Bible Strands
John 6:7
Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Philip addresses Jesus in direct response to a question designed to test him, positioned immediately between Jesus’ intentional inquiry and Andrew’s subsequent reply.
The words — The phrase διακοσίων δηναρίων (diakosiōn dēnariōn) literally means “two hundred denarii worth,” which Philip cites to quantify the exact monetary shortfall for feeding the crowd.
The thread — This precise sum reappears in Mark 6:37 when the disciples calculate their own inadequate resources, while Numbers 11:21 records Moses making a similar calculation regarding meat for six hundred thousand men.
Why it lands — The text states that two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each person to receive a small piece. This mathematical boundary requires a reader to acknowledge the limits of human provision before Jesus demonstrates what He knows He is about to do.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
Cross-references
- Numbers 11:21 But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’
- Mark 6:37 But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked Him, “Should we go out and spend two hundred denarii to give all of them bread to eat?”
- John 12:5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”
- 2 Kings 4:43 But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”
- Matthew 18:28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’