8:5a

Jesus did not answer the disciples’ objection. Instead, he asked them a specific question about how much food they had. In some languages it may be helpful to include a connector here to indicate that Jesus did not answer as the disciples expected him to. For example:

But Jesus asked them

See the note on “Jesus asked” at the end of the notes for this verse.

How many loaves do you have?: This is a real question, not a rhetorical question. Jesus wanted his disciples to find out how much bread they already had.

loaves: The word loaves is the same word in Greek as the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “bread” in 8:4b. It refers to pieces or units of bread, probably cooked in a round shape like buns or rolls.

In Greek, the word is plural both here and in 8:4b. In English, there is not a plural form of “bread” that can be counted, so the Berean Standard Bible uses the word loaves here. If it is natural to say “breads” in your language, you can do that here. Otherwise, you may need to say something like:

How many loaves of bread do you have? (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
How much bread do you have? (Good News Bible)

See how you translated “bread” and loaves in 6:37c and 6:38a.

Jesus asked: In the Greek text, Jesus asked comes before the question. The Berean Standard Bible places it after the quotation. Place it where it is natural in your language. See the General Comment on 8:5a–b for a suggestion about indirect speech.

8:5b

Seven: The Berean Standard Bible literally translates the one Greek word “seven” here. In some languages, it will be more natural to say “seven loaves of bread.” For example, the Good News Bible says:

Seven loaves.

If you translated “loaves” in 8:5a with a general word for food, you will then need to use a specific word for bread here. Use a term that can be counted and divided. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

Seven small loaves of bread.

In some languages it may be more natural to express their answer as a complete sentence. For example:

We have seven loaves of bread.

they replied: The Berean Standard Bible places the words they replied after the disciples’ reply. In Greek these words come before the reply. Place them where it is natural in your language.

General Comment on 8:5a–b

It may be more natural in some languages to express Jesus’ question in indirect speech. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

Jesus asked them how much food they had.

In some languages it may also be more natural to express the disciples’ response in indirect speech. For example:

They told him that they had seven loaves of bread.

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