The disciples replied
This phrase indicates the response of Jesus' closest followers, the disciples. In Greek, "disciples" is "μαθηταί" (mathētai), meaning learners or students. This highlights their role as those who are still learning and growing in their understanding of Jesus' mission. Their reply reflects a common human tendency to focus on immediate circumstances rather than divine possibilities. Historically, the disciples often struggled with understanding Jesus' power and mission, which is a recurring theme in the Gospels.

Where in this desolate place
The term "desolate place" is translated from the Greek "ἔρημος" (erēmos), meaning a solitary, uninhabited, or wilderness area. This setting emphasizes the isolation and lack of resources, underscoring the miraculous nature of what Jesus is about to do. The wilderness is often a place of testing and revelation in the Bible, reminiscent of Israel's journey through the desert and Jesus' own temptation in the wilderness. It serves as a backdrop for divine intervention and provision.

could we find enough bread
The Greek word for "bread" is "ἄρτος" (artos), which can mean both literal bread and sustenance in a broader sense. Bread is a staple of life, symbolizing God's provision. The disciples' question reveals their focus on physical limitations and their lack of understanding of Jesus' ability to provide abundantly. This reflects a common biblical theme where human limitations are contrasted with divine provision.

to feed such a large crowd?
The phrase "large crowd" is significant, as it highlights the magnitude of the need. In Greek, "crowd" is "ὄχλος" (ochlos), often used in the Gospels to describe the masses that followed Jesus. This crowd represents the people of Israel and, by extension, all humanity in need of spiritual nourishment. The disciples' question underscores their doubt and the challenge of meeting such a vast need, setting the stage for Jesus to demonstrate His compassion and power.

(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 ...


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)