Give ye them to eat

Mark 6:37 (AV)
He answered and said unto them, ‭
Give ye them to eat.‭
And they say unto him,
Shall we go and buy
two hundred pennyworth of bread,
and give them to eat?‭

Other translations:

But He replied to them, Give them something to eat yourselves. And they said to Him, Shall we go and buy 200 denarii [about forty dollars] worth of bread and give it to them to eat? [AMP]


But he was quite serious. "How many loaves of bread do you have? Take an inventory." That didn't take long. "Five," they said, "plus two fish." [MSB]



But Jesus said, "You feed them.With what?" they asked. "It would take a small fortune to buy food for all this crowd!" [NLT]


Some further information:

This is a kind of demand and wondering, with a subtle mockery, which men commonly use when they begin to get angry and refuse to do something.

He answered and said unto them
“They need not depart” ( Matthew 14:10 ).

Give ye them to eat
Doubtless said to prepare them for what was to follow.


Two hundred pennyworth of bread
Just too imagine the size of this miracle.
200 pennyworth would be about $ 40.00.
This would buy about 200 loaves of our bread today, which would be less than one slice for each person, if each loaf had 20 slices.
Loaves then were not like the ones we have today (Mark 6:38)

Two hundred pence.
●  Denarius and zuz are of the same value among the Rabbins. “The fourth part of a shekel of silver in the Targum is one zuz of silver. For a shekel of the law was selaa. And so in the Targum, a shekel, is selaa, and is worth four denarii,” or pence.
But now a penny and zuz are the same: “They call pence, in the language of the Gemara, zuzim.”

● But now two hundred zuzees, or pence, was a sum very famous, and of very frequent mention.
▪︎ “If one of elder years lay with a woman of less years, or if one of less years lay with a woman of elder years, or one that is wounded, their portion is two hundred zuzees.”
▪︎ “If one gives another a blow upon the cheek, let him give him two hundred zuzees.”
▪︎ “A woman that is now become a widow, or dismissed by a divorce, who was married a virgin, let her have for her portion two hundred zuzees.”

Hence, perhaps, is the same number of two hundred pence in the mouth of the disciples, because it was a most celebrated sum, and of very frequent mention in the mouths of all.

The Greek word used here is ‘denarion’.
Denarius  literally means “containing ten”‭
It was a Roman silver coin in New Testament time. It took its name from it being equal to ten “asses,” a number after 217 B.C. increased to sixteen (about 3.898 grams or .1375 oz.).
It was the principal silver coin of the Roman empire. From the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, it would seem that a denarius was then the ordinary pay for a day’s wages. (‭Matthew 20:1-16) ‭

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To the suggestion of His disciples (Mark 6:36) the Lord Jesus reacted very differently than they expected. While they hoped that He would take over their suggestion, they were told by Him to feed all these people (compare Matthew 14:16; Luke 9:13). The emphasis here is on the ‘YOU’. Jesus charged them as His assistants to ensure that the great crowd was fed now (see Mark 6:39ff.).

For their part, the disciples answered with a skeptical question.
Whether it was His intention that THEY should go instead of the people (ap-elt-hontes, ‘gone’ corresponds with the ‘apelthontes’ of the previous verse) to buy loaves for two hundred denarians and then would feed?

Did they have to spend everything that was in the money bag for that?
But that wasn’t enough for so many people, was it? (Compare John 6:7; see also 2 Kings 4:43.)

A denarius was a Roman coin of those days, it probably stood for the daily wages of a laborer (cf. Matthew 20:2).

By raising this question, the disciples showed that they did not fully understand where Jesus wanted to go. For they did not have to address the cashier, but the available mouth supply (see Mark 6:38).

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Christ ordered that they should all be fed (Mark 6:37); Give ye them to eat. 

Though their crowding after him and his disciples hindered them from eating (Mark 6:31), yet he would not therefore, to be even with them, send them away without food, but, to teach us to even be kind to those who are rude to us, he ordered provision to be made for them.

That bread which Christ and his disciples took with them into the desert, that they might make a quiet meal of it for themselves, he will have them to partake of. Thus was he giving hospitality.

They attended on the spiritual food of his word, and then he took care that they should not want corporal food. The way of duty, as it is the way of safety, so it is the way to supply.

Let God alone to fill the pools with rain from heaven, and so to make a well even in the valley of Baca, for those that are going Zion-ward, from strength to strength (Psalms 84:6, 7).
Providence, not tempted, but duly trusted, never yet failed any of God’s faithful servants, but has refreshed many with seasonable and surprising relief.
It has often been seen in the mount of the Lord, Jehovah-jireh, that the Lord will provide for those that wait on him.

The disciples objected against it as impracticable; Shall we go, and buy two hundred penny-worth of bread, and give them to eat? Thus, through the weakness of their faith, instead of waiting for directions from Christ, they perplex the cause with projects of their own.
It was a question, whether they had two hundred pence with them, whether the country would of a sudden afford so much bread if they had, and whether that would suffice so great a company; but thus Moses objected (Numbers 11:22 ), Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them? Christ would let them see their folly in forecasting for themselves, that they might put the greater value upon his provision for them.

Now let us reflect on this

You feed them…

Now is referred to a different meal, as the meal from Herod.
It is the meal of the Lord Jesus.

A great crowd has come to Him to listen to Him, to hear from Him the message He brought from God. And they listened so long that it was now late, and time to eat.
The disciples were concerned about all these people, and they communicate that concern to the Savior.

However, He says: “You give them to eat”.
But how is that possible?
They only have five loaves and two fish.

But when the Lord Jesus commands the blessing, then the loaves are multiplied and then all those thousands find satisfaction, yes then there are even twelve full baskets left.

And that is the wonder that right there in the middle of that wilderness, among all those “sheep without a shepherd,” One is found that provides bread and life.
He Himself is the Bread of Life.

The disciples are left with twelve baskets, one basket each.
They may go on to distribute the bread, now the true Bread.
That is and remains their command: You give them to eat!
Have you also eaten from Him?

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