Matthew 15:35

Word for word, to lie down backward, as rowers do when in rowing they draw their oars to them.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(35) He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.—Probably, with the same orderly precision as before, by hundreds and by fifties, the women and children, as we learn from Mat_15:38, being in this instance also grouped together apart from the men.

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

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. Not regarding the smallness of the provisions, nor any further consulting with his disciples; but knowing his own power to increase this food, and determining to feed the multitude before he dismissed them, in an authoritative way ordered them to sit down upon the ground in rows, that they might be the better seen, and served.

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. Not regarding the smallness of the provisions, nor any further consulting with his disciples; but knowing his own power to increase this food, and determining to feed the multitude before he dismissed them, in an authoritative way ordered them to sit down upon the ground in rows, that they might be the better seen, and served.

Matthew 15:36

mat 15:36

mat 15:36

mat 15:36And he took the seven loaves and the fishes,.... Into his hands, and lifted them up, that it might be seen, and observed, that there were no other food than these, that so the miracle might appear in its true light:

and gave thanks; to God for the provision, though it was so small, in the name of the whole company, according to the usage of the Jewish nation; who, if there were ten thousand (r), one for the rest used to say,

"let us bless the Lord our God, the God of Israel, the God of hosts, that sitteth between the cherubim:

teaching us to do so likewise, and to be thankful for, and content with our portion, be it more or less:

and brake them; which also was the custom of the master of the family to do:

and gave to his disciples: as a fresh trial of their faith, to reprove their unbelief, to put them in mind of the former miracle, and that they might be witnesses of this, and, in order to distribute to the people, which they accordingly did:

and the disciples to the multitude; in doing which they obeyed their master's orders, though before they could not persuade themselves, that such a multitude of people could be filled with so small a quantity,

(r) Misn. Beracot, c. 7. sect. 3.

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

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

Ver. 35. To sit down on the ground] He intended them not only a running banquet, a slight come off, but a full feast, a good meal, and therefore bade them sit down and feed their fill. It was indeed on the bare ground that they sat; but so do the greatest lords in Turkey to this day; they sit at meat, with their legs gathered under them, flat upon the ground; and their cheer, when they feast most sumptuously, is only rice and mutton, with fair water out of the river.

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.

To sit down (anapesein) on the ground. At this time there was not "much grass in the place," the season being no longer early spring. Their seat was the bare ground, their meal of the plainest character. He who as man had pitied them was now feeding them as God, yet not with luxuries or dainties, but with food sufficient for their needs.

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. 35. And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

v. 36. And He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

v. 37. And they did all eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left, seven basketfuls.

v. 38. And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.

v. 39. And He sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.

Christ now took the situation wholly in hand, disgusted, probably, with the denseness of His disciples. He had the crowds sit down in an orderly manner to facilitate the distribution of the food; He took the bread and the fishes, pronounced the blessing upon them, broke them, gave them to His disciples, who, in turn, distributed both bread and fishes to the people. After all had been fully satisfied, the remaining fragments filled seven baskets. They bear a different name here than in chapter 14:20, either because they were made by a different process, or because they were exceptionally large containers to be carried on the back, or because Matthew gives them the name by which they were known among the people of that region, whose characteristic was predominantly Gentile. The number of people in the multitude is again recorded: four thousand, without women and children. Jesus now dismissed them, and crossed over the sea into the region called Magdala, which, as far as can be determined, seems to have bordered on the region of Gennesaret on the south, having the town of Dalmanutha as its metropolis.

Summary.Jesus gives a lesson concerning defilement, heals the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, performs other acts of healing, and feeds four thousand men.

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

35. He commanded … to sit down on the ground. Not on the grass, as in Matt. 14:19, for they were in a bare, desolate, grassless region, such as the greater part of Judea is to-day.

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.

35, 36. The omission of καὶ before εὐχαριστήσας makes the structure very harsh. It is the reading necessitated by the rules adopted for forming the present text. Tregelles omits the καὶ against Lachmann and Tischendorf. If the former had seen א it can scarcely be doubted that he would have inserted the conjunction so necessary to the flow of the sentence.

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.

35. And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.] Mk. has παραγγέλλει and ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. For Mt.’s change of ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς into ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, cf. 13:2; ἐπὶ τὸν αἰγιαλόν for Mk.’s ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; 14:25 περιπατῶν ἐπὶ θάλασσαν for Mk.’s ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης; cf. Introduction, p. xxviii.

(M)

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

On the ground [επι την γην] . Compare Mr 8:6. On the occasion of feeding the five thousand, the multitude sat down on the grass [επι τους χορτους] , Mt 14:19. It was then the month of flowers. Compare Mr 6:39, the green grass, and Joh 6:10, much grass. On the present occasion, several weeks later, the grass would be burnt up, so that they would sit on the ground.

Gave thanks. According to the Jewish ordinance, the head of the house was to speak the blessing only if he himself shared in the meal; yet if they who sat down to it were not merely guests, but his children or his household, then he might speak it, even if he himself did not partake.

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