Mark 6:39

39 And he ordered them to make them all sit down by companies on the green grass.

Mark 6:39 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 6:39

And he commanded them to make all sit down
Christ ordered his disciples, without any more ado, to cause the whole multitude, men, women, and children, to sit, or lie down, as they used to do at table when about to take a meal: and as they had no table before them, nor beds, or couches to sit, or lie down upon, he directed them to place them

by companies upon the green grass;
that there might be some order among them, as at a meal; and that their number might be the more easily known; and that all of them might more plainly see the miracle that was to be wrought: and the provision be more orderly distributed to them.

Mark 6:39 In-Context

37 And he answering said to them, Give *ye* them to eat. And they say to him, Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them to eat?

38 And he says to them, How many loaves have ye? Go [and] see. And when they knew they say, Five, and two fishes.

39 And he ordered them to make them all sit down by companies on the green grass.

40 And they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties.

41 And having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to heaven, he blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave [them] to his disciples that they might set [them] before them. And the two fishes he divided among all.