MARK 6:37 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. ὁ
2. ho
3. he
4. -
5. 35880
6. R···3NMS
7. he
8. he
9. -
10. Y28; R26835; Person=Jesus
11. 27016
1. Καί
2. kai
3. -
4. -
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. but
8. but
9. S
10. -
11. 27017
1. Δέ
2. de
3. But
4. -
5. 11610
6. C·······
7. but
8. but
9. S
10. Y28
11. 27018
1. ἀποκριθείς
2. apokrinō
3. answering
4. answered
5. 6110
6. VPAP·NMS
7. answering
8. answering
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27019
1. εἶπεν
2. legō
3. said
4. -
5. 30040
6. VIAA3··S
7. said
8. said
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27020
1. αὐτοῖς
2. autos
3. to them
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMP
7. ˱to˲ them
8. ˱to˲ them
9. -
10. Y28; R26976; R26943
11. 27021
1. ὁ
2. ho
3. -
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····NMS
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. -
11. 27022
1. Ἰησοῦς
2. iēsous
3. -
4. -
5. 24240
6. N····NMS
7. Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa)
8. Jesus
9. UN
10. -
11. 27023
1. δότε
2. didōmi
3. give something
4. -
5. 13250
6. VMAA2··P
7. give ‹something›
8. give ‹something›
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27024
1. αὐτοῖς
2. autos
3. to them
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMP
7. ˱to˲ them
8. ˱to˲ them
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27025
1. Ὑμεῖς
2. su
3. You all
4. -
5. 47710
6. R···2N·P
7. you_all
8. you_all
9. D
10. Y28
11. 27026
1. φαγεῖν
2. esthiō
3. to eat
4. -
5. 20680
6. VNAA····
7. ˓to˒ eat
8. ˓to˒ eat
9. -
10. Y28; R26943
11. 27027
1. αὐτοῖς
2. autos
3. -
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMP
7. ˱to˲ them
8. ˱to˲ them
9. -
10. -
11. 27028
1. Καί
2. kai
3. And
4. But
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. S
10. Y28
11. 27029
1. λέγουσιν
2. legō
3. they are saying
4. -
5. 30040
6. VIPA3··P
7. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ saying
8. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ saying
9. -
10. Y28; R26976
11. 27030
1. αὐτῷ
2. autos
3. to him
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMS
7. ˱to˲ him
8. ˱to˲ him
9. -
10. Y28; R26835; Person=Jesus
11. 27031
1. Ἀπελθόντες
2. aperχomai
3. Having gone away
4. -
5. 5650
6. VPAA·NMP
7. ˓having˒ gone_away
8. ˓having˒ gone_away
9. D
10. Y28; R26976
11. 27032
1. ἀγοράσωμεν
2. agorazō
3. may we buy
4. -
5. 590
6. VSAA1··P
7. ˱we˲ ˓may˒ buy
8. ˱we˲ ˓may˒ buy
9. -
10. Y28; R26976
11. 27033
1. διακοσίων
2. diakosioi
3. -
4. -
5. 12500
6. E····GNP
7. two_hundred
8. two_hundred
9. -
10. -
11. 27034
1. δηναρίων
2. dēnarion
3. of daʸnarion coins
4. -
5. 12200
6. N····GNP
7. ˱of˲ daʸnarion_\add coins\add*
8. ˱of˲ denarii
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27035
1. ἑκατόν
2. hekaton
3. -
4. -
5. 15400
6. E····GNP
7. hundred
8. hundred
9. -
10. -
11. 27036
1. διακοσίων
2. diakosioi
3. two hundred
4. -
5. 12500
6. E····GNP
7. two_hundred
8. two_hundred
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27037
1. ἄρτους
2. artos
3. loaves
4. -
5. 7400
6. N····AMP
7. loaves
8. loaves
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27038
1. καί
2. kai
3. and
4. -
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27039
1. δώσομεν
2. didōmi
3. we will be giving something
4. -
5. 13250
6. VIFA1··P
7. ˱we˲ ˓will_be˒ giving ‹something›
8. ˱we˲ ˓will_be˒ giving ‹something›
9. -
10. Y28; R26976
11. 27040
1. δώσωμεν
2. didō
3. -
4. -
5. 13250
6. VSAA1··P
7. ˱we˲ ˓may˒ give ‹something›
8. ˱we˲ ˓may˒ give ‹something›
9. -
10. -
11. 27041
1. αὐτοῖς
2. autos
3. to them
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMP
7. ˱to˲ them
8. ˱to˲ them
9. -
10. Y28
11. 27042
1. φαγεῖν
2. esthiō
3. to eat
4. -
5. 20680
6. VNAA····
7. ˓to˒ eat
8. ˓to˒ eat
9. -
10. Y28; R26943
11. 27043
1. ἵνα
2. hina
3. -
4. -
5. 24430
6. C·······
7. in_order_that
8. in_order_that
9. -
10. -
11. 27044
1. ἕκαστος
2. hekastos
3. -
4. -
5. 15380
6. S····NMS
7. each
8. each
9. -
10. -
11. 27045
1. αὐτῶν
2. autos
3. -
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3GMP
7. ˱of˲ them
8. ˱of˲ them
9. -
10. -
11. 27046
1. βραχύ
2. braχus
3. -
4. -
5. 10240
6. A····ANS
7. little
8. little
9. -
10. -
11. 27047
1. τὶ
2. tis
3. -
4. -
5. 51000
6. R····ANS
7. something
8. something
9. -
10. -
11. 27048
1. λάβῃ
2. lambanō
3. -
4. -
5. 29830
6. VSAA3··S
7. ˓may˒ receive
8. ˓may˒ receive
9. -
10. -
11. 27049

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 6:30–44: Jesus did a miracle to feed more than five thousand people

Here Mark resumed the story about Jesus and his twelve apostles. In this section the twelve apostles came back to Jesus and told him about their mission in the Jewish villages. Then Jesus and the apostles went away to find a quiet place to rest. But crowds of people came there to see Jesus. Jesus taught the crowds of people and then did a miracle in order to give them all food to eat.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand (NIV)

The Feeding of the Five Thousand (NET)

Jesus fed five thousand people in a miraculous way

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 14:13–21; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14. See also a similar story, where Jesus fed four thousand people, in Matthew 15:32–39 and Mark 8:1–10.

Paragraph 6:33–38

Many people saw Jesus and the twelve apostles leaving and followed them. Jesus had compassion on them and taught them. When evening came, the apostles wanted Jesus to send the crowds away, because there was nothing for the people to eat. The apostles did not know any way to feed so many people.

6:37a

But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.”

But Jesus said to them, “You^(plur) yourselves give them something to eat.”
Jesus responded, “It is you^(plur) who must give them food.”
But Jesus told his disciples that it was they themselves who should give the people food.

But: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But here introduces what Jesus said. What he said was not what the disciples expected him to say. If you have a connecting word that can be used in this way, use it here. Otherwise you could start 6:37 without a connecting word. For example:

He replied… (NJB)

“You yourselves…” (GNT)

You give them something to eat: The pronoun You is emphatic in the Greek. It is also plural. The BSB has added the word something to make the English natural.

Here are some ways to translate Jesus’ words here:

You yourselves give them something to eat! (GNT)

It is you who must feed them!

6:37b–c

In the Greek, 6:37b–c is a single rhetorical question. See the General Comment on 6:37b–c at the end of 6:37c for ways to reorder the parts of this question.

This rhetorical question expresses both surprise and mild rebuke. The disciples were astonished that Jesus asked them to feed so many people. The request also seemed foolish. They did not know how they could buy enough food to feed so many people.

Here are several ways to translate this expression:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Do you expect us to go and spend two hundred denarii on bread to feed all these people?
As a statement. For example:
Surely you do not think we should go and spend two hundred silver coins on food in order to feed all these people!
As a tag question. For example:
Surely you do not think we should go and spend two hundred silver coins on food in order to feed all these people, do you?
As one exclamatory statement and one rhetorical question. For example, the NIV says:
That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?
As a rhetorical question followed by an exclamatory statement. For example, the NLT96 says:
“With what?” they asked. “It would take a small fortune to buy food for all this crowd!”

Use a form that is natural to express surprise and rebuke in your language.

6:37b

They asked Him, “Should we go out and spend two hundred denarii

They asked him, “Do you want us to take two hundred silver coins and spend it all on bread
They said, “That much bread would cost as much as two hundred days’ wages! Do you really want us to go and spend that much money on bread
The disciples said to Jesus, “But that would take an extremely large amount of money! How do you^(sing) expect us to buy enough bread/food

Should we go out and spend two hundred denarii: The disciples thought that Jesus wanted them to buy food for all the people. They estimated how much money they would need to buy enough food to feed the large crowd. See the next note.

two hundred denarii: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as two hundred denarii refers to two hundred silver Roman coins called “denarii.” Workers in Jesus’ time earned about twenty-five of these coins each month, so it would take about eight months for a worker to earn two hundred of them. Some English versions, such as the BSB, translate this literally as “two hundred denarii.” The BSB translates this Greek phrase as “eight months of a man’s wages” and the NIV11 translates it as “more than half a year's wages” in order to show how long it took for a worker to earn two hundred denarii.

Most readers today will not know how much money “two hundred denarii” refers to. The main idea is that is was a large sum of money, probably much more than the disciples were able to pay.

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase two hundred denarii:

two hundred silver coins (GNT)

almost a year’s wages (CEV)

We would all have to work a month to earn enough money (NCV)

a small fortune (NLT96)

You should avoid translating this phrase with a term for the particular kind of currency used in your area, for two reasons:

It would not be historically accurate.
When the value of your currency changes your translation would become outdated.

6:37c

to give all of them bread to eat?”

so that we can give it to them to eat?
and come and give it to them to eat?”
to feed them?”

to give all of them bread to eat: The pronoun them refers to the crowd of people.

The clause to give all of them bread to eat functions as a purpose clause. The purpose for spending two hundred denarii on bread would be to feed the people. So in many languages it may be natural to translate this as:

so that we can give it to them to eat

in order to feed them

bread: Bread was the most common and inexpensive food at that time. In this context, the word bread probably refers to round loaves of flat bread. The Greek word is plural here and in 6:38a. It could be translated as “loaves,” or “loaves of bread” in both places. Some languages may use a plural form of bread like “breads.”

If there is no word that people know for bread, you may translate bread as “food” (as in the NLT). However, in 6:38c the disciples counted units (loaves) of bread. If you use a generic word such as “food” here, you should consider whether it is natural in your language to count units or servings of it.

You should not substitute a different kind of food, because these verses are talking about an event that actually happened. Refer to how you translated bread in 2:26b.

In some areas, people may not be familiar with bread. In other areas, they may consider bread to be a snack rather than a staple food. If this is true in your area, you may want to add a footnote. For example, the TRT has this footnote:

Bread and fish were the main foods for the Jews. These loaves of bread were round, thick and flat in shape. Five of them would be enough to feed about two people one meal.

General Comment on 6:37b–c

It may be more natural in your language to give the cost of the bread at the beginning or end of these verse parts. For example:

They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” (NIV)

They asked, “Do you want us to feed them by going and buying bread at the cost of two hundred silver coins?”

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀποκριθείς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς δότε αὐτοῖς Ὑμεῖς φαγεῖν Καί λέγουσιν αὐτῷ Ἀπελθόντες ἀγοράσωμεν δηναρίων διακοσίων ἄρτους καί δώσομεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν)

Here, the word But introduces what Jesus says in a contrast with what the disciples asked him to do. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces this kind of contrast, or you could leave But untranslated. Alternate translation: [However,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

ἀπελθόντες, ἀγοράσωμεν δηναρίων διακοσίων ἄρτους, καὶ δώσομεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν?

The disciples are using the question form to show that Jesus’ command is absurd or impossible. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [We cannot go away and buy loaves of 200 denarii and give them to them to eat.] or [We could not go away and buy enough loaves to give to them to eat even if we had 200 denarii!]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

δηναρίων διακοσίων ἄρτους

˱of˲_denarii two_hundred loaves

Here, the disciples are using the possessive form to describe loaves that are worth 200 denarii. If this is not clear in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [loaves worth 200 denarii] or [loaves with 200 denarii]

Note 4 topic: translate-bmoney

δηναρίων διακοσίων

˱of˲_denarii two_hundred

The word denarii refers to silver coins, each equivalent to about one day’s wage for a hired worker. You could try to express this amount in terms of current monetary values, but that might cause your Bible translation to become outdated and inaccurate, since those values can change over time. So instead you might state something more general or give the equivalent in wages. Alternate translation: [of 200 silver coins] or [of 200 days’ wages]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear MARK 6:37

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)