Mark 6:37

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[a] ! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

Mark 6:37 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
37 He answered and said unto them,Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
English Standard Version (ESV)
37 But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"
New Living Translation (NLT)
37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”
The Message Bible (MSG)
37 Jesus said, "You do it. Fix supper for them." They replied, "Are you serious? You want us to go spend a fortune on food for their supper?"
American Standard Version (ASV)
37 But he answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred shillings' worth of bread, and give them to eat?
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
37 Jesus replied, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Should we go and spend about a year's wages on bread to feed them?"
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
37 "You give them something to eat," He responded. They said to Him, "Should we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
37 But Jesus answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a person's pay! Should we go and spend that much on bread? Are we supposed to feed them?"

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.


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 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late.
36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages ! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 2 Kings 4:42-44

Footnotes 1

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