Exegesis:
labōn (cf. 4.16) ‘taking.’
anablepsas eis ton ouranon ‘looking up to heaven’ in an attitude of prayer.
anablepō (7.34; 16.4) ‘look up’; in 8.24; 10.51, 52 it means ‘to recover sight,’ ‘see again.’
eulogēsen (8.7; 11.9, 10; 14.22) ‘he blessed’: here and in 8.7 and 14.22 (and parallels in the other Gospels) the word may mean (1) ‘invoke God’s blessing upon,’ or (2) ‘give thanks (to God),’ ‘praise (God)’ as the equivalent of eucharisteō ‘give thanks,’ ‘praise.’ Arndt & Gingrich reflect lack of finality in the matter by refusing to classify these passages definitely under one or other heading.
A study of the passages which deal with the two feedings of the multitudes, the Supper, and the related passages, shows that eulogeō and eucharisteō are used interchangeably. In the feeding of the five thousand, eulogeō is found in Mk. 6.41 // Mt. 14.19 // Lk. 9.16, and eucharisteō in Jn. 6.11, 23. In the feeding of the four thousand, eucharisteō is used in Mk. 8.6 // Mt. 15.36, and eulogeō in Mk. 8.7. In the institution of the Supper eucharisteō is used of the loaf Lk. 22.19 // 1 Co. 11.24, and of the cup Mk. 14.23 // Mt. 26.27 // Lk. 22.17; eulogeō is used of the loaf Mk. 14.22 // Mt. 26.26 (and of the cup in 1 Co. 10.16). In the Emmaus incident eulogeō is used of the bread Lk. 24.30. It would be precarious to try to establish a difference between the actions described by the two verbs in all these passages as though eulogeō always meant exclusively ‘to call God’s blessing upon’ and eucharisteō ‘thank God for.’ The conclusion appears inevitable that the two verbs describe the same action of praise or thanksgiving offered in prayer to God.
It should be noticed, however, that in two passages eulogeō takes a direct object: the loaves and fish in Lk. 9.16 and the fish in Mk. 8.7. In these two passages it would be natural to assume that the meaning is ‘ask God to bless,’ ‘invoke God’s blessing upon’ (although Taylor, 360, maintains that in Mk. 8.7 no difference is to be established between eulogeō [of the fish] and eucharisteō in the previous verse [of the loaves]: “The act is one of thanksgiving to God”). In 1 Co. 10.16 ‘the cup of blessing which we bless’ would seem to mean ‘the cup of blessing for which we bless (i.e. praise) God.’
The Vulgate consistently translates eulogeō by benedicere and eucharisteō by gratias agere. The Syriac always translates eulogeō by b-r-k ‘bless’; used of God, ‘bless God,’ it means ‘praise God’ (cf. Koehler). This same verb is also used to translate eucharisteō in Mk. 8.6, Jn. 6.11, 23, and 1 Co. 11.24. Elsewhere eucharisteō is translated by y-d-ʾ ‘confess,’ ‘give thanks,’ ‘praise’ (Hebrew yadah); in Mk. 14.23 both y-d-ʾ and b-r-k are used, and in Mt. 15.36 sh-v-ch ‘praise,’ ‘give thanks.’ The evidence from the Syriac would seem to indicate that the two Greek verbs are practically synonymous in meaning.
English translations, as a rule, translate eucharisteō ‘give thanks,’ and eulogeō ‘bless.’ The Modern Speech New Testament, Moffatt and Goodspeed always have a direct object for ‘bless,’ either the loaves and fish, or the bread and cup of the Supper. Revised Standard Version has followed American Standard Version by using ‘bless’ as an intransitive verb, with no object following, meaning (presumably) ‘said a blessing.’ O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada always translates eulogeō ‘bless’ with a direct object (as do The Modern Speech New Testament and others), and eucharisteō ‘give thanks’; Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale translates both words ‘give thanks’ (with the exception of Lk. 9.16 and 1 Co. 10.16 where eulogeō is translated ‘bless’ with a direct object); Zürcher Bibel translates both words ‘say a prayer of thanks for it’ (sprechen das Dankgebet darüber).
From this it is evident that there exists no uniformity in translating the two terms. That the two are practically equivalent, in these passages, seems to be indicated by the Gospel narratives themselves, and there is good precedent for translating them in this manner.
kateklasen (only here in Mark: cf. klao 8.6, 19; 14.22) ‘he broke,’ ‘he broke into fragments.’
paratithōsin (8.6, 7) ‘that they should set before (them)’: though there is no way of determining the question, it would seem probable, in light of the customs of that time, that the Twelve carried the bread and fish and placed them before the various groups of fifty and one hundred, and not before each person individually.
emerisen (cf. 3.24) ‘he divided,’ ‘he distributed.’
Translation:
Taking must in some languages be ‘took in his hands,’ since the instrument or agent of the taking must be specified.
Looked up to heaven is ‘looked up toward heaven’ not ‘looked into heaven,’ as in some translations.
Blessed involves a number of problems for the translator because of (1) the ambiguous nature of the Greek expression, (2) the tendency to interpret any blessing of an object as involving some magical practices, and (3) the confusion between ‘blessing’ and ‘making taboo.’ Where there is an object of the process of blessing, the tendency is to understanding consecration or sanctifying, e.g. ‘place holiness on’ (San Mateo del Mar Huave) or ‘to cause it to be holy.’ In some languages there is a more indirect way of dealing with this problem by saying ‘give it his good word’ (Chol) and ‘prayed about it’ (Central Tarahumara, Southern Subanen). However, in order to avoid a manifestly incorrect interpretation, which presumes that Jesus employed some word ritual to increase the food magically, it may be better to translate ‘spoke to God on behalf of the food’ or ‘gave thanks to God for the food.’
Broke the loaves means breaking them apart in his hands, not, as implied in one translation, smashing them like stones.
Gave them must refer here to the pieces of bread.
To set before, as noted above, probably refers to supplies distributed to the groups which would in turn distribute them among those in the group.
Divided the two fish among them all does not mean that Jesus divided the fish and personally served all the people. In some languages one must say ‘divided the fish for all the people’ or ‘divided the fish so all the people could have some.’
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .