for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.
Parallel translations
- WEB for they hadn’t understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
- KJV For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.
- NKJV For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
- NASB for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
- NLT for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.
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
The disciples were amazed because they had not understood the feeding miracle; their hearts were hardened. It warns that even witnesses of Christ's power can be spiritually dull.
Overview
Mark candidly exposes the disciples' failure to grasp who Jesus was, despite having just seen Him feed thousands. Their hardened hearts show that spiritual perception is a gift of God, not the automatic result of witnessing miracles. The honest record reminds believers of their need for God to open eyes and soften hearts to see Christ truly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mark 8:17–21Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?
- Luke 24:25Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
- Isa 63:17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Mark 16:14Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
- Matt 16:9–11Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
- Mark 7:18“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
- Mark 3:5Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
- Rom 11:7What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 6:52 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.