Section 6:1–15

Jesus fed over 5000 people in the wilderness

In this section Jesus did a great miracle. He fed thousands of people with just a small amount of food. He showed that he could create material substances, just as God did when he created the world. He also showed that he cared about people’s hunger and could provide food for them. See also Matthew 15:32–39.

Here are other possible titles for this section:

Jesus provided food for a big crowd
-or-
Jesus did a miracle to increase some bread and fish

Paragraph 6:1–4

This paragraph gives the setting for the miraculous feeding of many people. It tells approximately where Jesus was and when this took place.

6:1a

After this: This phrase indicates a time that is not specific. We do not know how much time passed before this next event.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

Some time later

6:1b

Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee: The place that Jesus went to is also not specific. The phrase the other side probably refers to the northeast side, but this is not certain. The text does not mean that Jesus was already on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. At the end of chapter 5, he was in Jerusalem, which is not by the Sea of Galilee. To avoid implying that Jerusalem was on the Sea of Galilee, it may be necessary to say that he went there. For example:

Jesus ⌊returned to⌋ Galilee and crossed the lake.

Jesus: Jesus did not cross the sea alone. If a literal translation implies that he was traveling alone, you may need to say explicitly:

Jesus ⌊and his disciples⌋

crossed: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as crossed can refer to any method of going or moving away from somewhere. Try to use as general a word as possible, one that could include walking and sailing. For example:

went away (English Standard Version)

the Sea of Galilee: This phrase refers to a fresh-water lake in the province or region of Galilee. It was about 13 miles long and 7 miles wide (20 km. by 11 km.). Refer to the notes on Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:16, where this lake is also mentioned. See how you spelled Galilee in John 2:1 and 4:43.

6:1c

(that is, the Sea of Tiberias): The Sea of Tiberias was another name for the Sea of Galilee. This chapter in John is the only time this name is mentioned in the New Testament. The name came from one of the Roman emperors, Tiberius. The city Tiberias, on the coast of the Sea of Tiberias, was also named after him. This is parenthetical information. In some languages it may be natural to put it in parentheses. For example:

(or, Lake Tiberias, as it is also called) (Good News Translation)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.