Luke 9:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 9:13
But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
properly · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
meat
βρώματα.brōmata
G1033
food (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative plural neuter
for
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
all
πάνταpanta
G3956
all · adjective — accusative singular masculine
this
τοῦτονtoûton
G5126
this (person
people
λαὸνlaon
G2992
a people (in general · noun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 11:24-25 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
2 Kings 4:42-43 And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn…
John 6:5-9 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may e…
Mark 6:37-38 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give th…
Matthew 14:16-17 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
Numbers 11:21-23 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 9:10-17
We have here, I. The account which the twelve gave their Master of the success of their ministry. They were not long out; but, when they returned, they told him all that they had done, as became servants who were sent on an errand. They told him what they had done, that, if they had done any thing amiss, they might mend it next time.
II. Their retirement, for a little breathing: He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place, that they might have some relaxation from business and not be always upon the stretch. Note, He that hath appointed our man-servant and maid-servant to rest would have his servants to rest too. Those in the most public stations, and that are most publicly us…
desired to see him--but did not, till as a prisoner He was sent to him by Pilate just before His death, as we learn from Luk 23:8.
Adam Clarke on Luke 9:12
Send the multitude away - See this miracle explained at large, on the parallel places, Mat 14:15-21 (note); Mar 6:36-44 (note).
John Gill on Luke 9:13
And he said to them, give ye them to eat,.... Signifying, that it was not his will to dismiss people, and send them scattering abroad into the adjacent cities, towns, or houses; and that there was no need of it, but that his will was, that they should be supplied with provisions out of their stock:
and they said, we have no more than five loaves and two fishes; and these loaves were barley loaves, and the fishes small, John 6:9
except we should go and buy meat for all this people; which would at least cost them two hundred pence; and which they represent as impossible to be done, either through want of so much money, or the scarcity of provision in those parts; where, had they money, it wo…
The five loaves are understood as the five books of Moses. Rightly, they are not wheat but barley loaves because they belong to the Old Testament. You know that barley was created in such a way that one can scarcely get to its kernel. This kernel is clothed with a covering of husk, and this husk is tenacious and adhering, so that it is stripped off with effort. Such is the letter of the Old Testament, clothed with the coverings of carnal mysteries. If one gets to its kernel, it feeds and satisfies.
The Apostles had only got but the five loaves of the Mosaic law, and the two fishes of each covenant, which were covered in the secret place of obscure mysteries, as in the waters of the deep. But because men have five external senses, the five thousand men who followed the Lord signify those who still live in worldly ways, knowing well how to use the external things they possess. For they who entirely renounce the world are raised aloft in the enjoyment of His Gospel feast. But the different divisions of the guests, indicate the different congregations of Churches throughout the world, which together compose the one Catholic.
But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." He challenges the apostles to the breaking of bread, so that, as they declare themselves not to have anything, the greatness of the miracle might become more known, at the same time suggesting that through them our hungry hearts are to be fed daily. For what does Peter do when he speaks through the Epistles, if not to fill our poorly hungry hearts with the nourishment of the word? What do Paul and John achieve by speaking through the Epistles, if not that our minds may perceive heavenly nourishment and overcome the revulsion of famine by which they were dying?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Apostle — A person sent by another; a messenger; envoy. This word is once used as a descriptive designation of Jesus Christ, the Sent of the Father (Heb. 3:1; John 20:21). It is, however, generally used as…
Bethsaida — House of fish. (1.) A town in Galilee, on the west side of the sea of Tiberias, in the “land of Gennesaret.” It was the native place of Peter, Andrew, and Philip, and was frequently resorted to by…
Fish · .Of the loaves and fishes — .Of the loaves and fishes
Loaves · Miracle of the five — Miracle of the five
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Luke 9:10-17
Luke 9:10-17
Matthew 14:13-21
Mark 6:30-44
Luke 9:10-17
13. When Jesus heard this, he departed thence to a ship to a desert place apart; and when the multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14. And Jesus, when leaving (the ship,) saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion towards them, and healed of such of them as were diseased. 15. And when the evening was drawing on, his disciples came to him, saying, It is a desert place, and the time is now past: send the multitudes away, that they may go into the village, and purchase victuals for themselves. 16. And Jesus said to them, It is not necessary that they should go away: give you to them something to e…
You feed them: After their ministry of healing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus wanted the disciples to demonstrate faith in God’s ability to feed the crowds.
