John 6:10

John 6:10. Jesus said, Make the people sit down. ‘The people,' a general word, including both men and women, is used here. They are directed to sit down, partly for the sake of order and ease in the distribution of the food, but also because the Lord is preparing to set a feast before them, and they sit down with Him as His guests.

Now there was much grass in the place. So Mark speaks of the ‘green grass,' a minute but interesting coincidence. The circumstance is one that an eye-witness would naturally note, especially after relating the direction given that the multitude should sit down. John alone has given the season of the year (John 6:4); on this day of early spring the grass would be flourishing and abundant.

So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. The ‘men' are now singled out for special mention, probably because they, according to the custom of the East, sat down first. We may also suppose that the number of women and children would not be very large.