Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
- BSB Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
- NKJV Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?
- NASB Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?
- NLT Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up?
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
Jesus reminds them of the five loaves that fed five thousand and the baskets left over. It matters because remembering his past provision should strengthen present faith.
Overview
Jesus appeals to recent memory: the feeding of the five thousand and its abundant leftovers. Their forgetfulness exposes how quickly faith fades when not nourished by remembrance. He calls them to reason from what they have seen to confidence in his power. Recalling God's past works is a biblical antidote to present anxiety.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 14:17–21And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
- John 6:9–13There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
- Luke 9:13–17But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
- Mark 6:38–44He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
- Matt 15:16–17And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
- Rev 3:19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Luke 24:25–27Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
- Mark 7:18And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 16:9 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.