Matthew 15:33
New International Version
His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

New Living Translation
The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”

English Standard Version
And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

Berean Standard Bible
The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”

Berean Literal Bible
And the disciples say to Him, "From where will be to us in a secluded place so many loaves, as so great a crowd to satisfy?"

King James Bible
And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?

New King James Version
Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”

New American Standard Bible
The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

NASB 1995
The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

NASB 1977
And the disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in a desolate place to satisfy such a great multitude?”

Legacy Standard Bible
And the disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

Amplified Bible
The disciples said to Him, “Where are we to get enough bread in this isolated place to feed so large a crowd?”

Christian Standard Bible
The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place to feed such a crowd? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place to fill such a crowd?”

American Standard Version
And the disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so many loaves in a desert place as to fill so great a multitude?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
His disciples were saying to him, “Where is bread for us in the wilderness that will satisfy this whole crowd?

Contemporary English Version
His disciples said, "This place is like a desert. Where can we find enough food to feed such a crowd?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the disciples say unto him: Whence then should we have so many loaves in the desert, as to fill so great a multitude?

English Revised Version
And the disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so many loaves in a desert place, as to fill so great a multitude?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
His disciples asked him, "Where could we get enough bread to feed such a crowd in this place where no one lives?"

Good News Translation
The disciples asked him, "Where will we find enough food in this desert to feed this crowd?"

International Standard Version
The disciples asked him, "Where in the wilderness are we to get enough bread to feed such a crowd?"

Literal Standard Version
And His disciples say to Him, “From where to us in a wilderness [will we get] so many loaves, as to fill so great a multitude?”

Majority Standard Bible
The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”

New American Bible
The disciples said to him, “Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?”

NET Bible
The disciples said to him, "Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?"

New Revised Standard Version
The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?”

New Heart English Bible
Then the disciples said to him, "Where should we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a crowd?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And his disciples say to him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to satisfy so great a multitude?

Weymouth New Testament
"Where can we," asked the disciples, "get bread enough in this remote place to satisfy so vast a multitude?"

World English Bible
The disciples said to him, “Where could we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?”

Young's Literal Translation
And his disciples say to him, 'Whence to us, in a wilderness, so many loaves, as to fill so great a multitude?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
32Then 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.” 33 The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?” 34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”…

Cross References
Matthew 15:32
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."

Matthew 15:34
"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish."


Treasury of Scripture

And his disciples say to him, From where should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?

Whence.

Numbers 11:21,22
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…

2 Kings 4:42-44
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…

Mark 6:37
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?

to fill.

Matthew 14:15
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

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.

John 6:8,9
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, …

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Bread Crowd Desert Deserted Desolate Disciples Enough Fill Food Great Loaves Multitude Remote Satisfy Vast Waste Whence Wilderness
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Bread Crowd Desert Deserted Desolate Disciples Enough Fill Food Great Loaves Multitude Remote Satisfy Vast Waste Whence Wilderness
Matthew 15
1. Jesus reproves the Scribes and Pharisees
7. for transgressing God's commandments through their own traditions;
10. teaches how that which goes into the mouth does not defile a man.
21. He heals the daughter of the woman of Canaan,
29. and other great multitudes;
32. and with seven loaves and a few small fish feeds four thousand men














(33) His disciples say unto him.--Here, on the assumption that we are dealing with a true record, a difficulty of another kind meets us. How was it, we ask, that the disciples, with the memory of the former miracle still fresh in their recollection, should answer as before with the same child-like perplexity? Why did they not at once assume that the same divine power could be put forth to meet a like want now? The answers to that question may, perhaps, be grouped as follows:--(1.) It is not easy for us to put ourselves in the position of men who witnessed, as they did, these workings of a supernatural might. We think of the Power as inherent, and therefore permanent. To them it might seem intermittent, a gift that came and went. Their daily necessities had been supplied, before and after the great event, in the common way of gift or purchase. The gathering of the fragments (Matthew 14:20; John 6:12) seemed to imply that they were not to rely on the repetition of the wonder. (2.) The fact that three days had passed, and that hunger had been allowed to pass on to the borders of exhaustion, might well have led to think that the power was not to be exerted now. (3.) Our Lord's implied question--though, as before, He Himself "knew what He would do" (John 6:6)--must have appeared to them to exclude the thought that He was about to make use again of that reserve of power which He had displayed before. They would seem to themselves to be simply following in His footsteps when they answered His question as on the level which He Himself thus appeared to choose.

Verse 33. - Whence should we have so much bread, etc.? Christ had said nothing to his disciples concerning his design of feeding the people, but his remarks pointed to the possibility of such a design, and the apostles at once throw cold water upon the project. They do not indeed, as they did before urge him to send the multitude away, that they may supply their own needs, but they emphasize the impossibility of carrying out the idea of feeding them. Their answer bristles with objections. The place is uninhabited; the multitude is numerous; the quantity of food required is enormous; and how can we, poor and needy as we are, help them? It seems to us incredible that they could return this answer, after having, net very long before, experienced the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. They seemed now to have forgotten the earlier marvel, and to be in utter doubt how the necessary food was to be provided on the present occasion. That Christ would display his miraculous powers appears not to have crossed their minds. Such surprising forgetfulness and slowness of faith have seemed to some critics so unlikely and unusual, that they have regarded the apostles' attitude as confirming their assumption of the identity of the two miracles of feeding. But really such conduct is true to human nature. Calvin, while he condemns in vehement terms the disciples' dulness - "nimis brutum produnt stuporem" - is careful to add that men are always liable to a similar insensibility, prone to forget past deliverance in the face of present difficulty. Immediately after the passage of the Red Sea, the people feared that they would perish of thirst in the wilderness; and when God promised to give them flesh to eat, even Moses doubted the possibility of the supply, and asked whence it could be provided (Exodus 17:1, etc.; Numbers 11:21, etc.). How often did Jesus speak of his sufferings, death, and resurrection! And yet these events came upon believers as a surprise for which they were altogether unprepared. Continually the disciples forgot what they ought to have remembered, drew no proper inferences from what they had seen and experienced, and had to be taught the same lessons repeatedly under different circumstances. Since the first miraculous meal many events had happened; often possibly they had been in want of food, as when on the sabbath day they appeased their hunger with ears of corn plucked by the way, and Christ had worked no miracle for their relief. It did not immediately suggest itself to them to have recourse to their Master in the emergency; they were very far from expecting Divine interposition at every turn. If they thought at all of the former miracle, they may have looked upon it as the outcome of an intermittent power, not always at command, or at any rate not likely to be exercised on the present occasion. They were slow to apprehend Christ's Divine mission and character. The acknowledgment of his Messiahship did net necessarily connote the realization of his Godhead. In the writings of this and the immediately preceding period we see that the great Prophet, Prince, Conqueror, who is to appear, is not God, but one commissioned by God, and at most a God-inspired man or angel. So the apostles were only in unison with the best of their contemporaries when at present they hesitated to believe in, and were incapable of apprehending, the Divine nature of Christ.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
The
οἱ (hoi)
Article - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

disciples
μαθηταί (mathētai)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3101: A learner, disciple, pupil. From manthano; a learner, i.e. Pupil.

replied,
λέγουσιν (legousin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

“Where
Πόθεν (Pothen)
Adverb
Strong's 4159: From the base of posis with enclitic adverb of origin; from which or what place, state, source or cause.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

this desolate place
ἐρημίᾳ (erēmia)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2047: A desert place, desert, uninhabited region. From eremos; solitude.

can we [find]
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.

enough
τοσοῦτοι (tosoutoi)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5118: So great, so large, so long, so many. From tosos and houtos; so vast as this, i.e. Such.

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

to feed
χορτάσαι (chortasai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 5526: To feed, satisfy, fatten. From chortos; to fodder, i.e. to gorge.

such a large
τοσοῦτον (tosouton)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5118: So great, so large, so long, so many. From tosos and houtos; so vast as this, i.e. Such.

crowd?”
ὄχλον (ochlon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3793: From a derivative of echo; a throng; by implication, the rabble; by extension, a class of people; figuratively, a riot.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 15:33 The disciples said to him Where should (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 15:32
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