MARK 6:41 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Then holding the five buns and two fish, he looking up to the sky and blessed God, and then broke up the buns and gave pieces to his apprentices so they could do likewise to the people, and he also divided up the two fish,

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And having taken the five loaves and the two fish, having looked up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves into pieces and was giving them to his disciples so that they might set them before them, and he divided the two fish among all.

UST He picked up the five loaves of bread and the two fish. Then he thanked God for the food. After that, he tore the bread into pieces and gave the pieces to his apprentices. That way, they could serve them to the people who were there. He similarly had his apprentices serve the two fish to everyone who was there.

BLB And having taken the five loaves and the two fish, having looked up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves, and He kept giving them to His disciples, that they might set before them. And He divided the two fish among all.

AICNT And taking the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before [them], and he divided the two fish among them all.

OEB Taking the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven, and said the blessing; he broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples for them to serve out to the people, and he divided the two fish also among them all.

WEBBE He took the five loaves and the two fish; and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves, and he gave to his disciples to set before them, and he divided the two fish amongst them all.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He gave them to his disciples to serve the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.

LSV And having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, having looked up to the sky, He blessed, and broke the loaves, and was giving [them] to His disciples, that they may set [them] before them, and the two fishes He divided to all,

FBV Then he took the five loaves and the two fish. Looking up to heaven he blessed the food and broke the bread into pieces. Then he handed the bread to the disciples to give to the people, and he divided the fish up between all of them.

TCNT Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing. He broke the loaves and gave them to [fn]his disciples to set before the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.

6:41 his ¦ the ANT ECM^† WH

T4T Jesus took the five flat loaves and the two fish. He looked up towards heaven and thanked God for them. Then he broke the loaves and fish into pieces and kept giving them to the disciples in order that they would distribute them to the people.

LEB And taking the five loaves and the two fish and[fn] looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves and gave them[fn] to his disciples so that they could set them[fn] before them. And he distributed the two fish to them all.

6:41 *Here “and” is supplied in the translation because of English style

6:41 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them; and when the cakes were broken, he gave them to the disciples to put before the people; and he made division of the two fishes among them all.

Moff and he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven he blessed them, broke the loaves in pieces which he handed to the disciples to set before them, and divided the two fish among them all.

Wymth Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and lifting His eyes to Heaven He blessed the food. Then He broke the loaves into portions which He went on handing to the disciples to distribute; giving pieces also of the two fish to them all.

ASV And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake the loaves; and he gave to the disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

DRA And when he had taken the five loaves, and the two fishes: looking up to heaven, he blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave to his disciples to set before them: and the two fishes he divided among them all.

YLT And having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, having looked up to the heaven, he blessed, and brake the loaves, and was giving to his disciples, that they may set before them, and the two fishes divided he to all,

Drby And having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to heaven, he blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave [them] to his disciples that they might set [them] before them. And the two fishes he divided among all.

RV And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake the loaves; and he gave to the disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

SLT And having taken the five loaves and two fishes, having looked up to heaven, he praised, and he brake the loaves, and gave to his disciples that they might set before them; and the two fishes he divided to all.

Wbstr And when he had taken the five loaves, and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes he divided among them all.

KJB-1769 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

KJB-1611 And when he had taken the fiue loaues, and the two fishes, he looked vp to heauen, and blessed, and brake the loaues, and gaue them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes diuided he among them all.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And when he had take the fiue loaues and the two fisshes, and loked vp to heauen, he blessed, and brake the loaues, & gaue them to his disciples to set before them: and the two fisshes deuided he among them all.
(And when he had take the five loaves and the two fishes, and looked up to heaven, he blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them: and the two fishes divided he among them all.)

Gnva And he tooke the fiue loaues, and the two fishes, and looked vp to heauen, and gaue thanks, and brake the loaues, and gaue them to his disciples to set before them, and the two fishes he deuided among them all.
(And he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looked up to heaven, and gave thanks, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them, and the two fishes he divided among them all. )

Cvdl And he toke the fyue loaues and two fisshes, and loked vp vnto heauen, and gaue thankes, and brake the loaues, and gaue to the disciples, to set before them. And the two fisshes parted he amonge them all.
(And he took the five loaves and two fishes, and looked up unto heaven, and gave thanks, and brake the loaves, and gave to the disciples, to set before them. And the two fishes parted he among them all.)

TNT And he toke the .v. loves and the ii. fysshes and loked vp to heven and blessed and brake the loves and gave them to his disciples to put before the: and the .ii. fysshes he devyded amonge them all.
(And he took the 5 loves and the 2 fishes and looked up to heaven and blessed and brake the loves and gave them to his disciples to put before them: and the 2 fishes he divided among them all. )

Wycl And whanne he hadde take the fyue looues, and twei fischis, he biheelde in to heuene, and blesside, and brak looues, and yaf to hise disciplis, that thei schulden sette bifor hem. And he departide twei fischis to alle;
(And when he had take the five loaves, and twain/two_or_both fishes, he beheld in to heaven, and blessed, and broke loaves, and gave to his disciples, that they should set before hem. And he departed twain/two_or_both fishes to all;)

Luth Und er nahm die fünf Brote und zwei Fische und sah auf gen Himmel und dankete und brach die Brote und gab sie den Jüngern, daß sie ihnen vorlegten; und die zwei Fische teilete er unter sie alle.
(And he took the five breads and two fish(n) and saw on/in/to to/toward heaven and thanked and broke the breads and gave they/she/them the disciples, that they/she/them to_them presented; and the two fish(n) shared he under they/she/them all.)

ClVg Et acceptis quinque panibus et duobus pisces, intuens in cælum, benedixit, et fregit panes, et dedit discipulis suis, ut ponerent ante eos: et duos pisces divisit omnibus.[fn]
(And receiving five bread and for_two fish, looking in/into/on the_sky, blessed, and broke bread/food, and he_gave students to_his_own, as they_would_put before them: and two fish divided to_all. )

6.41 Et acceptis. Non nova cibaria creat quia incarnatus, non alia quam quæ scripta erant prædicat: sed legem et prophetas mysteriis gravida esse demonstrat. Fregit. Et ante turbas ponenda distribuit discipulis suis, quia sacramenta sanctis doctoribus, qui hæc toto orbe prædicent, patefecit.

6.41 And receiving. Not/No new food creates because incarnate, not/no other how which written they_were preach: but the_law and a_prophets mysteries pregnant to_be demonstrates. Fregit. And before crowds ponenda distributes students to_his_own, because sacraments to_the_saints to_teachers, who/which these_things throughout around_the_world beforedicent, patefecit.

UGNT καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας, ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, εὐλόγησεν καὶ κατέκλασεν τοὺς ἄρτους, καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς; καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν.
(kai labōn tous pente artous kai tous duo iⱪthuas, anablepsas eis ton ouranon, eulogaʸsen kai kateklasen tous artous, kai edidou tois mathaʸtais autou, hina paratithōsin autois; kai tous duo iⱪthuas emerisen pasin.)

SBL-GNT καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εὐλόγησεν καὶ κατέκλασεν τοὺς ἄρτους καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς ⸀αὐτοῦ ἵνα ⸀παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς, καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν.
(kai labōn tous pente artous kai tous duo iⱪthuas anablepsas eis ton ouranon eulogaʸsen kai kateklasen tous artous kai edidou tois mathaʸtais ⸀autou hina ⸀paratithōsin autois, kai tous duo iⱪthuas emerisen pasin.)

RP-GNT Καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας, ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, εὐλόγησεν, καὶ κατέκλασεν τοὺς ἄρτους, καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα παραθῶσιν αὐτοῖς· καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν.
(Kai labōn tous pente artous kai tous duo iⱪthuas, anablepsas eis ton ouranon, eulogaʸsen, kai kateklasen tous artous, kai edidou tois mathaʸtais autou hina parathōsin autois; kai tous duo iⱪthuas emerisen pasin.)

TC-GNT Καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας, ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, εὐλόγησε, καὶ κατέκλασε τοὺς ἄρτους, καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς [fn]αὐτοῦ ἵνα [fn]παραθῶσιν αὐτοῖς· καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισε πᾶσι.
(Kai labōn tous pente artous kai tous duo iⱪthuas, anablepsas eis ton ouranon, eulogaʸse, kai kateklase tous artous, kai edidou tois mathaʸtais autou hina parathōsin autois; kai tous duo iⱪthuas emerise pasi. )

6:41 αυτου ¦ — ANT ECM^† WH

6:41 παραθωσιν ¦ παρατιθωσιν ECM NA SBL WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN 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 6:39–44

Jesus told the disciples to have all the people sit down. Then he did a miracle in order to give food to all of them to eat. There was more food left after they ate than there had been before they ate.

6:41a

Taking the five loaves and the two fish

Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish.
Then Jesus took/held in his hands the five loaves of bread and the two dried fish.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish: One of the disciples gave Jesus the loaves and fish, and Jesus took them.

loaves…fish: Use the same word for loaves that you used in 6:38a and the same word for fish that you used in 6:38c.

6:41b

and looking up to heaven,

He looked up toward the sky/heaven

and looking up to heaven: Jesus looked up toward the sky/heaven because he was about to thank God. Jewish people commonly looked upward toward heaven while they prayed.

heaven: The Greek word that the BSB translates as heaven here refers to the sky as a symbol of God’s dwelling place. Since Jesus literally looked upward at the sky, you could translate the word heaven here with the usual word for sky. You do not have to use a special term that refers to the place where God lives.

6:41c

Jesus spoke a blessing and broke the loaves.

and thanked God and broke/tore the loaves of bread.
and said “Thank you” to God for the food. Then he tore/divided the loaves of bread into large pieces

Jesus spoke a blessing: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the BSB translates as Jesus spoke a blessing:

It refers to thanking God for the food. For example, the NCV says:
he thanked God for the food (NIV, GNT, JBP, NET, NCV)
It refers to blessing the food. For example, the CEV says:
blessed the food (BSB, RSV, NLT, NASB, GW, CEV, REB, KJV, NJB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). As a custom, Jews praised God and thanked him for the food that he provided for them. If you need to make some of the implicit information clear, you could say:

He gave thanks to God for the food

In some languages the meaning of Jesus giving thanks for the food needs to be expressed with a direct quote. For example:

He said “Thank you.”

See bless, Meaning 4, in the Glossary.

and broke the loaves: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as broke the loaves refers to tearing the bread into large pieces. This was the normal way a meal was begun. Use a term in your language that refers to dividing bread. Here is an example:

and tore/divided the loaves

6:41d

Then He gave them to His disciples to set before the people.

Then he gave it/them to his disciples for them to give/distribute to the people.
and gave the pieces to his followers. He told them, “Pass these out among the people.”

Then He gave them to His disciples: The words Then he gave them to his disciples refer to Jesus giving the pieces of bread to his disciples.

disciples: See the note at 6:1c.

to set before the people: This is a purpose clause. Jesus gave the bread to his disciples so that they would give it to the people.

set before the people: The words set before the people imply that the disciples were to go out among the groups of people to give them the bread. They may have carried the bread in baskets and set the baskets in front of each group of people. Then the people could pass the bread around.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

distribute to the people (GNT)

give to the people (NCV)

6:41e

And He divided the two fish among them all.

He also divided the two fish among/for all the people.
In the same way, he divided and distributed the two fish among all the people.

And He divided the two fish among them all: The words divided…among them all imply a similar process to the one in 6:41b–c for breaking and distributing the bread. For example:

He also divided the two fish, so that everyone could have some.

Some languages may need to make it more explicit that Jesus distributed the fish the same way he did the bread. In other words, he asked his disciples to pass the pieces of fish among the groups of people. Here is one example:

In the same way, he divided and distributed the two fish among the people.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

ἄρτους & τοὺς ἄρτους

loaves & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λαβών τούς πέντε ἄρτους καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἀναβλέψας εἰς τόν οὐρανόν εὐλόγησεν καί κατέκλασεν τούς ἄρτους καί ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν)

See how you translated loaves in [6:38](../06/38.md). Alternate translation: [large chunks of bread … the large chunks of bread]

Note 2 topic: translate-symaction

ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν

˓having˒_looked_up to (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λαβών τούς πέντε ἄρτους καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἀναβλέψας εἰς τόν οὐρανόν εὐλόγησεν καί κατέκλασεν τούς ἄρτους καί ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν)

In Jesus’ culture, most people thought that heaven was up above the earth. Looking up towards heaven was a common posture for someone who was praying. If it would be helpful in your language, you could refer to a common posture for prayer in your culture, or you could explain the meaning of this posture. Alternate translation: [having raised his arms in prayer] or [having looked up to heaven to pray]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εὐλόγησεν

˱he˲_blessed

Here Mark could be implying that Jesus blessed: (1) God for providing the food. Alternate translation: [he blessed God] or [he praised God] (2) the food. Alternate translation: [he blessed the food] or [he asked God to make the food holy]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

κατέκλασεν τοὺς ἄρτους

broke_up (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λαβών τούς πέντε ἄρτους καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἀναβλέψας εἰς τόν οὐρανόν εὐλόγησεν καί κατέκλασεν τούς ἄρτους καί ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν)

Here Mark means that Jesus broke the loaves of bread in pieces so that they could be served to the crowds. This was a normal practice in his culture. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [divided the loaves into servings] or [broke the loaves into smaller pieces]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λαβών τούς πέντε ἄρτους καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἀναβλέψας εἰς τόν οὐρανόν εὐλόγησεν καί κατέκλασεν τούς ἄρτους καί ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς καί τούς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν)

Here Mark implies that Jesus divided the two fish as he had divided the loaves among everyone. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [in the same way he divided the two fish among all] or [he broke the two fish and gave them to his disciples so that they might set them also before all]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

πᾶσιν

˱to˲_all

Mark is using the adjective all as a noun to mean all the people who were there. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [among all of them]