Bible Strands
Luke 9:14
(There were about five thousand men.) He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses His disciples at the moment they report possessing only five loaves and two fish for a crowd of about five thousand men. He commands them to organize the gathering by having everyone sit down in groups of roughly fifty.
The words — The Greek ὡσεὶ (hōsei) literally means "about," marking the group size as an approximate arrangement rather than a precise tally. Jesus uses Εἶπεν (Eipen), "He said," to issue a direct logistical command for the meal's preparation.
The thread — The directive to arrange a crowd for a meal appears in Mark 6:39, where Jesus directs people to sit in groups on the grass, and in Mark 8:6, where He instructs a similar gathering to sit on the ground. The structured seating pattern aligns with the later principle in 1 Corinthians 14:40 that all actions must be conducted in a proper and orderly manner.
Why it lands — The text plainly states that Jesus required deliberate human organization before the feeding occurred. It asks readers to obey practical logistical commands without demanding emotional response or spiritual speculation.
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
For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.
Cross-references
- Mark 6:39 Then Jesus directed them to have the people sit in groups on the green grass.
- Mark 8:6 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd.
- 1 Corinthians 14:40 But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.