Matthew 15:33 kjv
And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
Matthew 15:33 nkjv
Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"
Matthew 15:33 niv
His disciples answered, "Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?"
Matthew 15:33 esv
And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?"
Matthew 15:33 nlt
The disciples replied, "Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?"
Matthew 15 33 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Matt 14:17 | They said to him, "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish." | Disciples' limited perspective at Feeding of 5,000. |
| Mk 6:37 | But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?" | Similar lack of resources query. |
| Jn 6:7 | Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little." | Philip's calculation based on human means. |
| Mk 8:4 | And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" | Parallel account of disciples' question at 4,000. |
| Mk 8:17-21 | And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?" | Jesus directly addresses disciples' lack of understanding. |
| Lk 24:25 | And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!" | Jesus rebukes disciples for slowness to believe. |
| Ps 78:19-20 | They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?" | Old Testament parallel: Israel's doubting God's provision in the wilderness. |
| Ex 16:3-4 | And the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am raining bread from heaven for you..." | God's provision of manna in the wilderness after murmuring. |
| Deut 8:3 | And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna... that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. | Wilderness provision teaches dependence on God's word. |
| Phil 4:19 | And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. | God's faithfulness in supplying all needs. |
| Gen 18:14 | Is anything too hard for the LORD? | Question asserting God's limitless power. |
| Jer 32:27 | "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?" | God's self-declaration of omnipotence. |
| Jn 6:35 | Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." | Jesus as the ultimate provider of sustenance. |
| 2 Cor 5:7 | For we walk by faith, not by sight. | Emphasizes reliance on faith over what is visible. |
| Heb 11:6 | And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. | Importance of faith for pleasing God. |
| Matt 16:9-10 | Do you not yet understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? | Jesus again questions their memory and understanding of His power. |
| Lk 9:13 | But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." | Disciples' human solution prior to feeding of 5,000. |
| Isa 55:1 | "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." | God's free and abundant provision. |
| Neh 9:15 | You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them. | Recap of God's wilderness provision. |
| Matt 6:31-33 | Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. | Assurance of God's provision for those who seek His kingdom. |
| Lk 12:24 | Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! | God's care for creation, an argument for trusting His provision. |
| Ps 145:15-16 | The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. | God's universal provision for all living things. |
Matthew 15 verses
Matthew 15 33 Meaning
Matthew 15:33 captures the disciples' profound perplexity and limited perspective, even after witnessing Jesus' previous miraculous provision. They question the source of sufficient bread in a desolate place to feed a vast crowd, demonstrating a spiritual amnesia and reliance on human logic rather than trust in Jesus' divine power to provide abundantly. It highlights their struggle to comprehend Jesus' identity and omnipotence despite continuous signs.
Matthew 15 33 Context
Matthew 15:33 occurs just before the second major feeding miracle performed by Jesus, where He feeds four thousand men (plus women and children). This event follows immediately after Jesus' ministry of healing many sick and infirmed people in the region of Decapolis, east of the Sea of Galilee. These healed individuals, along with a large crowd, had been with Jesus for three days and had nothing left to eat. The question posed by the disciples echoes their earlier question before the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:15-17). Their memory and faith are still surprisingly limited, failing to connect Jesus' past miraculous provision with His present capability, highlighting their slow understanding of His divine power and authority, and foreshadowing later rebukes from Jesus regarding their lack of spiritual insight (Mark 8:17-21). This interaction underscores a key theological point: human inability vs. divine omnipotence, and the necessity of faith in Jesus, who continually demonstrates His sovereign power over physical limitations.
Matthew 15 33 Word analysis
And his disciples say unto him,(καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ)- disciples (μαθηταί, mathētai): Literally "learners" or "pupils." This term, in this context, ironically points to their ongoing slowness in learning despite direct experience with Jesus' miraculous power. Their spiritual perception lags behind their physical proximity to the Lord.
- say unto him (λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, legousin autō): The use of the present tense suggests an immediate, perhaps instinctive, reaction, or a continuous state of questioning/discussion. It reveals their present human assessment of the situation.
Whence should we have so much bread(Πόθεν ἡμῖν ἐν ἐρημίᾳ τοσούτους ἄρτους ἔχομεν)- Whence (Πόθεν, Pothen): This interrogative adverb means "from where?" or "by what source?" It indicates a query rooted in an immediate human and geographical limitation. It signifies their inability to perceive a human solution to the problem.
- should we have (ἔχομεν, echomen): Literally, "do we have?" or "can we have?". This phrasing expresses profound doubt, almost an incredulous 'how could we possibly have...?' It reflects a human logistical calculation that excludes divine intervention.
- so much bread (τοσούτους ἄρτους, tosoutous artous): Refers to a massive quantity of loaves, signifying their perception of the overwhelming logistical challenge. This detail underlines the scale of their perceived impossibility.
in the wilderness,(ἐν ἐρημίᾳ, en eremia)- wilderness (ἐρημίᾳ, eremia): A desolate, uninhabited, or barren region. This word amplifies the scarcity, recalling Old Testament narratives where God miraculously provided in similar circumstances (e.g., manna in the wilderness), but the disciples miss this divine echo. It points to a complete lack of human resources.
as to fill so great a multitude?(ὥστε χορτάσαι τοσοῦτον ὄχλον;)- as to fill (ὥστε χορτάσαι, hōste chortasai): To satisfy fully, to glut or sate completely. It emphasizes not just partial feeding but complete satisfaction, further stressing the enormity of the requirement from a human standpoint.
- so great a multitude (τοσοῦτον ὄχλον, tosouton ochlon): Highlights the immense size of the crowd. This numerical emphasis solidifies the human perception of an insurmountable challenge, further magnifying their lack of faith in Jesus' power.
Words-group Analysis:
- "Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness,": This phrase encapsulates the disciples' myopic perspective. Their reasoning is entirely human-bound, fixating on visible resources ("bread"), location ("wilderness" – symbolizing scarcity), and lack of supply ("whence have we"). It completely omits Jesus' proven ability to transcend such limitations, illustrating their short memory or underdeveloped spiritual understanding after the first feeding miracle. This question points to the disciples' calculation based on limited human means, not divine power.
- "as to fill so great a multitude?": This conclusion of their question emphasizes the sheer impossibility they perceived from a human standpoint. The overwhelming scale of the "multitude" and the demand "to fill" them presents an unmanageable task through conventional means, thereby creating a dramatic contrast with Jesus' effortless provision that immediately follows. It underscores the spiritual lesson about God's abundant provision despite human inadequacy and perceived lack.
Matthew 15 33 Bonus section
The disciples' question serves as a rhetorical device in the narrative to magnify Jesus' ensuing miracle. It highlights the vast chasm between human logic and divine power. The word "wilderness" (ἐρημίᾳ, eremia) also carries symbolic weight from the Old Testament, reminding the Jewish audience of God's covenant faithfulness and provision during Israel's forty years in the desert, often seen as a type of messianic age expectation where the desert would bloom and be sustained. The disciples' query demonstrates that they are still trapped in a transactional, materialistic understanding, failing to see Jesus as the source of all provision, not just a miracle worker on a previous occasion. Their repeated lack of understanding, despite being intimate witnesses to Jesus' authority, sets a stage for further direct teaching by Jesus regarding "the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (Matt 16:6) — spiritual blindness.
Matthew 15 33 Commentary
Matthew 15:33 vividly portrays the disciples' enduring spiritual short-sightedness. Despite having recently witnessed Jesus miraculously feed five thousand men with only a few loaves and fish (Matt 14:15-21), they immediately revert to a human-centric, resource-limited mindset when confronted with a similar need. Their question, "Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?", echoes their previous disbelief and reveals their failure to grasp the true nature and power of Jesus. The 'wilderness' emphasizes the human impossibility of the situation, contrasting starkly with God's historical provision for Israel in the desert. This moment serves as a pivotal teaching opportunity for Jesus, demonstrating that His divine power is not bound by human scarcity or logical limitations, and aiming to deepen the disciples' faith and understanding beyond mere observation of miracles.