14 At that time Herod the governor heard the reports about Jesus,
2 And he said to his attendants, This is John the Baptist; He has been raised from the dead, and that is why the powers [a]of performing miracles are at work in Him.
3 For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison [to [b]stow him out of the way] on account and for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
4 For John had said to him, It is not lawful or right for you to have her.(A)
5 Although he wished to have him put to death, he was afraid of the people, for they regarded John as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst [before the company] and pleased and fascinated Herod,
7 And so he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 And she, being put forward and prompted by her mother, said, Give me the head of John the Baptist right here on a [c]platter.
9 And the king was distressed and sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered it to be given her;
10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.
11 And his head was brought in on a [d]platter and given [e]to the little maid, and she brought it to her mother.
12 And John’s disciples came and took up the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
13 When Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there privately in a boat to a solitary place. But when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him [by land] on foot from the towns.
14 When He went ashore and saw a great throng of people, He had compassion (pity and deep sympathy) for them and cured their sick.
15 When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote and barren place, and the day is now over; send the throngs away into the villages to buy food for themselves.
16 Jesus said, They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.
17 They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.
18 He said, Bring them here to Me.
19 Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve [[f]small hand] baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
21 And those who ate were about 5,000 men, not including women and children.
22 Then He directed the disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent away the crowds.
23 And after He had dismissed the multitudes, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was still there alone.
24 But the boat was by this time out on the sea, many furlongs [a furlong is one-eighth of a mile] distant from the land, beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them.
25 And in the fourth watch [between 3:00—6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.
27 But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!(B)
28 And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.
29 He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
30 But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!
31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 And those in the boat knelt and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God!
34 And when they had crossed over to the other side, they went ashore at Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent around into all the surrounding country and brought to Him all who were sick
36 And begged Him to let them merely touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were perfectly restored.(C)
Footnotes
- Matthew 14:2 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 14:3 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon.
- Matthew 14:8 William Tyndale, The Tyndale Bible.
- Matthew 14:11 William Tyndale, The Tyndale Bible.
- Matthew 14:11 Martin Luther, cited by Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 14:20 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies. But according to James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary, the term refers to the type of material of which the basket is constructed (perhaps a wicker basket) and not necessarily the size of the basket.