Paragraph 6:5–9

This paragraph tells why there was a need for Jesus to act. Many thousands of people were hungry. To buy food for them all would have cost a lot of money. It is implied, though not stated, that Jesus and the disciples were not wealthy. They did not have large amounts of money to give away or spend.

6:5a

When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him: The Greek text of 6:5a includes a word that is often translated as “therefore.” The Berean Standard Bible does not explicitly translate this word, but other translations do. For example:

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him…. (English Standard Version)
-or-
Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him…. (New American Standard Bible)
-or-

So when Jesus looked up and saw the large crowd coming to him

In some languages it may be natural to translate 6:5a as a separate sentence. For example:

Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd of people was coming toward him.

looked up and saw: This phrase indicates that Jesus noticed something. It does not mean that Jesus was previously looking down at the ground.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

looked around and saw (Good News Translation)

In some languages it may be natural to use only one verb. For example:

Jesus saw (Contemporary English Version)

a large crowd: Use a word or phrase that refers to several thousand peaceful people gathered together.

6:5b

He said to Philip: This phrase introduces a question that Jesus used to encourage Philip to think about a problem. It may be more natural in some languages to make it explicit that Jesus would ask a question. For example:

Jesus asked Philip

Philip: Philip was last mentioned in 1:43–45. He was one of Jesus’ twelve (12) disciples. Because he was last mentioned several chapters earlier, it may help to remind readers and listeners who he was. Here are examples of how you can do that:

Philip, ⌊one of his disciples⌋
-or-

⌊the disciple named⌋ Philip

6:5c

“Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”: This question implies that Jesus wanted to get food for the crowd. He could see that they needed to eat.

Here are other ways to translate this question:

Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat? (New Century Version)
-or-
Where will we get enough food to feed all these people? (Contemporary English Version)

we: This pronoun is inclusive in this context. Jesus was referring to himself and the disciples.

bread: This word refers to the most common food eaten in Israel at that time. Because of that, it was sometimes used to refer to food in general. In this context the word bread can be understood as referring to food in general. The people needed something to eat, and bread was the most common food for ordinary people at that time. Most bread was made from wheat, but it could also be made from barley or other grains.

In some cultures bread is not a common or important food. If that is true in your culture, it is recommended that you translate bread with a general word for food.

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