Jewish Context

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. 

When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place, and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves." He said to them, "There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Five loaves and two fish (my emphasis) are all we have here." Then he said, "Bring them here to me," and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. 

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over– twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children. (Matthew 14:13-21)

Let’s do a deep dive into the Jewish meaning behind this Gospel passage. The two (2) books of the prophets (also known as the Nevi’im) are symbolized by two fish. The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings while the Latter Prophets include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.  To me this is a revelation.  I had no clue.

(begin) In some Hebrew traditions there are seven (7) books of Torah and not five (5).  This seems to be the reason why the Gospels of Mark and Matthew include a separate story of feeding a different crowd using seven loaves of bread and not five.

In Jewish exegesis, the five books of Moses, known as the Pentateuch, are symbolized by five loaves of bread. The Torah ("Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

In some Jewish traditions during the first century the Book of Numbers was divided into three books making seven books total. This is why all four New Testament gospels describe Jesus feeding a crowd with five loaves, but the books of Matthew and Mark (which are the two oldest NT gospels and contain more Jewish traditions) also both include a separate story of Jesus feeding a crowd with seven loaves. (5 fish Matthew 15:13-21 and 7 fish Matthew 15:32-39; 5 fish Mark 6:34-44 and Mark 8:1-10). (end)

One source has said: You could interpret this story as a bit of one-upmanship with Jesus feeding a bigger crowd with less food than the prophet Elijah did in 2 Kings in the Old Testament; or you could interpret this being about Jesus following in the footsteps of Elijah and spiritually feeding two different groups using Old Testament scripture - a feat that while not supernatural is no less profound.

So, was the multiplication of loaves and fishes a miracle, or was it simply a very symbolic way of making the point that Jesus gives us never-ending food to eat, in the context of his and the Gospel writers' Jewish faith?  Matthew and Mark were Jews, so their clever use of loaves and fish representing the Nevi’im and Torah to highlight the remarkable nature of Jesus appears to make sense. 

Deacon David Pierce