Mark 6:38

38 He said to them, " How much bread do you have? Take a look." After checking, they said, "Five loaves of bread and two fish."

Mark 6:38 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 6:38

And he saith unto them, how many loaves have ye?
&c.] This he said, not as ignorant, but as willing to try their faith yet more, and that the after miracle might be more manifest and illustrious:

go and see;
meaning, either that they should examine their own store, if they had any; or rather go and see what was to be had upon the spot, among the company, for money;

and when they knew, they say five loaves and two fishes:
when they had made inquiry what provisions there were, and the most that could be got at any rate, they tell him, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, particularly, that there was a boy among the multitude that had five barley loaves, and two small fishes; and, at the same time, suggests, that they were nothing for so great a company.

Mark 6:38 In-Context

36 Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves."

37 He replied, "You give them something to eat." But they said to him, "Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months' pay and give it to them to eat?"

38 He said to them, "How much bread do you have? Take a look." After checking, they said, "Five loaves of bread and two fish."

39 He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass.

40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.