Matthew 15:37

Mat 15:37 . ἑπτά σπυρίδας : baskets different in number and in name. Hesychius defines σπυρίς : τὸ τῶν πυρῶν ἄγγος = wheat-basket; perhaps connected with σπείρω , suggesting a basket made of rope-net; probably larger than κόφινος , for longer journeys (Grotius). Or does the different kind of basket point to different nationality; Gentiles? Hilary contends for Gentile recipients of the second blessing, with whom Westcott ( Characteristics of Gospel Miracles , p. 13) agrees.

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

A kind of vessel wrought with twigs.

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

Verse 37. They did all eat, and were filled] εχορτασθησαν - they were satisfied. The husks of worldly pleasures may fill the man, but cannot satisfy the soul. A man may eat, and not be satisfied: it is the interest therefore of every follower of Christ to follow him till he be fed, and to feed on him till he be satisfied.

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

(37) Seven baskets full.—The nature of the baskets has been explained above. As it is hardly likely that these could have been carried by the disciples on their journey, we must think of them as having been probably brought by some of the multitude to hold their provisions. The fact that the disciples were shortly afterwards (Mat_16:7) again without provision, suggests the thought that the fragments themselves had been in their turn distributed to the poor of the villages in the district to which our Lord and the disciples now turned their courses.

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

37. seven baskets] Spurides, see note ch. Mat_14:20, and Act_9:25, where St Paul is said to have been let down from the wall of Damascus in a spuris, probably a large basket made of rope-net, possibly a fisherman’s basket. Why the disciples brought different kinds of baskets on the two occasions we cannot determine.

the broken meat that was left] See ch. Mat_14:20. One side of the lesson is the lavishness of Providence. God gives even more than we require or ask for. But the leading thought is a protest against waste.

39–16:4. Jesus at Magdala, or Magadan, is tempted to give a Sign. Mar_8:10-12; Luk_12:54-57

took ship] Literally, went on board the ship.

the coasts of Magdala] The MSS. vary between Magdala and Magadan. The latter reading, however, has by far the highest authority in its favour. It is probable that the familiar Magdala supplanted in the text the more obscure Magadan. Magdala or Migdol (a watch tower) is identified with the modern Mejdel, a collection of ruins and squalid huts at the S.E. corner of the plain of Gennesaret, opposite to K’hersa or Gergesa. This is the point where the lake is broadest. Prof. Rawlinson thinks that this Magdala may be the Magdolus of Herodotus, ii. 159; unless indeed by a confusion curiously similar to that in the text, Herodotus has mistaken Migdol for Megiddo. Magdala was probably the home of Mary Magdalene.

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.

And they that did eat, were four thousand men,.... This number of men, as well as of the baskets of fragments, clearly shows this to be a distinct miracle from the former of this kind, recorded in Mat 14:15. There the number of men were five thousand, here four thousand; there the quantity of food was five loaves and two fishes, here seven loaves and a few fishes; there the number of the baskets of fragments was twelve, here seven; though the quantity might be as large; since the word here used for a basket is not the same as there, and designs one of a larger size:

besides women and children; who were not taken into the account, though they ate as well as the men, and whose number might be very large.

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

37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

Ver. 37. They did all eat and were filled] They did eat to satiety, as men use to do at feasts, where the tables seem to sweat with variety. The Greek word here is, in its proper signification, used of fatting cattle, that have grass up to the eyes, such as is that in some parts of Ireland, where they are forced to drive out their cattle sometimes from the pastures into the commons, lest they should surfeit and spoil themselves. {a}

Seven baskets full] These baskets were bigger and of larger capacity than those coffins, Mat 14:20. We read of Paul let down by the wall in a basket, Act 9:25. {b} It was such a vessel then that a man might sit in it: as the former may seem to have been no larger than a pie or pasty, the outside whereof, from the Greeks, we call a coffin.

{a} εχορτασθησαν. Hoc propric dicitur de armentis. Nam χορτον Graeci vocant gramen aut pabulum. Beza.

{b} κοφινος, σπυρις, sporta.

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.

Seven baskets full remained, to intimate that God remunerates with a liberal hand all alms given for his sake. Various are the circumstances attending the present multiplication of the loaves with that in the preceding chapter. In the former, there were five loaves and two fishes; here there are seven loaves and a few little fishes: In the former, 5,000 men were filled, here 4,000: in the former case, 12 baskets full of fragments remained, here seven. (Tirinus) --- All which sufficiently prove that these were two distinct miracles, to both of which Jesus Christ refers in chap. xvi, ver. 9. and 10. (Haydock)

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).

Baskets (speurdav); panniers. Large wicker receptacles, which were sometimes of such size as to hold a man. It was in such a basket that St. Paul was let down from the walls of Damascus. (Act_9:25) The number of the basketfuls corresponded to the original number of loaves; the increase of substance must therefore have been enormous.

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

They did all eat, not a crumb or a bit, but to fulness and satisfaction; yet seven baskets remain; answering the number of the loaves, as the twelve baskets in the former miracle answered to the twelve apostles: in both, more is left than was at first set on: it is hard to say, which was the greater miracle, the miraculous eating, or miraculous leaving. If we consider what they eat, we may justly wonder that they left anything; if what they left that they eat anything. (Dr. Fuller.)

Observe lastly, Christ would not have these fragments lost but gatherd up; the great housekeeper of the world will not allow the loss of his orts. O how dreadful will the account of those be, who have the large and plentiful estates to answer for as lost, being spent upon their lusts in riot and excess! Dr. Fuller

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

37. ἑπτὰ σπυρίδας. See note ch. Mat 14:20, and Act 9:25, where St Paul is said to have been let down from the wall of Damascus in a σπυρίς, probably a large basket made of rope-net, possibly a fisherman’s basket; in 2Co 11:33, where the same incident is related, the word σαργάνη is used. Why the people brought different kinds of baskets on the two occasions we cannot determine. The facts seem to point to a difference in nationality or in occupation. σπυρὶς connected with σπείρω, ‘to twist,’ is the Lat. sporta, or sportula. σαργάνη in Æsch. Suppl. 769 = ‘the mesh of a net’.

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.

37.] The σπυρίς (commonly derived from σπεῖρα, as being of woven work; or by some from πυρός, wheat, as being τὸ τῶν πυρῶν ἄγγος. ) was large enough to contain a man’s body, as Paul was let down in one from the wall of Damascus, ref. Acts. Greswell (Diss. viii. pt. 4, vol. ii. p. 325) supposes that they may have been used to sleep in, during the stay in the desert.

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

37. And all ate, and were filled: and of the remainder of the fragments they took up seven baskets full.] Mk. has: “And they ate, and were filled: and they took up remainders of fragments seven baskets.” Mt. adds πάντες and πλήρεις, to assimilate to 14:20.—σφυρίδας] For this spelling, see Deissm. Bib. Stud. 158, 185. D has σφορίδας here and in Mar 8:20. In Mar 8:8 it is read by א A* D; in Mat 16:10 by B D.

(M)

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

Baskets [σπυριδας] . See on Mt 14:20.

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