Luke 9:14

14 (For about 5,000 men were there.) Then He told His disciples, "Have them sit down ^[a] in groups of about 50 each."

Luke 9:14 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 9:14

For they were about five thousand men
Beside women and children, ( Matthew 14:21 ) ,

and he said to his disciples, make them to sit down by fifties
in a company;
and by hundreds also; some companies had a hundred apiece in them, and others fifty; and which was done partly, for the more easy numbering of them, and partly and chiefly for the more convenient distribution of food to them; (See Gill on Mark 6:39). (See Gill on Mark 6:40).

Luke 9:14 In-Context

12 Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to Him, "Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here."

13 "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."

14 (For about 5,000 men were there.) Then He told His disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each."

15 They did so, and had them all sit down.

16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them. He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit them recline