For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was 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.
- BSB for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been 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 8:17–21Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet, neither understand? Is your heart still hardened?
- Luke 24:25He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
- Isa 63:17O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
- Mark 16:14Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
- Matt 16:9–11Don’t you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
- Mark 7:18He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him,
- Mark 3:5When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
- Rom 11:7What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest 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.