Bible Strands
Matthew 14:17
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The disciples respond to Jesus’ command to feed the crowd by stating their available provisions.
The words — ἔχομεν (echomen) translates to "we have," and εἰ (ei) functions here as "only," marking the limited quantity.
The thread — The explicit inventory of five loaves and two fish appears in Matthew 14:17 and Luke 9:13, while Matthew 15:33 and Mark 6:37 record the disciples asking where bread could be found rather than listing supplies.
Why it lands — The text records a factual inventory in direct response to a command, establishing human insufficiency before the subsequent 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
King James Version
And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
Cross-references
- Matthew 15:33 The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”
- 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?”
- Luke 9:13 But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
- John 6:5 When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”
- Matthew 16:9 Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
- Mark 8:4 His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?”
- Psalms 78:19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
- 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.’