Bible Strands
Matthew 15:33
The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The disciples speak to Jesus immediately after He declares His compassion for the crowd and His refusal to send them away hungry following three days with Him.
The words — The Greek term πόθεν (pothen) literally means “from where,” and ἡμῖν (hēmin) means “to us,” structuring the disciples’ response as a practical inquiry about sourcing provisions.
The thread — This same logistical doubt surfaces in parallel feeding narratives at Matthew 14:15, Mark 6:37, and Mark 8:4.
Why it lands — The text records human calculation meeting divine compassion, requiring the reader to recognize that the narrative consistently positions human inability as the starting point for Jesus’ intervention.
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 his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
Cross-references
- Matthew 14:15 When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
- 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?”
- Mark 8:4 His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?”
- 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?”
- 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.’
- 2 Kings 4:42 Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.