complete verse (Matthew 15:37)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 15:37:

  • Uma: “They all ate until they were full. After they had eaten, his disciples gathered the leftovers, seven baskets more.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They all ate and were filled. And then they gathered the left-overs, seven baskets full.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “All ate and were satisfied, and seven baskets of leftovers were what the disciples gathered up from those people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They all ate and were full. When they gathered furthermore what was left-over, seven baskets were full (lit. placed-in) of the leftover food.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “All of them ate till they were full. Well, the disciples collected what was left over, filling seven large-baskets.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “These people who ate were four thousand men. The women and the children weren’t counted. Yet all were filled. When the people finished eating, the learners of Jesus gathered seven baskets of bread which were left over.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 15:37

And they all ate and were satisfied is translated “They all ate as much as they wanted” by New Jerusalem Bible. The verb clause and were satisfied is translated “to their hearts’ content” by New English Bible. The Greek verb was previously used in 5.6; 14.20; 15.33. It implies both sufficiency and complete satisfaction in eating.

And they took: according to English usage, the pronoun they would most naturally refer back to the crowds of the clause and they all ate. This is also true even according to Greek grammar, but most scholars assume that they are “the disciples” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant), since the disciples are the ones who distributed the food. Consequently translators may have to say “The people in the crowd all ate until they were full. Then the disciples gathered up….”

Not only does the number of baskets differ from the account of the feeding of the five thousand, but the word used for baskets is also different in the two accounts (14.20). Here the word specifically refers to a fisherman’s basket woven from marsh grass. It is the same word used of the basket by which Paul was let down from the city wall (Acts 9.25). Elsewhere in the New Testament the word is used at Matthew 16.10; Mark 8.8, 20. A standard dictionary of classical Greek defines the word as a “large basket,” without specifying any particular dimensions. For this reason most translators say simply “large basket.” See also comments at 14.20.

In many languages one wouldn’t gather up baskets. Took up seven baskets full will more naturally be expressed “gathered up enough leftover broken pieces to fill seven large baskets.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 15:37



15:37a

They all ate and were satisfied: The word satisfied indicates that everyone had plenty of food to eat. They all ate as much food as they wanted to eat.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

They all ate and had enough (Good News Translation)
-or-
They all ate as much as they wanted (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
They all ate until they were full (New Living Translation (1996))

This same expression occurs in 14:20a.

15:37b

and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and introduces what happened next in the story.

Here are some other ways to begin this part of the story:

Afterward (New International Version)
-or-
Then (New Century Version)

the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over: In Greek, this clause is more literally “and the leftovers of the fragments ⌊of food⌋ were seven basketfuls.” This clause refers to the pieces of bread and fish that were left after the crowd ate. This leftover food filled seven baskets. It shows how much food Jesus provided for the people. He gave them more than they could eat.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

• Follow the model of the Contemporary English Version and do not say anything about who picked up the leftovers. For example:

the leftovers filled seven large baskets

• Follow the model of the Berean Standard Bible and say something about those who picked up the leftovers. This is what most English versions do. For example:

Then his followers filled seven baskets with the leftover pieces of food. (New Century Version)
-or-
The disciples picked up the leftover pieces and filled seven large baskets. (God’s Word)

the disciples: The Greek text does not say who gathered the broken pieces. The crowd may have helped. But the disciples were probably the main ones responsible. In some languages, it may be natural to make this explicit like the Berean Standard Bible.

picked up: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the verb picked up to indicate how the baskets were filled. This is the verb used in 14:20b when the disciples picked up the food remaining from the five thousand people.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

took up (English Standard Version)
-or-
filled (New Century Version)

basketfuls: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as basketfuls refers to a certain type of basket that is larger than the baskets that are mentioned in 14:20b. Use the word or expression here that refers to large baskets. For example:

seven large baskets (Contemporary English Version)

broken pieces: The broken pieces refer to the pieces of bread and fish that the people did not eat. This term does not refer to crumbs that had fallen to the ground.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

leftover pieces (God’s Word)
-or-
the leftover pieces of food (New Century Version)

-or-

food that remained

This same term occurs in 14:20b.

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