John 6:9

6:9 Barley was the grain of the poor. The loaves were similar to pita bread. The two fish would have been salted, and with the five loaves of bread would make one meal.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 6:9. Παιδάριον, a lad) Therefore the load was not a heavy one, consisting of five loaves, especially as there were fishes in addition.—ἕν, one [So [115][116] Vulg. But [117][118][119][120][121] omit ἓν]) There was no other source of supply.—κριθίνους) Barley loaves seem to have been smaller than wheaten loaves. Jdg 7:13, [The Midianite’s 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.—τί ἐστιν, what are they) A form of depreciating.—τίνες ἐστέ; 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] Bezæ, 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 Jerome’s, probably made in Africa, in the second century: the Gospels.

[121] Veronensis, do.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 6:9 . ὃ ἔχει … ὀψάρια . The Synoptic account speaks of these provisions as already belonging to the disciples. κριθίνους , 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”. καὶ δύο ὀψάρια , in Mat 14:17 , ἰχθύας , see also Joh 21:10 . ὀψάριον 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 τὸ ὄψος τῆς θαλάσσης . ἀλλὰ ταῦτα τί ἐστιν εἰς τοσούτους ; exhibiting the helplessness of the disciples and inadequacy of the means, as the background on which the greatness of the miracle may be seen.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 9. There is a lad here] παιδαριον, 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] δυο οψαρια. The word of οψαριον 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 οψαριαι, χθυας is used so that the word evidently means fish in the text of St. John: See Clarke on Joh 21:5.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(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 loaves—the 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 Andrew’s remark, with its diminutive words, rests upon the smallness of their power to help, while Philip had dwelt on the greatness of the need.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Deu 8:8; this sort of grain grew there in plenty, and was in much use; the Jews had a barley harvest, Rut 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, Kg2 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, Kg1 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 Luk 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. Omit ἕν after παιδάριον, with אBDL, Lat. vet., Syr. vet., and Origen, i.e. the oldest MSS., oldest versions, and oldest Father who quotes the passage.

9. παιδάριον. A little lad, or (less probably) servant. The ἕν of some MSS., if genuine, would emphasize the poverty of their resources; the provisions of a single boy. S. Andrew has been making enquiries; which shews that the disciples had considered the matter before Jesus addressed S. Philip, as the Synoptists tell us.

κριθίνους. 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.

ὀψάρια. The force of the diminutive is lost; fishes, not ‘small fishes.’ 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. S. Philip had enlarged on the greatness of the difficulty; S. Andrew insists rather on the smallness of the resources for meeting it.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9.] κριθίνους, the usual barley bread of the lower orders.

ὀψάρια = ἰχθύδια, 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).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. In the Synoptists the five loaves and two fishes are the provision which the disciples had for their own use. In Jn., Andrew reports that a lad was present who had this food with him, possibly having brought it from a neighbouring village, for Jesus and the Twelve.

παιδάριον. There is no mention of this lad in the Synoptists; see above. The word παιδάριον does not occur elsewhere in the N.T., but it is frequent in the LXX; and it must be noted that it is the word used of Elisha’s servant (2Ki 4:38, 2Ki 4:43) in the passage immediately preceding the story of Elisha’s multiplication of the loaves (see above on v. 5).

The rec. has παιδάριον ἕν (AΓΔΘ); אBDLNW om. ἕν. The Synoptists sometimes use εἷς or ἕν, as a kind of indefinite article, for τις or τι (cf. Mat 8:19, Mat 26:69); but this is not the style of Jn. (cf., however, 11:49, 19:34).

κριθίνους. It is only Jn. who tells that the loaves were of barley. Barley bread, being cheaper than wheaten, was the common food of the poor; cf. Jdg 7:13 and Eze 13:19. Reference has already been made to ἄρτους κριθίνους in the Elisha story (2Ki 4:42).

δύο ὀψάρια. The Synoptists say δύο ἰχθύας; and Mt. and Mk. in the parallel narrative of the Feeding of the Four Thousand say ὀλίγα ἰχθύδια.

The word ὀψάριον (only found here and at 21:9, 10, 13 in the Greek Bible) is a dim. of ὄψον, which originally meant “cooked food,” and thence came to be used of any relish taken with food; e.g. in Pap. Fay. 119:31 εἰς τὰ γενέσια Γεμέλλης πέμψις ὠψάρια,1 the ὀψάρια were delicacies for a birthday feast. Thus ὀψάρια in the present passage stands for dried or pickled fish. The curing of fish was an important industry on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and is alluded to as such by Strabo.2 Neither in Jn. nor in the Synoptic narrative is there any mention of lighting a fire and cooking fish on the occasion of the miracle; and it is not to be supposed that the meal was of raw, fresh fish and bread. See, however, on 21:10.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A lad [παιδαριον] . Diminutive. Only here in the New Testament. 28 Only John mentions the lad.

Barley [κριθινους] . 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 [οψαρια] . 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 [οψον] 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.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.