John 6:5 kjv
When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
John 6:5 nkjv
Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"
John 6:5 niv
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
John 6:5 esv
Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"
John 6:5 nlt
Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, "Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?"
John 6 5 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Matt 14:13-21 | When Jesus heard... withdrew... great crowds followed him... he had compassion and healed... ordered the crowds... | Parallel account of feeding the five thousand. |
| Mark 6:30-44 | The apostles gathered... told Jesus... rest a while... great crowd... pity... sit down... | Parallel account of feeding the five thousand. |
| Luke 9:10-17 | On their return... he took them... they needed nothing from those... and spake of the kingdom of God... | Parallel account of feeding the five thousand. |
| John 6:6 | (For he himself knew what he would do.) | Clarifies Jesus' intention behind the question. |
| Deut 8:2-3 | The Lord your God led you... to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart... man does not live by bread alone. | God's testing, physical vs. spiritual food. |
| Exod 16:2-4, 12 | The whole Israelite community grumbled... The Lord said to Moses, "I will rain bread from heaven." | God providing manna in the wilderness. |
| Ps 78:19-20 | They spoke against God: "Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?... He also provided bread." | Israel's questioning of God's provision. |
| John 1:43-46 | Jesus found Philip and said, "Follow me"... Philip found Nathanael... "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" | Philip's introduction and character. |
| John 14:8-10 | Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father"... Jesus answered, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." | Philip's literal and often limited understanding. |
| Matt 9:36 | When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless. | Jesus' compassion for the multitude. |
| Mark 8:2-3 | "I have compassion on these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat." | Jesus' compassion and concern for hunger. |
| Matt 4:4 | "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." | Importance of spiritual nourishment. |
| Heb 11:6 | Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists. | Importance of faith, tested by situations. |
| James 1:2-3 | Consider it pure joy... whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. | Testing faith for spiritual growth. |
| John 6:26-27 | Jesus answered... "You are looking for me, not because you saw the signs but because you ate the loaves." | Post-feeding, focusing on spiritual food. |
| Gen 22:8 | Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." | God's ultimate provision in dire situations. |
| Ps 23:5 | You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil. | God's provision and sustenance. |
| Matt 15:32-38 | Jesus called his disciples... "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me three days." | Second feeding of the four thousand. |
| Isa 55:1 | "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!" | Invitation to spiritual food without cost. |
| Phil 4:19 | And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. | God's boundless provision for His people. |
| 2 Cor 8:9 | For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. | Christ's self-emptying to provide. |
John 6 verses
John 6 5 Meaning
John 6:5 describes Jesus observing a large crowd approaching Him and then strategically asking Philip how they might procure bread for these numerous people. This question, not born of ignorance, was intended by Jesus to test Philip and initiate a demonstration of His divine power and provision, laying the groundwork for a greater spiritual teaching.
John 6 5 Context
John 6:5 takes place shortly after Jesus withdraws to the other side of the Sea of Galilee following His miraculous works and increasing popularity. A large crowd, attracted by His healings (John 6:2), followed Him, expecting further signs and possibly even physical sustenance. The time of Passover was near (John 6:4), which carried an underlying expectation of messianic signs, including a second "manna" as in Moses' day, linking the upcoming miracle directly to Israel's historical experiences of divine provision. This verse sets the stage for the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, an event recorded in all four Gospels, and a prelude to Jesus' later "Bread of Life" discourse, where He explains the deeper, spiritual significance of this physical provision.
John 6 5 Word analysis
- When Jesus looked up: (Greek: anablepsas - ἀναβλέψας) This perfect active participle signifies a deliberate act of Jesus lifting His eyes. It implies a comprehensive scan of the situation, often associated with prayer, assessment, or a profound awareness of what is unfolding. Here, it suggests Jesus taking in the vastness of the crowd and their needs before acting.
- and saw a great crowd: (Greek: ochlon polyun - ὄχλον πολύν) The term "great crowd" emphasizes the immense number of people, underscoring the logistical challenge for any human provision. This multitude had actively followed Him, signifying their eager, though perhaps misplaced, expectation of Him as a potential deliverer who would provide their needs.
- coming toward him: Indicates the crowd's determined pursuit of Jesus, highlighting their anticipation and His increasing public profile.
- he asked Philip: Philip, known for his pragmatic and often literal approach, was from Bethsaida (John 1:44), a town near where this event took place. This suggests he might have been chosen due to his familiarity with the local area or because Jesus knew his characteristic way of thinking would naturally highlight the impossibility of a human solution.
- 'Where shall we buy: (Greek: pou agorasōmen - ποῦ ἀγοράσωμεν) This is a genuine question about a practical human solution, posed in such a way that it elicits a direct calculation of resources. The word "buy" immediately points to financial constraints and the limitations of worldly provisions.
- bread: (Greek: artous - ἄρτους) Referring to loaves of bread, the staple food of the time. The immediate need was for basic, physical sustenance for a large group.
- for these people to eat?': Jesus' phrasing directly articulates the problem of feeding such a massive number, immediately connecting His question to their obvious and pressing physical hunger.
Words-group by words-group analysis
- "When Jesus looked up and saw a a great crowd coming toward him": This opening phrase depicts Jesus as fully aware of His surroundings and the immediate context. It underscores His active observation and empathetic recognition of the human need before Him. It hints at His compassion and intent to engage with their situation.
- "he asked Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?'": This entire phrase reveals Jesus' deliberate pedagogical method. By addressing Philip specifically with a question about purchasing bread, Jesus intentionally highlights the enormity of the problem from a human perspective and exposes the disciples' inadequacy to solve it with their own resources, setting the stage for a miraculous divine intervention. It's a strategic test, as clarified in John 6:6.
John 6 5 Bonus section
The immediate following verse, John 6:6, explicitly clarifies Jesus' intent: "He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do." This removes any doubt about Jesus' omniscience and frames the entire question in John 6:5 as a teaching moment. Jesus wasn't ignorant but was drawing His disciples into a situation where their limitations would become apparent, paving the way for a grand display of divine power. This not only provided food for the crowd but also offered an invaluable lesson in faith and dependence on God's miraculous provision for His disciples. Philip's response (v. 7), highlighting the inadequacy of two hundred denarii, serves to amplify the human impossibility and thus magnify the subsequent miracle.
John 6 5 Commentary
John 6:5 is a pivotal verse, initiating one of Jesus' most renowned miracles, the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus, fully aware of the dire human need and the inability of His disciples to meet it (as confirmed by Philip's calculation in v. 7), asks this question not to gain information, but to expose the depth of the problem from a human standpoint and to test Philip's faith and understanding of His own power. This scene transitions from a recognition of physical hunger to a foreshadowing of Jesus as the spiritual "Bread of Life" that satisfies eternal hunger. It's a strategic challenge to His disciples to look beyond natural limitations and understand divine capabilities, echoing God's historical provision of manna in the wilderness.