Devine Scripture

Mark 6:44

What does Mark 6:44 mean?

A plain-English look at Mark 6:44 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Mark 6:44 means

Mark 6:44 reports that those who ate the loaves were five thousand men, indicating the large scale of the miracle’s beneficiaries. The specification “men” in Mark’s context traditionally excludes women and children from the count, suggesting the total number fed would have been larger. The verse gives a sober statistic to the miraculous event, making it historically weighty. It confirms the feeding’s enormity and the dependable provision under Jesus’ care, underscoring his capacity to meet great need and authenticating his ministry among the people.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And they that ate the loaves were five thousand men.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And they that ate the loaves were five thousand men.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And those who took of the bread were five thousand men.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and those eating of the loaves were about five thousand men.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And they that did eat, were five thousand men.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And those that ate of the loaves were five thousand men.

Context

This verse follows the accounting of leftover baskets (verse 43) and provides the numeric measure of the miracle’s scope. The number anchors the narrative in reality and enhances the miracle’s impressiveness. Knowing the crowd’s size amplifies the disciples’ earlier amazement and the significance of Jesus’ provision. The figure also sets up the ensuing movement: Jesus sends disciples ahead by boat (verse 45) and departs to pray on the mountain (verse 46), which leads to the walking-on-water episode.

v.43And they took up broken pieces, twelve basketfuls, and also of the fishes.

v.44This passage

v.45And straightway he constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he himself sendeth the multitude away.

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