Mark 6 36

Mark 6:36 kjv

Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

Mark 6:36 nkjv

Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."

Mark 6:36 niv

Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

Mark 6:36 esv

Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

Mark 6:36 nlt

Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat."

Mark 6 verses

Mark 6 36 Meaning

Mark 6:36 records the disciples' pragmatic, human-centered suggestion to Jesus concerning the large crowd in a desolate place as evening approached. They proposed sending the people away to the surrounding areas so they could find food for themselves, revealing their immediate concern for the crowd's physical needs and their reliance on conventional solutions rather than divine provision. This counsel serves as a crucial setup for Jesus' subsequent miracle of feeding the five thousand, highlighting the stark contrast between human limitation and divine omnipotence.

Mark 6 36 Context

Mark 6:36 occurs in the narrative leading up to the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. Immediately prior, Jesus had sought a desolate place with His disciples to rest, as many people were coming and going, leaving them no leisure to even eat (Mark 6:31). However, the crowds anticipated their movement and gathered from surrounding towns, demonstrating their eager pursuit of Jesus (Mark 6:33). Upon seeing them, Jesus was moved with compassion, recognizing their spiritual plight "like sheep without a shepherd," and began to teach them extensively (Mark 6:34). As evening drew near, the disciples became aware of the physical needs of the massive crowd in this remote location. This verse articulates their practical, yet limited, solution based on human resources and logistics. Historically, such large gatherings outside of population centers would inevitably lead to food scarcity, and the natural, expected action would be to disperse them to self-provision.

Mark 6 36 Word analysis

• "Send them away" (Greek: Apolyson - ἀπόλυσον, aorist imperative): This is a direct command from the disciples to Jesus. Apolyson means "to release," "to dismiss," or "to let go." It implies a decisive action to remove the crowd from their immediate responsibility. The disciples saw their responsibility as ending with dismissing the crowd.
• "so that" (Greek: hina - ἵνα, conjunction expressing purpose): This indicates the purpose behind their suggested action. Their reason for sending the crowd away was specifically for the people to acquire food.
• "they may go into" (Greek: apelthontes - ἀπελθόντες, aorist participle of aperchomai, "to go away"): Signifies movement away from their current location. The disciples envisioned the crowd dispersing to various destinations.
• "the surrounding country" (Greek: eis tous agrous kyklo - εἰς τοὺς ἀγροὺς κύκλῳ, lit. "into the fields in a circle/around"): Refers to the agricultural or uninhabited areas immediately surrounding their remote location. This emphasizes the lack of readily available resources in their present "desolate place."
• "and villages" (Greek: kai tas komas - καὶ τὰς κώμας): Denotes smaller, scattered settlements distinct from larger cities. The suggestion implies these would be the closest, albeit perhaps still distant, places where provisions could be bought.
• "and buy themselves" (Greek: kai agorasosin heautois - καὶ ἀγοράσωσιν ἑαυτοῖς, "and may buy for themselves"): Emphasizes the transaction aspect—obtaining food by purchasing it. The reflexive pronoun heautois ("themselves") highlights that the disciples expected the crowd to be individually responsible for their own sustenance, without communal provision from them or Jesus.
• "something to eat" (Greek: ti phagosin - τί φάγωσιν, lit. "what they might eat"): A general term for sustenance. It highlights the basic need they observed.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "Send them away, so that they may go": This phrase encapsulates the disciples' solution: removal and dispersion. It is a pragmatic, logistical approach, showing their immediate focus on the physical logistics and lack of a spiritual solution.
• "into the surrounding country and villages": This describes the specific direction and type of places the disciples imagined the crowd dispersing to. It reinforces the remote nature of their current location and the necessity for the crowd to travel significant distances to meet their needs. This reveals the disciples' understanding of natural limitations.
• "and buy themselves something to eat": This part clarifies the purpose of their departure—to acquire provisions through commerce. It underscores the human economic model for meeting needs that the disciples envisioned, starkly contrasting with the miraculous, grace-filled provision Jesus was about to demonstrate. It highlights a reliance on human means (money, market) rather than divine power.

Mark 6 36 Bonus section

The disciples' statement, "send them away," can also be seen as an instance where well-meaning human reasoning attempts to manage a situation without recognizing the divine solution immediately present. Their concern was legitimate – hunger and the coming darkness – but their proposed remedy demonstrated a profound spiritual limitation. This reflects a common challenge for believers: to see God's answer where human logic dictates only problems or mundane solutions. Jesus’ response ultimately transforms a moment of human incapacity into a revelation of divine power, turning a potential logistical nightmare into a feast of grace, serving as a powerful theological statement about His identity and the nature of God's kingdom. The disciples were looking outwards (to towns and commerce) while the answer was found inwards (with Jesus' power) and then outwards (through the disciples themselves as agents of His provision).

Mark 6 36 Commentary

Mark 6:36 represents the pinnacle of the disciples' human-centric thinking when faced with a large-scale problem. They, having just spent time with Jesus in ministry and witnessing His compassion (Mk 6:34), revert to a common-sense, earthly solution: dismissal and self-reliance. Their suggestion to "send them away" implies both a desire to absolve themselves of responsibility and an assumption that the people must provide for themselves in a conventional manner. This approach stands in stark contrast to Jesus' nature as a provider and their immediate prior experience of His divine compassion.

This verse sets the stage for Jesus' counter-proposal ("You give them something to eat," Mark 6:37), exposing the disciples' inability to conceive of God's limitless power. They saw a practical impossibility—too many people, too little food, too remote a location, too late in the day. Their solution was efficient dispersal; Jesus' solution was divine manifestation. This narrative highlights a crucial spiritual lesson: human limits (lack of resources, time, or location) are never limits for God. It challenges believers to move beyond conventional reasoning and trust in God's capacity to do what is humanly impossible, often through humble means. The disciples, despite walking with Christ, had not yet fully grasped the nature of His authority and abundant provision, echoing a theme seen often in Israel's wilderness wanderings (e.g., Ex 16).