The passage
      v1-2. Jesus has moved to another site on the edge of lake Galilee, later officially called the sea of Tiberias, and is, as usual, beset by crowds who have seen his miracles and want to see more.
      v3. John gives us a hint, with his "went up on a mountain" reference, that what follows has Sinai/Exodus overtones.
      v4. We are given another "Exodus" hint with the reference to the Passover being near.
      v5-7. The wilderness scene continues with a hungry crowd pushing in on Jesus. Jesus tests Philip out to see whether he can see any way of feeding the crowd, but he is lost for a solution. Manna from heaven is not on his list of possibilities.
      v8-9. Andrew has found a "little boy" with some barley bread and pickled fish, a meal for a poor person, but he, like Philip, is at a loss to see how so little can aid so many.
      v10-11. Having seated the crowd, Jesus says a blessing over the food in the form of a thanksgiving and then distributes it (the disciples are not mentioned to maintain the focus on Jesus). We are told that the crowd is completely satisfied.
      v12-13. As with the manna in the wilderness, all have enough to eat. Of the remaining pieces (these are not the scraps, but most likely food that was not distributed), twelve baskets are collected. Again, Exodus imagery is being employed by underlining the number twelve.
      v14. Having witnessed the sign, the people conclude that Jesus is the coming prophet, probably the prophet like unto Moses. The trouble is, someone greater than Moses is standing before them.
      v15. The crowd sees in Jesus a Moses like leader, someone who will free them from the tyranny of Rome, but Jesus escapes their intentions.
      v16-17. The disciples also leave, but by boat. John gives us no reason for the boat trip, but possibly the disciples also need to be removed from a situation bordering on rebellion against Rome.
      v18. During the crossing the disciples are hit by a strong headwind.
      v19. Having covered only about three miles because of the gail, the disciples are confronted by Jesus walking on the water (not "walking beside the sea" as some more liberal commentators suggest).
      v20. Jesus reassures the disciples by showing them that he is not some water ghost, but their master. It is possible that the form of the words intends an allusion to the divine name, "I am" - the disciples have just had their own "burning bush" experience.
      v21. The disciples "want" Jesus to get in the boat, but we are not quite sure if he does. John also gives us the impression of another miracle. Probably Jesus does get in the boat, the wind dies down and they make quick headway to their destination, but what John does is emphasize that just as Jesus fills and satisfies, so he carries us safely to a far shore.

The bread of life
      The gospel readings in the old English Payer Book use the story of the miraculous feeding twice in the Church Year. The gospels clearly underline the importance of this story, for each gospel records the story and some even duplicate the story in the feeding of the four thousand. So, the church was right in giving the story prominence.
      What's so important about the story? We have all heard the simplistic applications, in fact, as youthful Sunday School teachers we may have even run the lines ourselves - Jesus cares for us in our life's journey; he gives us all that we need and carries us through the storms of life. Of course, there is truth in the idea that Jesus cares for us in life's journey, but the trouble is, life does go sour at times and it is not helpful to build faith upon unrealistic expectations.
      There is also the "Jesus is God" line, and of course, he is. Yet, we know well that Jesus didn't perform miracles to prove he is God. None-the-less, the nature miracles certainly leave us with a strong impression of Jesus' divinity, even if it's not the message of the sign.
      Identifying the significance of these two nature miracles is no easy business. The key to their meaning lies in John's allusions to the wilderness wanderings of the people of Israel, to the Exodus, and to the application of the feeding in the following discourse. Jesus' fulfillment of the hopes of the second Exodus, not so much as a Moses figure, but as the divine incorporate messianic son, is the key to these stories. Jesus journeys through the wilderness, divinely sustained, and crosses over the sea to the safe shore. Those who identify with him are similarly fed with spiritual bread and arrive safe at that distant shore.
      As Jesus says of himself, "I am the bread of life which came down from heaven." The spiritual bread he gives is life eternal and the distant shore is eternity. Israel was sustained in the wilderness with manna from heaven and was carried over the waters to a land flowing with milk and honey. Jesus has made the journey and reached the distant shore and when we put our trust in him, when we rest on him, we also "have enough to eat" and "reach the shore."

v1
      meta tauta "some time after this" - later on
      peran thV qalasshV "crossed to the far shore" - to the shore. Crossed the sea of Galilee. Note the possible conflict that exists in Mark and Luke regarding the actual site of the feeding.
      TiberiadoV "Tiberias" - Only John gives this name to lake Galilee, a name that was popular late in the first century.

v2
      hkolouqei (akolouqew) imperf. "followed" - were following. Imperfect expressing ongoing action; "kept following", NAB.
      de "and" - but, and. This conjunction is used to stitch together the narrative and need not be translated. See v3, 4, 6.
      eqewroun (qewrew) imperf. "they saw [the miraculous signs] - they were seeing [the signs]. The word is used of observing something with continuity and attention, often with the implication that what is observed is something unusual*. In 2:3 the crowd's seeing is not with the eyes of faith. The note of ongoing action gives the sense "continually saw."

v3
      anhlqen de eiV to oroV "went up on a mountainside" - went up to the mountain, hill. The feeding might have taken place on the side of a hill, but the description of Jesus going up on "the mountain" is a Sinai image. The image serves as a cue to the aware reader, cf. the sermon on the mount. The RSV "the hills", recognizes the presence of the definite article, although the noun is not plural, so "the mountain", NRSV.
      ekaqhto (kaqhmai) imperf. "sat down" - [there] he was sitting down. In typical rabbinic fashion, Jesus sits down to teach, although John does not mention the actual teaching, unlike the synoptic gospels. "He was sitting there with his disciples."

v4
      to pasca "the Passover" - The second Passover in John's chronology, although the shape of his book defies chronology. Assuming that Dodd is correct when he describes the book as a collection of signs with related discourses, each in itself a statement of the gospel, then trying to trace a chronology through a collection of signs is a waste of time. Note how the desire for a geographical sequence has prompted numerous theories for the rearrangement of the gospel. There is a great temptation to move this chapter to the beginning of chapter 5 so that we have Jesus at Canna in chapter 4, then on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in chapter 6, then going up to Jerusalem in chapter 5 and off around Judea in chapter 7. All this is rather futile if John has little interest in a sequential chronology of Jesus' ministry.
      hn (eimi) imperf. "was" - "Was drawing near."

v5
      eparaV (epairw) aor. part. "when [Jesus] looked up" - having lifted up [the eyes]. The participle probably forms a temporal clause, as NIV. "When he looked around", Weymouth.
      qeasamenoV (qeaomai) aor. part. "[when Jesus looked up and] saw" - having seen, caught sight of.
      ercetai proV auton "coming toward him" - Was there a crowd already with him and this is an extra one (note there is no definite article - "a great crowd") or was the crowd following him and had only now caught up? Again, descriptive detail may not be the point of the reference. The people come to Jesus as they came to Moses at the mountain.
      agoraswmen (agorazw) aor. subj. "[where] shall we buy [bread for these people to eat?]" - may we buy. Deliberative subjunctive. Matthew records a similar question. Note again the use of Sinai imagery. Moses asks "where am I to get meat to give all these people?" Num.11:13. cf. other cues, Num.11:1, 7-9, 13, 22. "Where shall we ever by bread for these people to eat?"
      iJna + subj. "for" - that. Expressing purpose, "in order that these ones (people) may eat." Or, making the subject, "these", the object, "where are we to buy bread to (in order that we may) feed these people?", REB.

v6
      peirazwn (peirazw) pres. part. "[he asked this only] to test [him]" - testing. Taking the sense: try to learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing*. Yet, the word also carries a sense of trickery or temptation, but it is not used this way of Jesus. What we have here is an editorial note allaying any implication that Jesus' question implies he didn't know what to do about the situation. "He said this to test Philip", CEV.
      h/dei (oida) pluperf. "[he] already had in mind" - [he himself] knew. "The truth is that Jesus knew what he would do even before he asked Philip", TH.

v7
      diakosiwn dhnariwn (on) "eight months' wages" - of two hundred denarii. Genitive of value. A denarius was the standard pay for a day's work. The NIV equivalent is best, given the way inflation devalues a financial equivalent, eg. "ten pounds", Phillips.
      iJna + subj. "for" - in order that [each one may take a little]. "To buy only a little bread for each of these people", CEV.

v8
      legei autw/ "spoke up" - said to him. "Said to Him", Weymouth.

v9
      paidarion (on) "a boy" - a boy, servant. If an allusion to Gehazi, Elisha's servant, is intended, then "servant", rather than "boy, little boy" is possibly in John's mind; "servant", Moffatt.
      artouV kriqinouV "barley loaves" - barley breads. Barley bread was the staple of the poor. Wheat bread was more expensive. The boy (lad, servant) had five breads. Luke implies three was a staple meal, Lk.9:5.
      oyaria (on) "fish" - dried or preserved fish for eating with bread. ti "how far" - what [are these to so many]? Rhetorical question. "What use is that for a crowd like this?", Barclay.

v10
      anapesein (anapiptw) aor. inf. "sit down" - to lie down, recline. Epexegetic infinitive defining the content of Jesus' command. Reclining was the normal posture for eating, but not necessarily a good posture for digesting! "Tell the people to sit down", TH.

v11
      oun "then" - therefore. Here taking a temporal sense.
      eucaristhsaV (eucaristew) aor. part. "gave thanks" - giving thanks. J. Audet argues that John is using the word with its particular Jewish meaning of "blessing". Jesus is performing the accustomed Jewish blessing over the bread, prior to eating, eg. "blessed are you, O Lord, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth." None-the-less, an act of thanksgiving is more likely. There is strong pressure to maintain the idea of "thanksgiving" in that the Lord's Supper is often seen as a thanksgiving. In fact, a number of words in this account of the feeding appear in early communion services, but this does not mean John is drawing from the eucharistic tradition of his day, the evidence of which we only have from the second century. The opposite is obviously the case - key liturgical phrases are sourced from John. "He thanked God for them", Barclay.
      diedwken (diadidwmi) 3rd. sing. aor. "distributed" - he distributed. Used in the sense of give something to a series of persons*. In the synoptic gospels the disciples help in the distribution, and from a practical point of view this would be necessary. John is telling the story to emphasize Jesus as the one who gives the bread of life, in the same way that God gave the bread to Israel in the wilderness.

v12
      eneplhsqhsan (empiplhmi) aor. pas. "they had all had enough" - they were satisfied with food, filled with food. A different verb is used in verse 26 where "eaten your fill" takes a negative sense. Here the sense is positive. The crowd is fully satisfied by the bread that Jesus provides. "When they had their fill", NAB.
      sunagagete (sunagw) aor. imp. "gather" - gather up. The aorist is possibly ingressive where the focus is on the beginning of the action - "start gathering." Another allusion to the wilderness wanderings of Israel and the provision of manna, Ex.16:16ff. Only found in John.
      klasmata (a atoV) "pieces" - fragment or piece resulting from the action of breaking*. The disciples are probably not cleaning up the scraps, but rather unused portions of the broken bread.
      iJna + subj. "-" - in order that [nothing be lost]. Introducing a purpose clause. "So that nothing may be wasted", Moffatt.

v13
      sunhgagon (sunagw) aor. "they gathered them" - they gathered. There is no object in the Greek, but for meaning "them" is often supplied.
      dwdeka "twelve" - Were these twelve baskets for the twelve apostles? This is unlikely. Again John is interested in the symbolic weight attached to the fact - twelve baskets for twelve tribes. Note also how the bread gets a repeat performance, but the fish fades into obscurity. The discourse is about the bread of life with allusions to the wilderness manna. Fish has no symbolic value, certainly not till someone thought up the fish acrostic. (A friend of mine always advised, never drive behind a car driven by a person with a bald head, wearing a hat or a fish symbol on the back of their car!)

v14
      idonteV (eidon) aor. part. "after [the people] saw" - seeing. Probably forming a temporal clause, as NIV, although causal is possible, "because the people saw."
      shmeion (on) "the miraculous sign" - miracle, sign. Some texts have the plural, such that the feeding was one sign (obviously a chief sign) among many.
      elegon (legw) imperf. "they began to say" - were saying. The imperfect is probably inceptive, as NIV, where the focus is on the beginning of the action.
      oJ profhthV "the prophet" - Given the context, the crowd probably thought in terms of the prophet like unto Moses, rather than the promised Elijah.
      "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world" - truly this one is the prophet, the coming one into the world. With no verb in the second clause, translations have "is" or "was" to come. "This must be the prophet, the one who the scriptures say, will come into the world."

v15
      gnous (ginwskw) aor. part. "knowing" - having known. The participle is possibly causal, "because Jesus knew that."
      iJna + subj. "-" - in order [to make a king].
      basilea (basileuV) "king" - If the crowd thought Jesus was the promised prophet, why try to crown him king? It is possible that they combined the roles of prophet and king in their understanding of the messiah, although not probable. It is likely that they failed to recognize Jesus as the messiah, but made a simple move from a Moses type leader to a popular messianic freedom-fighter who would lead a revolution against Rome. They failed to see that someone greater than Moses stood before them. Their failure was of "Golden Calf" proportions and caused Jesus to "flee" back up the mountain.
      anecwrhsen (anacwrew) feugei "withdrew" - went back up. Note that a variant text exists which may well be original: "fled back", NJB, "escaped", JB.
      to oroV "a mountain" - the mountain, hill. The definite article may serve to identify a particular hill, or the hill they are already on the side of, or possibly an allusion to Mount Sinai.

v16
      oyia adj. "evening" - Probably the disciples set off late afternoon

v17
      embanteV (embainw) "got into a boat" - embarking. The meaning of the verb here is more likely "embark"; "embarked on a boat", Barclay.
      hrconto (ercomai) imperf. "set off" - they were in the process of [crossing], they were trying to [cross]. Either action is possible, "made their way across the lake", Phillips; "intending to cross the lake", NAB.
      elhluqei (ercomai) pluperf. "[Jesus] had [not yet] joined [them]. This phrase, along with "by now it was dark", explains why they embarked, not that they were expecting Jesus to come to them while they were sailing in the boat.

v18 "And the sea was getting up under a strong wind", Moffatt.

v19
      elhlakonteV (elaunw) perf. part. "when they rowed" - drive or set in motion through striving. The participle most likely forms a temporal clause, as NIV. cf.Lk.8:29.
      peripatounta epi ehV qallasshV "walking on the water" - walking to the sea. The present tense of "walking" indicates ongoing action. The preposition "over, on, at, to" is rather indecisive and therefore has prompted some to suggest that John is not describing a miracle, but rather that Jesus is walking on the edge of the lake, "by the seashore." Of course, if this was so the whole point of the story is lost.
      efobhqhsan (fobew) aor. pas. "they were terrified" - they were afraid. The aorist is probably ingressive, where a slight stress is placed on the beginning of the action; "fear gripped them", Barclay.

v20
      egw eimi "it is I" - I am. Possibly being used to emphasize that the miracle was a theophany, the great "I am." See Bultmann's commentary where he canvases all the possible meanings.