Luke 9:13

13 But he said to them, "Give them something to eat, yourselves!" They said, "We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish -- unless we ourselves are supposed to go and buy food for all these people!"

Luke 9:13 Meaning and Commentary

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 would be difficult, at least to get such a quantity of provisions at once, which so great a number of persons required.

Luke 9:13 In-Context

11 But the crowds found out and followed him. Welcoming them, he went on to speak to them about the Kingdom of God and to heal those who needed to be healed.

12 The day began to draw to a close. The Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away, so that they can go and get lodging and food in the towns and farms around here, because where we are is a remote place."

13 But he said to them, "Give them something to eat, yourselves!" They said, "We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish -- unless we ourselves are supposed to go and buy food for all these people!"

14 (For there were about five thousand men.) He said to his talmidim, "Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each."

15 They did what he told them and had them all sit down.