Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone of them may receive a little.”
- KJV Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
- NKJV Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
- NASB Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little!”
- NLT Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Philip replied that even two hundred denarii of bread would not give each a little. He measures the need by human means and finds it impossible.
Overview
Philip's answer, naming about eight months' wages, underscores the hopelessness of meeting the need through ordinary resources. His response highlights human inability before the miracle. It magnifies the glory of Christ, who is about to supply abundantly what no human effort could provide.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Mark 6:37But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked Him, “Should we go out and spend two hundred denarii to give all of them bread to eat?”
- Num 11:21–22But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’
- John 12:5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”
- 2 Kgs 4:43But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”
- Matt 18:28But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 6:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.