Matthew 14:16

Mat 14:16. Οὐ χρείαν, no need) We should not labour for that which is not necessary.—ὑμεῖς, you) significantly. The disciples already possessed the rudiments of miraculous faith.[670]

[670] In the original, “Rudimenta fidei miraculorum apud discipulos”—i.e. that special faith which is required for the performance of miracles.—(I. B.)

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

Mat 14:16 . οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν ἀπελθεῖν , etc.: even if, as some think, what happened was that under the moral influence of Jesus the people present generously made the provisions they had brought with them available for the company at large, the character of Jesus appears here in a commanding light. No situation appears to Him desperate, no crisis unmanageable. No need to go. Give ye them to eat, resources will be forthcoming ( cf. Exo 14:15 ). And they were , how we cannot tell. The story is a fact supported by the testimony of all four evangelists, not a baseless legend, or a religious allegory.

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

Verse 16. They need not depart] He that seeks first the kingdom of heaven is sure to have every temporal requisite. When a man ensures the first, God always takes care to throw the other into the bargain. He who has an interest in Jesus has in him an inexhaustible treasure of spiritual and temporal good. Though the means by which man may help his fellows have failed, we are not to suppose that the bounty of God is exhausted. When we are about to give up all hope of farther supply, the gracious word of Christ still holds good - They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

Give ye them to eat.] Should we say, Lord, how shall thy poor, feeble ministering servants feed so many hungry souls as attend thy word! Begin at the command of Jesus - make the attempt - divide what you have-and the bread of God shall be multiplied in your hands, and all shall eat and be satisfied.

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

But Jesus said unto them,.... the disciples,

they need not depart; meaning so long as he was with them, who had power enough to provide a sufficient meal for them, as well as by a word speaking, to heal their diseases; however, to try their faith, and make way for the working of the following miracle, he says to them,

give ye them to eat; such provisions as you have along with you.

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

16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

Ver. 16. They need not depart] Whither should they go from the great housekeeper of the world, the all-sufficient God? Habet certe omnia, qui habet habentem omnia. Augustine. Christ hath a cornucopia, a horn of salvation, plenteous redemption, &c. And if he give us a crown, will he deny us a crust? "The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof." He feeds the ravens, and clothes the lilies. If meat be denied, he can take away our stomachs. He can feed us by a miracle, as he did Elias of old, and the Rochellers of late.

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.

But Jesus said. It may perhaps be asked here, if then our Lord, as St. John relates, looking upon the multitude, inquired of Philip how so great a multitude could be fed in the desert, how can this be true, which St. Matthew relates, that the disciples first desired Jesus to send away the multitude? But we are to understand, that after these words our Lord looked upon the multitude, and said to Philip what St. John mentions, which St. Matthew and the other evangelists omit. (St. Augustine, de concord. evang.) --- They have no need to go: give you them to eat. This he says for our instruction, that when the poor ask us alms, we send them not to other persons and other places, if we are able to relieve them ourselves. (Estius) --- This happened when the Passover was near at hand, (being the third since the commencement of our Saviour’s ministry.) St. John does not usually relate what is mentioned by the other evangelists, especially what happened in Galilee. If he does it on this occasion, it is in order to introduce the subject of the heavenly bread, vi. 37. He seems also to have had in view to describe the different Passovers during Christ’s preaching. As he, therefore, staid in Galilee during the third Passover, he relates pretty fully his transactions during that time.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

John relates the story thus: When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him. Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; they have no need to go away (Revised Version). Matthew only. The Lord takes up the expression. There is no need for them to move from this place, desert though it is. Give ye them to eat. Ye; emphatic, he throws upon his disciples the duty of feeding them, and, strange though the command seemed to them, (cf. 2Ki_4:43) they carried it out.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The miracle:

v. 16. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

v. 17. And they say unto Him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes.

v. 18. He said, Bring them hither to Me.

v. 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.

v. 20. And they did all eat and were filled; and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve basketfuls.

v. 21. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Matthew has only a very brief account of the events leading up to the miracle. The other evangelists bring out the dramatic incidents with great vividness. The evident distress of the disciples stood out in such contrast to the calm dignity of the Lord. There were the people, standing and sitting about on the meadow-like expanse near the shore of the lake. There was the little band of disciples, with Christ in their center, arguing with great vehemence, telling Him what to do. And He coolly counters with the demand that they should provide the food for the multitude. He takes the opportunity of testing their faith in Himself and His power to help. They fail miserably. Philip, after some careful calculating, announces that they have not enough money to buy bread for all. Andrew supplies the information that there are but five loaves and two fishes available. Altogether, the helplessness of the disciples is almost ludicrous. But Christ now takes command of the situation. He gives the order that the multitude be seated on the grass of the meadow, in ranks, parties, or groups, by hundreds and fifties, to facilitate the distribution of the food.

Here the narrative becomes almost bare in its simplicity. Having taken the food and raised His eyes up to heaven. He pronounced the blessing upon the loaves and fishes. Then dividing them, He gave them to His disciples, who, in turn, distributed them to the multitude. Whether Jesus repeated the prayer of grace commonly used by the Jews: "Blessed art Thou, our God, King of the universe, who bringest bread out of the earth," is immaterial. It is sufficient to know that His blessing caused or accompanied the miracle, that the food multiplied under His hand, that they all ate, that they all had their fill, yea, more, that the fragments remaining overfilled twelve baskets of a very large size commonly used by the Jews. And all this, when the number of those that sat down to supper totaled five thousand, not including women and children.

Note: Food conservation has always been practiced where Christians were told of this miracle and heard how careful Christ was about saving the fragments. "When our Lord thus through His blessing appears to us, then we should, as He here commands the apostles, gather the fragments, and not permit them to perish. For just as our reason in time of want only wants to figure and not believe, thus, when the blessing of God is there in abundance, there the world cannot and will not accommodate itself to it. Some use the blessing for luxury. But such is not the meaning. God’s blessing should be saved and not squandered, but kept for future want. When the Lord bids us gather the fragments that remain, He does not want it understood as though we should be niggardly, but that thou shalt serve thy neighbor therewith in time of trouble, and that thou mayest the more easily help the poor people that are in need."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. Our Saviour’s strange answer to the disciples motion: They need not depart, says Christ. Need not! Why? the people must either feed or famish. Victuals they must have, and this being a desert place, there was none to be had. Surely then there was need enough.

But, 2. Christ’s command was more strange than his assertion: Give ye them to eat. Alas, poor disciples! They had nothing for themselves to eat, how then should they give the multitude to eat? When Christ requires of us what of ourselves we are unable to perform, it is to shew us our impotency and weakness, and to provoke us to look to him that worketh all our works in us and for us.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. Give ye them to eat. We learn from the parallel accounts that the disciples did not understand how this could be done, though they cheerfully obeyed.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

They have no need

"The people in the crowd have no need"

You give them

The word "You" is plural, referring to the disciples. (See: Forms of You)

They said to him

"The disciples said to Jesus"

five loaves of bread

A loaf of bread is a lump of dough that is shaped and baked.

Bring them to me

"Bring the loaves and fish to me"

translationWords

Jesus

bread

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

16. ὑμεῖς. Emphatic.

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.

16. And Jesus said to them, They need not go away; give ye to them to eat.]

(M)

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