Matius 14:15-16

14:15 When evening arrived, his disciples came to him saying, “This is an isolated place ¹  and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 14:16 But he ²  replied, “They don’t need to go. You ³  give them something to eat.”

Markus 6:35-37

6:35 When it was already late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place ⁴  and it is already very late. 6:36 Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 6:37 But he answered them, ⁵  “You ⁶  give them something to eat.” And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for two hundred silver coins ⁷  and give it to them to eat?”

Lukas 9:12-13

9:12 Now the day began to draw to a close, ⁸  so ⁹  the twelve came and said to Jesus, ¹⁰  “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging ¹¹  and food, because we are in an isolated place.” ¹²  9:13 But he said to them, “You ¹³  give them something to eat.” They ¹⁴  replied, ¹⁵  “We have no more than five loaves and two fish – unless ¹⁶  we go ¹⁷  and buy food ¹⁸  for all these people.”

[14:15]  ¹ tn Or “a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation).

[14:16]  ² tc ‡ The majority of witnesses read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) here, perhaps to clarify the subject. Although only a few Greek mss, along with several versional witnesses (א* D Z^vid 579 1424 pc e k sy^s,c,p sa bo), lack the name of Jesus, the omission does not seem to be either accidental or malicious and is therefore judged to be most likely the original reading. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[14:16]  ³ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[6:35]  ⁴ tn Or “a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation).

[6:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence has been changed for clarity.

[6:37]  ⁶ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[6:37]  ⁷ sn The silver coin referred to here is the denarius. A denarius, inscribed with a picture of Tiberius Caesar, was worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer. Two hundred denarii was thus approximately equal to eight months’ wages. The disciples did not have the resources in their possession to feed the large crowd, so Jesus’ request is his way of causing them to trust him as part of their growth in discipleship.

[9:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “the day began to decline,” looking to the approach of sunset.

[9:12]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the disciples’ request was related to the approach of sunset.

[9:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:12]  ¹¹ tn That is, find someone to show them hospitality. L&N 34.61 has “find lodging,” using this verse as an example.

[9:12]  ¹² tn Or “in a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation). Here ὧδε (Jwde) has not been translated.

[9:13]  ¹³ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[9:13]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “said.”

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn This possibility is introduced through a conditional clause, but it is expressed with some skepticism (BDF §376).

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[9:13]  ¹⁸ sn Not only would going and buying food have been expensive and awkward at this late time of day, it would have taken quite a logistical effort to get the food back out to this isolated location.