9:17a

They all ate and were satisfied: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all ate and were satisfied means that the whole crowd of people had all the food that they wanted to eat. Other ways to translate this are:

They all ate and had enough (Good News Translation)
-or-
They all ate as much as they wanted (New Jerusalem Bible)

In some languages it may be necessary to make it clear that the people were able to do this because there was sufficient food:

⌊There was enough food for⌋ everyone to eat and be satisfied.

9:17b

and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and introduces the next action in the story. It may be natural in some languages to begin a new sentence here. It may also be natural to include a time word or phrase. For example:

Then
-or-
and afterward (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
After they were finished eating

the disciples picked up: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the disciples picked up is literally “was-picked-up.” It is a passive verb. It implies that someone/people picked up the leftover food. In this context it was the disciples who picked up this food, as Mark 8:19 indicates. Some ways to translate this are:

• As a passive clause. For example:

What was left over was gathered up (New Century Version)

• As an active clause. For example:

the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over (Good News Translation)
-or-
What was left over filled twelve baskets. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
they picked up the leftover pieces (God’s Word)

Express this in the way that is most natural in your language.

picked up: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as picked up means to lift up and carry away. In this context it probably indicates that the disciples gathered or collected pieces of uneaten food from the crowd. It probably does not refer to crumbs being picked up from the ground.

Some other ways to translate this are:

gathered up (New Century Version)
-or-
collected (New Jerusalem Bible)

twelve basketfuls: The amount of food that the disciples collected was enough to fill twelve baskets. We do not know what kind of baskets they used. They may have been small wicker baskets normally used by travelers or larger baskets used to carry produce to and from the marketplace. If possible, use a general word for “basket.”

If you need to use a specific word, use a word that refers to a medium-sized basket suitable for carrying food.

of broken pieces that were left over: The phrase broken pieces that were left over refers here to the pieces of food that remained after everyone had eaten. There was so much food that people could not eat it all. In some languages the phrase broken pieces may be understood without being stated explicitly. For example:

what was left over (Good News Translation)
-or-
leftovers (New Living Translation (2004))

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