Exegesis:
andres ‘men’: adult males, as distinguished from the women and children (cf. Mt. 14.21).
Translation:
One should not translate this sentence in such a form as to mean that only men ate, and that women and children were excluded (cf. Mt. 14.21). In some languages this requires one to say, ‘of those that ate the food there were five thousand men.’
Though loaves are specified in this verse, one is not to interpret that the five thousand had some of the loaves, but the fish was entirely too limited to go around. ‘Food’ is a not unwarranted substitution for loaves.
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 .