Mark 8:3

If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a great distance.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses His disciples in a desolate location after the crowd has remained with Him for three days without food. He speaks to them regarding the immediate logistical consequence of dismissing the people before the miracle occurs.

The words — ἀπολυσῶ (apolusō) literally means "I shall send away," and νηστεῖς (nēsteis) means "hungry." Jesus uses these terms to state the physical condition of the crowd if He releases them without provision.

The thread — The concern for physical exhaustion on long journeys echoes Judges 8:4, while the danger of fainting from lack of food parallels the warning in 1 Samuel 14:28. Isaiah 40:31 contrasts human weakness with divine renewal for those who wait on the Lord.

Why it lands — The text records Jesus prioritizing the crowd's immediate physical survival before performing a miracle. It requires readers to acknowledge human limitation as the necessary context for divine provision.

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

καὶkaiAnd ἐὰνeanif ἀπολύσωapolusōI shall send away αὐτοὺςautousthem νήστειςnēsteishungry εἰςeisto οἶκονoikon[the] homes αὐτῶν,autōnof them,ἐκλυθήσονταιekluthēsontaithey will faint ἐνenon τῇtēathe ὁδῷ·hodōway;καίkaiAnd τινεςtinessome αὐτῶνautōnof them ἀπὸapofrom μακρόθενmakrothenafar ἥκασιν.¶hēkasinhave come.

King James Version

And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.

Cross-references

Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Judges 8:4 Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
1 Samuel 14:28 Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.”
1 Samuel 30:10 because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.