15:36a

Taking the seven loaves and the fish: This clause indicates that Jesus took the loaves of bread and the fish from the disciples. Then he held them in his hands while he gave thanks for them.

15:36b

He gave thanks: These words mean that Jesus thanked God for the food. For example:

gave thanks to God (Good News Translation)
-or-
thanked God for them (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
and thanked ⌊God⌋ ⌊for the food⌋

15:36c

broke them: This clause means that Jesus broke/tore the bread and the fish into pieces.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

and broke them into pieces (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he divided the food (New Century Version)

Some languages may have one verb for breaking bread, and another verb for breaking fish. You should use the words that are natural in your language.

gave them: The tense of the verb gave probably indicates a repeated or continued giving. Jesus miraculously multiplied the pieces of bread and fish as he was giving them to his disciples.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

started giving them (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
began handing them (New Jerusalem Bible)

15:36d

and the disciples gave them to the people: In Greek, this phrase is more literally “and the disciples to the crowds.” The words gave and them are implied.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

who distributed the food to the crowd (New Living Translation (2004))

-or-

the disciples shared/divided the pieces among the people

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