Mark 6:37

37 But he answered [and] said to them, "You give them [something] to eat." And they said to him, "Should we go [and] purchase bread for two hundred denarii and give [it] to them to eat?"

Mark 6:37 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 6:37

He answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat
This he said to try their faith, and make way for the following miracle:

and they say unto him, shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth
of bread, and give them to eat?
This might be just the sum of money they now had in the bag, as Grotius, and others conjecture; and the sense be, shall we lay out the two hundred pence, which is all we have in hand, to buy bread for this multitude? is it proper we should? is it thy will that so it should be? and if we should do so, as Philip suggests, ( John 6:7 ) , it would not be enough to give every one a little: wherefore they say this, as amazed that he should propose such a thing unto them: or the reason of mentioning such a sum, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, might be, because that this was a noted and celebrated sum among the Jews, and frequently mentioned by them. A virgin's dowry, upon marriage, was "two hundred pence" ^F3; and so was a widow's; and one that was divorced ^F4, if she insisted on it, and could make good her claim: this was the fine of an adult man, that lay with one under age; and of a male under age, that lay with a female adult ^F5; and of one man that gave another a slap of the face ^F6. This sum answered to six pounds and five shillings of our money.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Misn. Cetubot, c. 1. sect. 2. & 4. 7. & 5. 1.
F4 Ib. c. 2. sect. 1. & 11. 4.
F5 Ib. c. 1. sect. 3.
F6 Misn. Bava Kama, c. 6. sect. 8.

Mark 6:37 In-Context

35 And the hour had already become late [when] his disciples came up to him, saying, "The place is desolate and the hour [is] already late.

36 Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding farms and villages [and] purchase something to eat for themselves."

37 But he answered [and] said to them, "You give them [something] to eat." And they said to him, "Should we go [and] purchase bread for two hundred denarii and give [it] to them to eat?"

38 And he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And [when they] found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."

39 And he ordered them all to recline in groups on the green grass.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("answered") has been translated as a finite verb
• [b]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [c]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("go") has been translated as a finite verb
• [d]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation