. John: when he had given thanks), not simply a blessing of the loaves. Thus the eucharistic reference becomes prominent
The loaves to his disciples. The disciples possibly received the broken loaves and fishes as they were, the miraculous increase taking place as they distributed them. This points out the duty of the Twelve, and of the ministry in general; but the accounts of the three other Evangelists indicate a continuous giving on the part of our Lord.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 14:19-21. He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass Mark says, by companies, as we render the phrase , , which is literally, companies, companies, that is, in separate companies. These, as appears by comparing Mar 6:39 with Luk 9:14, consisted some of fifty persons, some of a hundred, according as the ground would admit. Our Lord probably ordered them to be ranged in this manner that they might sit compactly, that their numbers might appear, that the meat might be divided among them with ease, and that none might be neglected in the distribution. And no sooner did Christ signify his will to the disciples, and they intimated it to the multitude, than they all instantly did as they were ordered: so great an opinion had they of Christs wisdom and power! Though they thus sat on the ground, under no canopy but the sky, and had only barley bread, and, as it seems, cold or dried fishes to eat, and probably nothing but water to drink; yet, as Mr. Henry truly and beautifully observes, there was more real grandeur displayed by the Master of this feast than by Ahasuerus, in that royal feast which was intended to show the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honour of his excellent majesty. And took the five loaves, &c. Thus acting like the master of a family among the Jews, who was wont to take the bread into his hands and to give thanks to God, before any at the table was permitted to eat any thing: And looking up to heaven With great reverence and affection; he blessed That is, says Dr. Whitby, with whom agree many other commentators, he blessed, or gave thanks to God, the liberal giver of all good, for his infinite beneficence in furnishing food to all flesh, and for the power he had conferred on him of relieving mankind by his miracles, particularly that which he was about to work, and which perhaps he prayed for, to raise the attention of the multitude, as we find him doing before the resurrection of Lazarus, Joh 11:41. They apprehend that his looking up to heaven when he blessed, shows that his blessing was directed to God, and that it imported a thanksgiving for his great goodness. Accordingly John expresses it by , having given thanks, he distributed, &c. It must be observed, however, that most commentators refer the expression, he blessed, to the loaves and fishes, because Luke says expressly, , he blessed them; that is, he commanded upon them that singular blessing by which they were multiplied in the distribution. Thus God is said to bless the springing of the corn, Psa 65:10. And gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude It is not to be supposed, says Macknight, that twelve persons could put first a piece of bread, and then a piece of fish, into the hands of five thousand men, besides the women and children, who were all fed with such expedition, that, notwithstanding the thing was not so much as proposed to the disciples till about three, all was over by five oclock in the afternoon, as may be gathered from Joh 6:16, where see the note. It is natural, therefore, to conclude, that, in distributing the meat, the disciples used the most expeditious method, putting, by their Masters direction, the bread first, and after that the fish, into the hands of those only who sat at the ends of the ranks, with orders to give it to their companions. On this supposition, the meat must have extended its dimensions, not in our Lords hands only, but in the hands of the multitude likewise, continuing to swell till there was a greater quantity than they, who held it, could make use of; so that breaking off what was sufficient for themselves, they gave the remainder to the persons next them, who, in like manner, saw the bread and fish swell in their own hands till they also had enough and to spare. The meat being thus created among the hands of the multitude, and before their eyes, as long as there was a single person to be fed, they did all eat, and were filled, to their unspeakable astonishment. In this manner did he who is the Bread of Life feed about ten thousand people, (for doubtless the women and children were as numerous as the men,) with five loaves and two small fishes, giving a magnificent proof, not only of his goodness, but of his creating power. For after all had eaten to satiety, the disciples, at Jesuss command, (see note on Joh 6:12,)
took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces of meat, each disciple a basket, in which there must have been much more than the quantity at first set before the Lord to divide. The stupendous miracle, therefore, without all doubt, was conspicuous, not to the disciples only, who, carrying each his basket in his hand, had an abiding, sensible demonstration of its truth, but to every individual guest at this divine feast, who had all felt themselves delighted, filled, refreshed, and strengthened by the meal. This being one of the most astonishing, and at the same time the most extensively convincing of all the miracles Jesus performed during the course of his ministry, every one of the evangelists has recorded it; and, which is remarkable, it is the only one found in each of their histories.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 19
Blessed. It seems to have been often the custom of the Savior to implore the divine blessing upon food, before partaking of it.