Bible Strands
Matthew 16:5
When they crossed to the other side, the disciples forgot to take bread.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Matthew 16:5 follows Jesus' departure from a demanding crowd and places the narrative on a boat journey with His followers. The moment captures the disciples' arrival on the opposite shore, immediately preceding Jesus' warning about spiritual contamination in the next verse.
The words — The participle ἐλθόντες (elthontes) literally means "having come," marking the completion of the crossing. The pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou) translates to "of him," identifying the disciples as belonging to Jesus rather than acting on their own initiative.
The thread — This crossing parallels the boat departure in Mark 8:13 and the journey to Magadan in Matthew 15:39. These accounts track the same geographical movement, establishing a literary bridge between the conclusion of public ministry and private instruction.
Why it lands — The verse states a factual oversight by the disciples before Jesus addresses their spiritual state. It requires the reader to track the sequence of physical travel preceding spiritual warning, leaving the specific application to the immediate context of the following command.
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 when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
Cross-references
- Mark 8:13 And He left them, got back into the boat, and crossed to the other side.
- Matthew 15:39 After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.