Section 6:30–44
Jesus did a miracle to feed more than five thousand people
Here Mark resumed the story about Jesus and his twelve apostles. In this section the twelve apostles came back to Jesus and told him about their mission in the Jewish villages. Then Jesus and the apostles went away to find a quiet place to rest. But crowds of people came there to see Jesus. Jesus taught the crowds of people and then did a miracle in order to give them all food to eat.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand (New International Version)
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The Feeding of the Five Thousand (NET Bible)
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Jesus fed five thousand people in a miraculous way
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 14:13–21; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14. See also a similar story, where Jesus fed four thousand people, in Matthew 15:32–39 and Mark 8:1–10.
Paragraph 6:30–32
In 6:6b–13 Jesus sent out his twelve apostles in groups of two to preach, to expel demons, and to heal sick people. Here in 6:30–32, the apostles returned from their mission and told Jesus what had happened. Then Jesus invited them to a quiet place away from the crowds so that they could rest.
6:30a
The events in 6:30–32 began sometime after Jesus sent the twelve apostles out in 6:6b–13. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between the time the disciples went out and the time they came back to report to Jesus in 6:30. Also, Mark interrupted the story about Jesus and the twelve apostles to tell a different story (about John the Baptist and Herod).
Your language may have a particular way to show that a story is starting again after an interruption to tell about something else. If so, you could use it here. One way to do this in English is:
When Jesus’ apostles returned from the villages, they…
Meanwhile, the apostles gathered around Jesus: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the apostles gathered around Jesus implies that they first returned to Jesus. In some languages, it may be natural to make this explicit. For example, the Good News Bible says:
the apostles returned and met with Jesus
apostles: The Greek word that English versions translate as apostles means “those who are sent.” Here it refers to the people whom Jesus sent with authority to accomplish a mission or a particular task.
Some ways to translate “apostles” are:
• Translate the meaning of the Greek word apostles. For example:
people sent to speak/act for him
-or-
special messengers
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representatives
-or-
men with authority from Jesus
• Indicate the role or function of apostles. For example:
chief leaders of Jesus’ work
-or-
people who are in charge of Jesus’ work
Be careful to choose different terms for “apostle,” “angel,” “elder,” and “prophet.”
This is the second time in Mark that the twelve disciples are called apostles. (The first time is in 3:14b.) See also apostle in the Glossary.
Mark usually referred to Jesus’ twelve closest followers as “disciples” rather than apostles. He may have chosen the word apostles here since they had returned from the mission that Jesus sent them on in 6:7.
gathered around Jesus: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as gathered around also means “assembled” or “met.” The twelve apostles had been apart from each other and from Jesus. They had gone in groups of two to many villages. Now they came back together again.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
rejoined Jesus (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
returned and met with Jesus (Good News Bible)
6:30b
and brought Him news of all they had done and taught: In 6:12–13 Mark told what the twelve men did after Jesus sent them out. Here in 6:30b they came back and told Jesus about all these things.
all they had done: The general phrase all they had done includes expelling demons and healing sick people.
all they had…taught: In 6:12 it says that they “preached that the people should repent.” Here in 6:30b, Mark says that they taught, that is, they instructed or directed people. Preaching and teaching are similar, but if you have two different verbs, you should use a different one here from the one you used for “preached.”
If you need to say whom the disciples taught, you can say:
all that they had taught to the people
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