Those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
- BSB About five thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.
- NKJV Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
- NASB There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
- NLT About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!
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
About five thousand men ate, besides women and children. The scale of the miracle magnifies its wonder.
Overview
Matthew notes that the men numbered about five thousand, with women and children additional, making the crowd far larger still. The sheer magnitude underscores the greatness of the miracle and the power of Christ. This well-attested sign, recorded in all four Gospels, testifies to Jesus' divine authority over creation and His care for the multitudes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Phil 4:19My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
- 2 Cor 9:8–11And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.
- Acts 4:4But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
- John 6:10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in that place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
- Acts 4:34For neither was there among them any who lacked, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 14:21 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.