Luke 9:13
New International Version
He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”

New Living Translation
But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?”

English Standard Version
But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”

Berean Standard Bible
But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

Berean Literal Bible
And He said to them, "You give to them to eat." But they said, "There are no more than five loaves to us, and two fish, unless we, having gone, should buy food for all this people."

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

New American Standard Bible
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

NASB 1995
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

NASB 1977
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

Legacy Standard Bible
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

Amplified Bible
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

Christian Standard Bible
“You give them something to eat,” he told them. “We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“You give them something to eat,” He told them.” We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

American Standard Version
But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy food for all this people.

Contemporary English Version
Jesus answered, "You give them something to eat." But they replied, "We have only five small loaves of bread and two fish. If we are going to feed all these people, we will have to go and buy food."

English Revised Version
But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy food for all this people.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Jesus replied, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "We have five loaves of bread and two fish. Unless we go to buy food for all these people, that's all we have."

Good News Translation
But Jesus said to them, "You yourselves give them something to eat." They answered, "All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?"

International Standard Version
But he told them, "You give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people."

Majority Standard Bible
But Jesus told them, ?You give them something to eat.? ?We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,? they answered, ?unless we go and buy food for all these people.?

NET Bible
But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They replied, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish--unless we go and buy food for all these people."

New Heart English Bible
But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we should go and buy food for all these people."

Webster's Bible Translation
But he said to them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy provisions for all this people.

Weymouth New Testament
"You yourselves," He said, "must give them food." "We have nothing," they replied, "but five loaves and a couple of fish, unless indeed we were to go and buy provisions for all this host of people."

World English Bible
But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we should go and buy food for all these people.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And He said to them, “You give them to eat”; and they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fishes: except, having gone, we may buy food for all this people”;

Berean Literal Bible
And He said to them, "You give to them to eat." But they said, "There are no more than five loaves to us, and two fish, unless we, having gone, should buy food for all this people."

Young's Literal Translation
And he said unto them, 'Give ye them to eat;' and they said, 'We have no more than five loaves, and two fishes: except, having gone, we may buy for all this people victuals;'

Smith's Literal Translation
And he said to them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, There are no more to us than five loaves and two fishes; except having gone we buy food for all this people.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
But he said to them: Give you them to eat. And they said: We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; unless perhaps we should go and buy food for all this multitude.

Catholic Public Domain Version
But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “There is with us no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we are to go and buy food for this entire multitude.”

New American Bible
He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.”

New Revised Standard Version
But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Jesus said to them, You give them to eat. But they said, We do not have more than five loaves of bread and two fish; unless we go and buy food for all this people;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Yeshua said to them, “You give them food.” But they were saying, “We don't have more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy provisions for this entire people.”
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
But he said to them: Do you give them food. They replied: We have nothing but five loaves and two fishes, unless we go and buy food for all these people.

Godbey New Testament
And He said to them, You give them to eat. And they said, There is not to us more than five loaves and two fishes; if not having gone we must purchase victuals for all this people.

Haweis New Testament
Then he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves, and two fishes; unless we go somewhere and buy provisions for all this multitude:

Mace New Testament
and he said to them, do you yourselves give them something to eat, they replied, we can furnish only five loaves and two fishes, unless we go and buy provisions for all this people:

Weymouth New Testament
"You yourselves," He said, "must give them food." "We have nothing," they replied, "but five loaves and a couple of fish, unless indeed we were to go and buy provisions for all this host of people."

Worrell New Testament
But He said to them, "Give ye them to eat." And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; unless we, going, should buy food for all this people." (For they were about five thousand men).

Worsley New Testament
But He said unto them, Do ye give them food. And they said, We have but five loaves and two fishes: unless we should go and buy provisions for all this people:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
12As the day neared its end, the Twelve came to Jesus and said, “Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside for lodging and provisions. For we are in a desolate place here.” 13But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14(There were about five thousand men.) He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”…

Cross References
John 6:5-13
When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” / But He was asking this to test him, for He knew what He was about to do. / Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.” ...

Matthew 14:16-21
“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.” / “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. / “Bring them here to Me,” Jesus said. ...

Mark 6:37-44
But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked Him, “Should we go out and spend two hundred denarii to give all of them bread to eat?” / “Go and see how many loaves you have,” He told them. And after checking, they said, “Five—and two fish.” / Then Jesus directed them to have the people sit in groups on the green grass. ...

2 Kings 4:42-44
Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha. / But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” / So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.

Matthew 15:32-38
Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.” / The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?” / “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” ...

Mark 8:2-9
“I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. / If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a great distance.” / His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?” ...

John 6:26-27
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. / Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

Exodus 16:4-15
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions. / Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” / So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ...

Numbers 11:13-23
Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ / I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me. / If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.” ...

John 6:35
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.

Psalm 78:19-25
They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness? / When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?” / Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel, ...

John 6:48-51
I am the bread of life. / Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. / This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. ...

Isaiah 55:1-2
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! / Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

John 6:9
“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”

John 6:12-13
And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” / So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.


Treasury of Scripture

But he said to them, Give you 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.

Give.

2 Kings 4:42,43
And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat…

Matthew 14:16,17
But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat…

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 them to eat? …

have.

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 a whole month…

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…

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Luke 9
1. Jesus sends his apostles to work miracles, and to preach.
7. Herod desires to see Jesus.
10. The apostles return.
12. Jesus feeds five thousand;
18. inquires what opinion the world had of him; foretells his passion;
23. proposes to all the pattern of his patience.
28. The transfiguration.
37. He heals the lunatic;
43. again forewarns his disciples of his passion;
46. commends humility;
51. bids them to show mildness toward all, without desire of revenge.
57. Many would follow him, but upon conditions.














But Jesus told them
This phrase introduces the direct command of Jesus, highlighting His authority and leadership. The Greek word for "told" is "εἶπεν" (eipen), which is often used in the New Testament to denote a significant or authoritative statement. In the context of the Gospels, when Jesus speaks, it is often to teach, correct, or reveal divine truth. This sets the stage for a miraculous event, emphasizing that what follows is not merely a suggestion but a directive from the Son of God.

You give them something to eat
Here, Jesus challenges His disciples with a command that seems impossible given their circumstances. The Greek word for "give" is "δώτε" (dote), an imperative form, indicating a direct order. This command is significant because it shifts the responsibility to the disciples, inviting them to participate in the miracle. Historically, this reflects the Jewish tradition of hospitality and provision, where feeding others was a communal responsibility. Scripturally, it foreshadows the Eucharist, where Jesus provides spiritual nourishment. The phrase also serves as a test of faith, pushing the disciples to rely not on their resources but on divine provision.

We have only five loaves of bread and two fish
This response from the disciples highlights their limited resources. The Greek word for "only" is "οὐκ εἰσὶν" (ouk eisin), emphasizing scarcity. The mention of "five loaves" and "two fish" is specific and deliberate, underscoring the inadequacy of their supplies to meet the needs of the multitude. Historically, bread and fish were staple foods in Galilean society, often representing basic sustenance. This detail sets the stage for the miracle, illustrating the contrast between human limitation and divine abundance.

they answered
The disciples' response is captured in the Greek word "εἶπαν" (eipan), similar to the word used for Jesus' command, indicating a dialogue. This exchange reflects the disciples' practical mindset and their initial inability to comprehend the possibility of a miracle. It also reveals their reliance on physical evidence rather than faith in Jesus' power. This moment of doubt and questioning is a common theme in the Gospels, where Jesus often uses such opportunities to teach deeper spiritual truths.

unless we go and buy food for all these people
This phrase reveals the disciples' logical but limited solution to the problem. The Greek word for "buy" is "ἀγοράσωμεν" (agorasomen), indicating a transactional approach. This reflects a human tendency to solve problems through material means rather than spiritual reliance. The mention of "all these people" underscores the magnitude of the crowd, which, according to the context, numbered in the thousands. Historically, this would have been a logistical impossibility, further highlighting the miraculous nature of what Jesus was about to do. This phrase serves as a reminder of the limitations of human effort and the necessity of divine intervention.

(13) Buy meat.--Better, food.

Verse 13. But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. Godet here beautifully observes that this reply, and the great miracle that followed, was the result of a loving thought of the Redeemer. "John has disclosed it to us (John 6:4). It was the time of the Passover. He could not visit Jerusalem with his disciples, owing to the virulent hatred of which he had become the object. In this unexpected gathering, resembling that of the nation at Jerusalem, he discerns a signal from on high, and determines to celebrate a feast in the desert as a compensation for the Passover Feast." We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. The main lines of this story are the same in each of the four accounts which we possess of this miracle; but each of the four evangelists supplies some little detail wanting in the others. It is clear that there was no original written tradition from which they all copied. St. John tells us it was a little boy who had this small, rough provision. The boy probably was in attendance on the apostles, and this was no doubt the little stock of food they had provided for their own frugal meal. The barley loaves were the ordinary food of the poorest in Palestine, and the two fish were dried, as was the common custom of the country; and such dried fish was usually eaten with the bread.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
But
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

[Jesus] told
Εἶπεν (Eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

them,
αὐτούς (autous)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

“You
ὑμεῖς (hymeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

give
Δότε (Dote)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1325: To offer, give; I put, place. A prolonged form of a primary verb; to give.

them
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

something to eat.”
φαγεῖν (phagein)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 5315: A primary verb; to eat.

“We have only
ἡμῖν (hēmin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

five
πέντε (pente)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4002: Five. A primary number; 'five'.

loaves of bread
ἄρτοι (artoi)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 740: Bread, a loaf, food. From airo; bread or a loaf.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

two
δύο (dyo)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1417: Two. A primary numeral; 'two'.

fish,”
ἰχθύες (ichthyes)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 2486: A fish. Of uncertain affinity; a fish.

they answered,
εἶπαν (eipan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

“unless
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

we
ἡμεῖς (hēmeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

go
πορευθέντες (poreuthentes)
Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4198: To travel, journey, go, die.

[and] buy
ἀγοράσωμεν (agorasōmen)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 59: To buy. From agora; properly, to go to market, i.e. to purchase; specially, to redeem.

food
βρώματα (brōmata)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 1033: Food of any kind. From the base of bibrosko; food, especially articles allowed or forbidden by the Jewish law.

for
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

all
πάντα (panta)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.

these
τοῦτον (touton)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

people.”
λαὸν (laon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2992: Apparently a primary word; a people.


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NT Gospels: Luke 9:13 But he said to them You give (Luke Lu Lk)
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