Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
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.
- BSB Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.”
- 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!”
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 he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give them something to eat?”
- Num 11:21–22Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’
- John 12:5“Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor?”
- 2 Kgs 4:43His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat; for Yahweh says, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”
- Matt 18:28“But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
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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.