Mark 8:20

20 "When [I] also [broke] the seven [loaves] for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they said to him, "Seven."

Mark 8:20 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 8:20

And when the seven among four thousand
That is, when seven loaves were broken among four thousand men,

how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?
this surely you must remember, it being so recent an action, but just done, as it were:

and they said, seven;
for this, as yet, could not have slipped their memories; though they had, been reasoning among themselves because of their straitness of provisions, as if these things had never been done.

Mark 8:20 In-Context

18 [Although you] have eyes, do you not see? And [although you] have ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand how many baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" They said to him, "Twelve."

20 "When [I] also [broke] the seven [loaves] for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they said to him, "Seven."

21 And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

22 And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought to him a blind man and implored him that he would touch him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts omit "also"
• [b]. *The words "[I broke]" are not in the Greek text, but are understood based on the previous verse
• [c]. *The word "[loaves]" is not in the Greek text, but is understood based on the previous verse