678 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when his disciples heard of it,.... That is, when the disciples of John heard of this barbarous execution of their master, they came; to the prison in the castle of Machaerus, and took up his corpse; the trunk of his body; for his head was carried away, to glut the revenge of Herodias; and laid it in a tomb; [See comments on Matthew 14:12].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the apostles gathered themselves together,.... The twelve apostles of Christ, whom he had sent out, two by two, into different parts, having gone through them, and finished the embassy, they were sent about, met together in one place, and came in a body together, unto Jesus; their Lord and master, who had sent them, and to whom they were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto them,.... After he had heard their account, was satisfied with it, and approved of what they had said and done: come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: where they might be free from noise and hurry, and take some rest and refreshment, after their wearisome journey, hard labours, and great fatigue in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they departed into a desert place,.... Which belonged to the city of Bethsaida, Lu 9:10, by ship, privately; over some part of the sea of Tiberias, this place lying on a more remote side of it.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the people saw them departing,.... The multitude that came to and fro, saw Christ and his disciples taking ship, and launching off; for though they were as private as could be, and intended to have gone in a very private manner, yet the people observed them: and many knew him: Jesus; some copies read, "them"; and so do the Syriac and Ethiopic...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jesus, when he came out,.... Of the ship, and was got ashore, saw much people; who came partly from the places where he came from, and partly from the cities and towns adjacent: and was moved with compassion towards them; [See comments on Matthew 14:14], the reason follows, because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd. Christ observed,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the day was now far spent,.... Or "much time was gone", in teaching the people, and healing the sick: his disciples came unto him; nearer to him, as he was preaching, or healing the sick; and said, this is a desert place, and now the time is far passed; [See comments on Matthew 14:15].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Send them away,.... Leave off preaching, dismiss the assembly; see Matthew 14:15; that they may go into the country round about; or "into the fields"; that is, to the odd houses; which were here and there in the fields; [See comments on Mr 5:14]; and into the villages; the little country towns that were near at hand: and buy themselves bread, for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat,.... This he said to try their faith, and make way for the following miracle: and they say unto him, shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? This might be just the sum of money they now had in the bag, as Grotius, and others conjecture; and the sense be, shall...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he saith unto them, how many loaves have ye?.... This he said, not as ignorant, but as willing to try their faith yet more, and that the after miracle might be more manifest and illustrious: go and see; meaning, either that they should examine their own store, if they had any; or rather go and see what was to be had upon the spot, among the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he commanded them to make all sit down,.... Christ ordered his disciples, without any more ado, to cause the whole multitude, men, women, and children, to sit, or lie down, as they used to do at table when about to take a meal: and as they had no table before them, nor beds, or couches to sit, or lie down upon, he directed them to place them...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they sat down in ranks,.... Or "beds": in such form as little beds are placed in a garden, or as rows of vines in a vineyard, in which form the scholars of the wise men sat in their schools: it is said (g), "R. Eliezer ben Azariah expounded before the wise men in the vineyard (i.e. the university) of Jabneh: though was there a vineyard there?...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he had taken the five loaves and two fishes,.... Out of the hands of those that brought them into his own: he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves: [See comments on Matthew 14:19], and gave them to his disciples to set before them; the multitude, in order to eat of them: and the two fishes divided he among them all; that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they did all eat, and were filled. [See comments on Matthew 14:20].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments,.... Of the broken pieces of bread, after all had eaten, and were satisfied: and of the fishes; what remained of them:, for though there was but one loaf for a thousand persons and more, and two small fishes to be divided among five thousand and more: yet, through the wonderful power of Christ...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they that did eat of the loaves,.... And also of the fishes; for they all ate of both; were about five thousand men; the word ωσει, "about", is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persic and Ethiopic versions, reading five thousand men certain. The Evangelist Matthew adds, "beside children and women", Matthew 14:21.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And straightway he constrained his disciples,.... The reasons of this is [See comments on Matthew 14:22], to get into the ship; in which they came to this place, and which was waiting for them: and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida; or rather "to go to the other side over against Bethsaida"; for they were now in a desert belonging to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he had sent them away,.... Either his disciples, or rather the multitude: he departed into a mountain to pray: after his disciples were gone, and he had dismissed the people, he went from the desert where he had been, up into a mountain; being a retired place, to spend some time in private prayer to God; [See comments on Matthew 14:23].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when even was come,.... The second evening, and it was properly night: the ship was in the midst of the sea; of Galilee, about twenty five or thirty furlongs from the shore; see John 6:19; and he alone on the land; upon the mountain. This is observed, partly to show what distress the disciples were in, in the midst of the sea, having a hard...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he saw them toiling in rowing,.... He saw them either with his bodily eyes from the mountain on which he was; or he perceived in his Spirit, he knew, by virtue of his omniscience as God, what distress his disciples were in; being tossed about with the waves of the sea, and were labouring with all their might and main against the wind: and were...