Matthew 16:5

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

5 And [when] the disciples arrived at the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

Matthew 16:5 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 16:5

When his disciples were come to the other side
Of the sea, as Munster's Hebrew Gospel adds, to Bethsaida, ( Mark 8:22 ) as they were either in the ship, or going from the shore to the said place, they recollected themselves,

that they had forgotten to take bread:
having but one loaf, as Mark says, in the ship; the seven baskets of fragments being either expended, or given away to the poor, of their own accord, or by Christ's orders. It seems, it was usual with the disciples to buy food at places most proper, and carry with them; since Christ often went into deserts and mountainous places, where provisions could not be had. This their forgetfulness to act according to their wonted method, might arise either from their being intent upon Christ's conversation with the Pharisees, and Sadducees, or from the suddenness of Christ's departure.

Matthew 16:5 In-Context

3 and early in the morning, 'Today [it will be] stormy weather, because the sky is red [and] darkening.' You know how to evaluate correctly the appearance of the sky, but you are not able [to evaluate] the signs of the times.

4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!" And he left them [and] went away.

5 And [when] the disciples arrived at the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6 And Jesus said to them, "Watch out for and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"

7 So they were discussing [this] among themselves, saying, "[It is] because we did not take bread."

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("arrived") which is understood as temporal
• [b]. That is, the other side of the Sea of Galilee