And they forgot to take bread: and they had but one loaf with them in the ship.
και επελαθοντο λαβειν αρτους και ει μη ενα αρτον ουκ ειχον μεθ εαυτων εν τω πλοιω
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The disciples neglected to bring the loaves due to God's divine orchestration, allowing for a profound lesson following Christ's firm rebuke, which encouraged them to become more discerning and acknowledge the might of Christ.
Matthew recounts that after departing from the crowd, Jesus journeyed away. Once His disciples had made it to the other side and realized they had forgotten to bring bread, Jesus warned them, saying, "Look, be cautious of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." It was then that they realized He was referring not to the leaven used in bread, but to the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Mark presents this same episode in a similar manner and order.
As he was preparing to leave, Jesus spoke to his disciples in a veiled manner concerning their inquiry, cautioning them to be wary of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, referring to their teachings and insincerity (Mt. 16:12; Mk. 8:15; Lk. 12:1).
Following an encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees in the regions of Dalmanutha and Magdala, Christ made His way back across the sea, choosing to return to the eastern shore in order to avoid the hostility of His adversaries. Once there, He cautioned His disciples: ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees’ (Mt. 16:6), ‘of the Pharisees and Herod’ (Mk. 8:15), and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Lk. 12:1), as well as the free-thinking and worldly mindset of the Sadducees and the political motives favored by the followers of Herod. The disciples had neglected to bring sufficient bread, with only one loaf available among them in the boat.
This oversight caused them distress, and when Christ warned them about the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, they assumed He was cautioning them against purchasing bread from those groups, urging them to avoid interactions with these enemies. With a heavy heart, the Lord began to admonish His disciples for their lack of understanding: ‘Are your hearts still hardened? Do you have eyes yet fail to see, and ears yet fail to hear?’ (Mk. 8:17-18). Had they not witnessed His miraculous provision for thousands with only a few loaves? How could they fail to comprehend?
The sudden crossing of Jesus to the opposite side of the lake left the apostles without enough bread to sustain them for their upcoming journey, as they embarked from the shore with just a single loaf. This caused them great concern.
A caution about the yeast of the Pharisees (see Matt. 16:5-12). The distinctive aspect of this account in the Gospel of Mark, when compared to Matthew's parallel narrative, is that it highlights the single loaf possessed by the disciples, references Herod's yeast, and emphasizes the Lord's rebuke of the disciples for their lack of faith with greater intensity. The phrase "Except one loaf" clearly indicates that it was insufficient to nourish the twelve disciples alongside the Lord.
After leaving the spiritually ‘incurable’ hypocrites behind, Jesus Christ reboarded the boat and journeyed to the opposite shore of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples had only brought some bread with them, having neglected to gather more food. During the trip, Jesus cautioned them, saying, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herod’s leaven,” as noted by the blessed evangelist Mark. This warning pointed to the detrimental teachings and superstitions of the Pharisees, the skepticism of the Sadducees, and the immoral lifestyle of the Herodians, all of which constituted the harmful leaven he urged his innocent disciples to avoid.
Interpreting the Lord’s words in a literal sense, the disciples believed he was instructing them to abstain from the bread associated with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians to avoid contamination. They felt that having only one loaf was a reflection of their oversight and negligence. They then murmured among themselves, “We have no bread.” However, aware of their reasoning, the Lord confronted them about their lack of understanding and faith. As Blessed Theophylact pointed out, their foolishness was evident in their failure to remember how he had previously fed thousands with just a few loaves, and their disbelief stemmed from doubting his ability to provide for them again, despite having no bread.
“Why do you think within yourselves, O you of little faith, that you lack loaves? Do you not perceive or comprehend? Is your heart still hardened? Do you not see with your eyes and hear with your ears, and do you not remember?” He then posed the question, “When I broke five loaves for five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?” They replied, “Twenty.” “And when I broke seven loaves for four thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you take?” They answered, “Seven.” “Why do you fail to understand that I was not speaking about bread but rather concerning the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians?”
At that moment, the witnesses of the miraculous multiplication of loaves realized that in the presence of their Master, their preoccupation with physical bread was misplaced and that he was warning them not against bread itself but against the teachings of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 16 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS