How many men did Jesus feed with the five loaves, as per Matthew 14:21?
One of the most famous miracles attributed to Jesus in the New Testament is the feeding of the five thousand. According to Matthew 14:13-21, Jesus and his disciples had gone to a deserted place to rest, but were followed by a large crowd of people. When Jesus saw that the people were hungry, he took five loaves of bread and two fish and miraculously multiplied them to feed the entire crowd. But just how many men did Jesus feed with the five loaves, as per Matthew 14:21?
The answer to this question is not entirely clear, as the passage in Matthew uses somewhat ambiguous language. Matthew 14:21 states: "And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children." This has led to some confusion and debate among biblical scholars, as it is not entirely clear whether the "five thousand men" refers to the total number of people fed, or just the number of adult men.
Some scholars believe that the "five thousand men" refers only to adult males, and that the total number of people fed would have been much higher when women and children are taken into account. This interpretation is based on the fact that the passage specifies that the figure of five thousand only includes men, and does not mention women or children.
Others, however, argue that the phrase "five thousand men" was simply a way of approximating the number of people present, and that it was not meant to be taken as an exact count. In this interpretation, the figure of five thousand is meant to convey the idea of a large crowd, rather than an exact number.
It is also worth noting that the other Gospel accounts of the feeding of the five thousand differ slightly in their descriptions of the event. For example, in Mark 6:30-44, the disciples report that there were "five thousand men and their families" present, suggesting that the total number of people fed was likely much larger than just five thousand men. Similarly, in Luke 9:10-17, the passage mentions that there were "about five thousand men" present, but does not mention women or children.
Despite these differences, the central message of the feeding of the five thousand remains the same across all three accounts: that Jesus was able to use his miraculous powers to provide for the physical needs of a large crowd of people, and that this act of generosity and compassion served as a powerful symbol of his divine mission.