John 6:7

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages^[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

John 6:7 in Other Translations

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

7 Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."

7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”

7 Philip answered, "Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece."

7 Philip answered, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn't be enough for each of them to have a little."

John 6:7 Meaning and Commentary

John 6:7

Philip answered him
Very quick and short, and in a carnal and unbelieving way:

two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them.
Two hundred pence, or "Roman denarii", which may be here meant, amount to six pounds five shillings of our money; and this sum is mentioned, because it might be the whole stock that was in the bag, or that Christ and his disciples had; or because this was a round sum, much in use among the Jews; (See Gill on Mark 6:37). Or this may be said by Philip, to show how impracticable it was to provide for such a company; that supposing they had two hundred pence to lay out in this way; though where should they have that, he suggests? yet if they had it, as much bread as that would purchase would not be sufficient:

that everyone of them might take a little;
it would be so far from giving them a meal, or proper refreshment, that everyone could not have a small bit to taste of, or in the least to stay or blunt his appetite: a penny, with the Jews, would buy as much bread as would serve ten men; so that two hundred pence would buy bread enough for two thousand men; but here were three thousand more, besides women and children, who could not have been provided for with such a sum of money.

John 6:7 In-Context

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,

9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Footnotes

• [a]. Greek "take two hundred denarii"