ESTUDIO DEL VERSÍCULO
Matthew 14:13-21 — The Feeding of the Five Thousand
Jesus withdraws after hearing of John the Baptist's death, is followed by a multitude whom he heals, and miraculously feeds five thousand men plus women and children with five loaves and two fishes, leaving twelve baskets of leftovers.
Escritura
- 13.Oyéndolo Jesús, se apartó de allí en una barca a un lugar desierto y apartado; y cuando la gente lo oyó, le siguió a pie desde las ciudades.Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him on foot from the cities.
- 14.Y saliendo Jesús, vio una gran multitud, y tuvo compasión de ellos, y sanó a los que de ellos estaban enfermos.And he came forth, and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
- 15.Cuando anochecía, se acercaron a él sus discípulos, diciendo: El lugar es desierto, y la hora ya pasada; despide a la multitud, para que vayan por las aldeas y compren de comer.And when even was come, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desert, and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food.
- 16.Jesús les dijo: No tienen necesidad de irse; dadles vosotros de comer.But Jesus said unto them, They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat.
- 17.Y ellos dijeron: No tenemos aquí sino cinco panes y dos peces.And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
- 18.El les dijo: Traédmelos acá.And he said, Bring them hither to me.
- 19.Entonces mandóa la gente recostarse sobre la hierba; y tomando los cinco panes y los dos peces, y levantando los ojos al cielo, bendijo, y partió y dio los panes a los discípulos, y los discípulos a la multitud.And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
- 20.Y comieron todos, y se saciaron; y recogieron lo que sobró de los pedazos, doce cestas llenas.And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
- 21.Y los que comieron fueron como cinco mil hombres, sin contar las mujeres y los niños.And they that did eat were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Qué significa este pasaje
The passage opens with Jesus withdrawing by boat to a desert place after learning of John the Baptist's death (vv. 13). The crowds, however, follow him on foot from the surrounding cities. When he comes forth and sees the great multitude, the text says, "he had compassion on them, and healed their sick" (v. 14). The verb behind this compassion frames the entire episode: Jesus' response to the crowds is not retreat but mercy, and the feeding that will follow grows out of that initial act of healing.
When evening comes, the disciples raise a practical problem: the place is desert, the time is past, and the people need food. Jesus' reply reverses their assumption — "They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat" (v. 16). The disciples can only report what they have: "five loaves, and two fishes" (v. 17). Jesus tells them to bring what they have to him, has the multitudes sit down on the grass, takes the loaves and fishes, looks up to heaven, blesses them, breaks them, and gives them to the disciples, who in turn distribute to the crowds (vv. 18-19). The structure — taking, blessing, breaking, giving — is the same pattern Matthew uses for the Last Supper in 26:26.
The result is abundance, not scarcity: "they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full" (v. 20). The number who eat — "about five thousand men, besides women and children" (v. 21) — matters because it shows that the miracle measures the crowd, not the food. Twelve baskets of leftovers signal provision far beyond need, and the careful counting of people underscores that Jesus' compassion extends to a specific, enumerable multitude rather than an abstract group.
Contexto
Matthew 14:13-21 sits immediately after the account of John the Baptist's beheading at Herod's order (14:10-12). The disciples bury John and report to Jesus, and Jesus' withdrawal to a desert place is a direct response to that news. The crowd, already established earlier in Matthew as following Jesus from city to city, tracks him on foot and arrives before he can be alone.
The chapter that follows the feeding returns to motion on the water: Jesus sends the disciples ahead by boat, goes up the mountain to pray, walks on the sea toward them, and receives Peter who briefly walks on the water before sinking (14:22-33). The crowd they meet on the other side at Gennesaret again presses upon him to be healed (14:34-36), so the compassion shown in 14:14 and the abundance shown in 14:20 are not isolated events but the pattern that recurs throughout the rest of chapter 14.
Preguntas frecuentes
Why does Jesus withdraw after hearing about John the Baptist's death?
Matthew places the withdrawal immediately after the disciples report John's burial to Jesus (14:12-13). The retreat by boat to a desert place is presented as his response to that news, though Matthew does not explain his inner reasoning. The crowd follows anyway, and Jesus meets them with compassion rather than further withdrawal.
What does it mean that Jesus says "give ye them to eat"?
In verse 16 Jesus reverses the disciples' plan to send the crowd away to buy food. By telling them to feed the crowd themselves, he places the responsibility on the disciples while making clear that the provision will come through him — as the following verses show when he takes their five loaves and two fishes, blesses them, and distributes through the disciples to the multitudes.
Why are women and children mentioned separately from the five thousand men?
Matthew specifies "about five thousand men, besides women and children" (v. 21). Counting men separately was the standard way of registering a group, and the added phrase makes clear that the total number fed was considerably larger than five thousand. The careful enumeration underscores that the miracle served a real, sizable crowd, not a symbolic handful.