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Saturday, June 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

Mark 6:40

They sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Jesus, the Christ;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Bethsaida;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Food;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Hospitality;   Lord's Supper, the;   Touch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hundreds;   Mark, the Gospel of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Mark, Gospel According to;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Feeding the Multitudes;   Fish, Fisher, Fishing;   Gennesaret, Land of;   Mark, Gospel According to;   Numbers (2);   Wilderness (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Bethsaida ;   Miracles;   New Testament;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Bethsa'ida;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Jesus Christ (Part 2 of 2);   Lord's Supper (Eucharist);   Mark, the Gospel According to;   Ranks;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bethsaida;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;   New Testament;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
King James Version (1611)
And they sate downe in rankes by hundreds, and by fifties.
King James Version
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
English Standard Version
So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
New American Standard Bible
They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties.
New Century Version
So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred.
Amplified Bible
They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots].
New American Standard Bible (1995)
They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.
Legacy Standard Bible
And they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.
Berean Standard Bible
So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
Contemporary English Version
They sat down in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty.
Darby Translation
And they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties.
Easy-to-Read Version
So all the people sat in groups. There were about 50 or 100 people in each group.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then they sate downe by rowes, by hundreds, and by fifties.
George Lamsa Translation
So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
Good News Translation
So the people sat down in rows, in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty.
Lexham English Bible
And they reclined in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
Literal Translation
And they sat, group by group, by hundred and by fifty.
American Standard Version
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Bible in Basic English
And they were placed in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
Hebrew Names Version
They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.
International Standard Version
So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
Etheridge Translation
and they reclined in companies, by hundreds and by fifties.
Murdock Translation
And they reclined, by companies of a hundred, and of fifty.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they sate downe, here a rowe, and there a rowe, by hundredes, & by fifties.
English Revised Version
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
World English Bible
They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.
Weymouth's New Testament
And they sat down in rows of hundreds and of fifties.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thei saten doun bi parties, bi hundridis, and bi fifties.
Update Bible Version
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Webster's Bible Translation
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
New English Translation
So they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties.
New King James Version
So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.
New Living Translation
So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.
New Life Bible
They sat down in groups of fifty people and in groups of one hundred people.
New Revised Standard
So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they fell back, in companies, by hundreds and by fifties.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.
Revised Standard Version
So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And they sate doune here a rowe and there arowe by houndredes and by fyfties.
Young's Literal Translation
and they sat down in squares, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And they sat downe here a rowe and there a rowe by hundreds and by fifties.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and they sat down in several divisions, some consisting of an hundred, and some of fifty.
Simplified Cowboy Version
While this was being done,

Contextual Overview

30 Those who had been sent out rejoined Yeshua and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 There were so many people coming and going that they couldn't even take time to eat, so he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a place where we can be alone, and you can get some rest." 32 They went off by themselves to an isolated spot; 33 but many people, seeing them leave and recognizing them, ran ahead on foot from all the towns and got there first. 34 When Yeshua came ashore, he saw a huge crowd. Filled with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, he began teaching them many things. 35 By this time, the hour was late. The talmidim came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's getting late. 36 Send the people away, so that they can go and buy food for themselves in the farms and towns around here." 37 But he answered them, "Give them something to eat, yourselves!" They replied, "We are to go and spend thousands on bread, and give it to them to eat?" 38 He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and check." When they had found out, they said, "Five. And two fish." 39 Then he ordered all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

by hundreds: It is generally supposed that they were so arranged as to be a hundred in rank, or depth, and fifty in front, or file; which would make the number just five thousand, and will reconcile this account with Luke's, who only speaks of their sitting down by fifties. Luke 9:14, Luke 9:15

Reciprocal: Matthew 15:35 - to sit Mark 8:6 - to sit

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they sat down in ranks,.... Or "beds": in such form as little beds are placed in a garden, or as rows of vines in a vineyard, in which form the scholars of the wise men sat in their schools: it is said g,

"R. Eliezer ben Azariah expounded before the wise men in the vineyard (i.e. the university) of Jabneh: though was there a vineyard there? but these are the disciples of the wise men, who are made, or placed, שורות שורות, "rows, rows", or "in ranks", as a vineyard.''

By hundreds, and by fifties; that is, an hundred in "each" bed, or row, and fifty in "each" bed, or row, as the word ανα, signifies: each distinct bed, or row, had either a hundred, or fifty in it.

g T. Hieros. Beraeot, fol. 7. 4. Vid. Gloss. in T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 42. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this narrative explained in the notes at Matthew 14:13-21.

Mark 6:32

By ship - By a boat or a small vessel.

Privately - Without making their plan known. They intended to go privately. It appears, however, that their intention became known, and multitudes followed them.

Mark 6:33

Afoot thither - On foot to the place where they saw them going.

Out of all cities - All cities or large towns in the neighborhood.

Mark 6:34

Much people ...as sheep ... - They had no one to teach them and guide them. The priests and scribes were proud and corrupt; they despised the common people and neglected them.

Mark 6:35

The time is far passed - The day is almost gone. It is drawing near night.

Mark 6:37

Two hundred pennyworth of bread - About twenty-eight dollars, or 6 British pounds. See the notes at Matthew 14:16. As the disciples had a common purse in which they carried their little property, consisting of the donations of their friends and money to be given to the poor (compare John 12:6; Matthew 26:8-9; Luke 8:3), it is not improbable that they had at this time about this sum in their possession. Philip - for it was he who asked the question John 6:7 - asked, with a mixture of wonder and agitation, whether they should take all their little property and spend it on a single meal? And even if we should, said he, it would not be sufficient to satisfy such a multitude. It was implied in this that, in his view, they could not provide for them if they wished to, and that it would be better to send them away than to attempt it.

Mark 6:40

In ranks - Literally, in the form of square beds in a garden. By regularly formed companies.

By hundreds and by fifties - Some companies had a hundred in them, and some groupings had fifty in them. We do not need to suppose that these were “exactly” formed or arranged, but that this was approximately the number. The expression indicates a “multitude.” There were so many that they sat down, by “hundreds” and by “fifties,” in separate companies, upon the green grass.

Mark 6:43

twelve baskets - Baskets belonging to the disciples, in which they carried their provisions, or, perhaps, belonging to some of the multitude.

Fragments - Broken pieces of the bread that remained.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 40. By hundreds, and by fifties. — "That is," says Mr. Wesley, "fifty in a rank, and a hundred in file. So, a hundred multiplied by fifty, made just five thousand." But if they sat fifty deep, how could the disciples conveniently serve them with the bread and fish?


 
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