John 6:10

10 And Jesus said , Make the men sit down . Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down , in number about five thousand.

John 6:10 Meaning and Commentary

John 6:10

Jesus said, make the men sit down
The Syriac version reads, "all the men"; and the Persic version, "all the people"; men, women, and children: Christ, without reproving his disciples for their unbelief, ordered them directly to place the people upon the ground, and seat them in rows by hundreds and by fifties, in a rank and company, as persons about to take a meal:

now there was much grass in the place;
at the bottom of the mountain; and it was green, as one of the evangelists observes, it being the spring of the year, and was very commodious to sit down upon:

so the men sat down, in number about five thousand;
besides women and children, ( Matthew 14:21 ) , so that there was but one loaf for more than a thousand persons.

John 6:10 In-Context

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

10 And Jesus said , Make the men sit down . Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down , in number about five thousand.

11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks , he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down ; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would .

12 When they were filled , he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain , that nothing be lost .