Feeding of Four Thousand
Life of Jesus · Draft · BSB
Content revision: 86dd83caaea00c7e · No editorial review date recorded
Date: Ministry in Galilee. A guided comparison of Gospel accounts, not a measured calendar or a claim that every parallel follows the same sequence.
Moved by compassion after the crowd has stayed three days, Jesus feeds about four thousand men with seven loaves and a few fish. The disciples collect seven baskets of leftovers before Jesus departs by boat.
Matthew also mentions women and children. Matthew and Mark later distinguish this feeding from the five thousand; its place in the surrounding regional narrative does not establish the ethnicity of every person present.
Primary Scripture
15:32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”
15:33 The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”
15:34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
15:35 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.
15:36 Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
15:37 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
15:38 A total of four thousand men were fed, besides women and children.
15:39 After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
8:1 In those days the crowd once again became very large, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called the disciples to Him and said,
8:2 “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat.
8:3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a great distance.”
8:4 His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?”
8:5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.
8:6 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd.
8:7 They also had a few small fish, and Jesus blessed them and ordered that these be set before them as well.
8:8 The people ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
8:9 And about four thousand men were present. And when Jesus had dismissed the crowd,
Related Scripture
Jesus later recalls both feedings and their different numbers of baskets.
Location evidence
The Decapolis context follows Mark 7, but the feeding ground is unnamed. The broad region is contextual, not a claim that the meal occurred at a single Decapolis city.
Event map marker: Approximate region; [longitude, latitude] = [36, 32.55]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Decapolis · illustrative region: Approximate region. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [36, 32.55]. Classification source: editorial.
Illustrative regional extent: [[35.45,32],[36.8,33.6]]; not a measured confidence interval.
Gospel setting; extent is an editorial illustration, not a boundary
Sea of Galilee: Approximate region. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.59, 32.8]. Classification source: editorial.
Illustrative regional extent: [[35.5,32.69],[35.67,32.92]]; not a measured confidence interval.
Gospel setting; extent is an editorial illustration, not a boundary
Gospel setting; extent is an editorial illustration, not a boundary
For the class
What details distinguish this feeding from the earlier account?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: theographic (401)
Record source: editorial
Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm