John 6:10

Ver. 10. “ But Jesus said: Make the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. The men sat down, therefore, in number about five thousand. ”

In these scanty provisions Jesus has found that which He needs, the material on which omnipotence can work. Now, in His view, the banquet is prepared, the table spread: “ Make the people sit down,” He says to His apostles. The mountain-plateaus which rise behind the site of Bethsaida Julias displayed, at that time, their spring-time verdure. Mark, as well as John, draws the picture of this grassy carpet on which the multitudes took their places (ἐπὶ τῷ χλώρῳ χόρτῳ John 6:39). He describes, likewise, the cheerful spectacle which was presented by these regular ranks (συμπόσια συμπόσια, πρασιαὶ πρασιαί) of hundreds and fifties. ῞Ανδρες denotes the men in the restricted meaning of the word; if they alone are indicated, it is not, as Meyer alleges, because the women and children were not seated, but because they kept themselves apart and the men only were counted. Women and children, in the East, always keep themselves at a respectful distance from the head of the family and his guests.