Mark 8:1

1 In those days the multitude being very great, and not having what they may eat, Jesus having called near his disciples, saith to them,

Mark 8:1 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 8:1

In those days
The Ethiopic version reads, on that day; as if it was on the same day that the deaf man was healed; and so it might be; and on the third day from Christ's coming into those parts; and so is very properly expressed, "in those days"; see ( Mark 7:31 ) , compared with the following verse:

the multitude being very great:
for the number of men that ate, when the following miracle was wrought, were about four thousand; see ( Mark 8:9 ) . The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions add, "again"; referring to the former miracle of the five thousand, who were fed with five loaves, and two fishes, ( Mark 6:44 ) .

And having nothing to eat;
what they might have brought with them being expended, and they in a desert, where nothing was to be had, nor bought for money:

Jesus called his disciples to him, and saith unto them;
(See Gill on Matthew 15:32).

Mark 8:1 In-Context

1 In those days the multitude being very great, and not having what they may eat, Jesus having called near his disciples, saith to them,

2 `I have compassion upon the multitude, because now three days they do continue with me, and they have not what they may eat;

3 and if I shall let them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way, for certain of them are come from far.'

4 And his disciples answered him, `Whence shall any one be able these here to feed with bread in a wilderness?'

5 And he was questioning them, `How many loaves have ye?' and they said, `Seven.'