The passage
      v13-14. The preaching ministry of the disciples had stirred up Herod Antipas and so Jesus decides to cool things down, cf. v1-2. Luke tells us that he withdrew to Bethsaida Julius on the northeast shore of lake Galilee. Jesus and his disciples obviously went by boat, but the crowds, having worked out where he was going ("a solitary place"), travelled around the lake on foot and got there first. Out of "compassion", Jesus continues his healing ministry among them.
      v15-17. By late afternoon the people are hungry and so the disciples point out to Jesus that it is time to let them go home, or to go to the nearby villages for food and lodgings. Jesus tells his disciples that the people don't need to go home, but rather that the disciples should prepare to feed them. The disciples cannot see how they can do this since they have only one "plowman's" lunch. (Barley bread and pickled fish is a staple for the poor).
      The condensed nature of Matthew's telling of the story prompts some commentators to suggest that he is seeking to imply that Jesus expected his disciples to perform the miracle - "You give them something to eat". This is unlikely. Jesus is more likely to be pushing his disciples to rely in faith on the one who can turn water into wine. The disciples can feed the crowd if they look to Jesus. Some commentators also see significance in the "five" and "two", eg. the five books of the Pentateuch and the two tablets of the Law. This is a bit fanciful.
      v18-21. Matthew continues to condense his account of the feeding, omitting many details recorded in the other gospels. None-the-less, he makes all the important points: i] Jesus performs the miracle, not the disciples; ii] The crowd is very large. Counting adult males only, there are 5,000, so the total could be around 15,000; iii] The crowd is fully satisfied. There is food in abundance.
      There is no significance in Jesus blessing the food, as it was normal Jewish practice. There is certainly significance in the satisfaction of the crowd and the twelve baskets of scraps. (The scraps are more likely to be broken portions of bread and fish ready for distribution, rather than bits and pieces of leftover food). As God provided for the twelve tribes of Israel during their wilderness journey, so he will provide in the messianic banquet, both now and in the last day. Even the scraps of his providential care are enough to sustain the needs of the new Israel.

God's providential care
      "I want to give my Lord all the praise." These were warming words from a South African swimmer who had just won gold at the Atlanta Olympics. Yet, as I heard the words, I wondered how real they were. Was she just using "Zion speak"? Did she actually think that Jesus controlled the circumstances that gave her gold? If this was the case, the other swimmers could rightly protest such divine interference. To what extent does God's providential care for his children intrude into the circumstances of life?
      When God called the people of Israel out of Egypt, he promised to take them to a land flowing with milk and honey. He had called them and so he would provide for their needs. This he did with the essentials of life, in particular, Manna. When Jesus fed the 5,000 he recalled this provision, and in so doing, pointed to a new provision for a new journey to a new land, to a banquet eternal.
      Believers share in this banquet now, or probably better, we taste of it. Yet, the taste is not the good things of life; these are but the benefits of God's creation. Nor is the taste some tangible provision that enables us to better serve our Lord - food for the journey. No, the provision is a heavenly food, spiritual if you like. It is Christ himself. It is his indwelling compelling love, his enduring friendship, his determined protection from the powers of darkness.... Thus, we eat his body and drink his blood, that is, we trust him, and in this is life eternal.

v14
      exelqwn (exercomai) aor. part. "when [Jesus] landed" - having come out, gone out. NIV takes the participle as forming a temporal clause. Probably "having got out of the boat", but the general sense of the verb may well support "when Jesus emerged from his retreat", Phillips.
      esplagcnisqh (splagcnizomai) aor. pas. "he had compassion" - he was filled with tenderness / pity toward. "He felt sorry for them", CEV, fails to bring out the strength of the word, so, "he was moved with compassion for them to the depths of his being", Barclay.

v15
      oyiaV adj. "evening" - late in the day. It's obviously not dark, probably coming up to meal time; "late on in the day", Barclay.
      apoluson (apoluw) aor. imp. "send [the crowds] away" - release, dismiss. Although a command, the sense may be softer, even an enquiry, "shouldn't you send the people away?", TH.
      touV oclouV (oV) "crowds" - Matthew's use of the plural need not be repeated, "the crowd", "send the people away", JB.
      iJna + subj. "so" - so that. Forming a purpose clause. The disciples' observation was sensible enough, although whether the surrounding villages could supply such a crowd is questionable.

v16
      de "-" - but. Adversative.
      ou creian ecousin "they do not need [to go away]" - they have no need. Moving the phrase into the positive helps to bring out the emphatic nature of the following "you". "They can stay. You sort out a meal for them."
      fagein (esqiw) aor. inf. "to eat" - The infinitive functioning as a direct object of the verb "give", "give some food to eat / a meal to them."

v17
      de "-" - but. Another adversative serving to express the disciples' reaction, "but, but, but ..."
      ouk ecomen wJde ei mh "we have here only" - we do not have here if not. The negation is emphatic expressing the disciples' negative reaction; "we have nothing here, but ..", Weymouth.
      What the disciples have is a plowman's lunch, a meal for a poor person, cf. Jn.6:9.

v18
      autouV "them" - The loaves and the fishes. "Jesus asked his disciples to bring the food to him", CEV.

v19
      keleusaV (keleuw) aor. part. "he directed" - commanded. The participle is probably temporal; "then he directed the people to sit down." "He ordered", TEV.
      anakliqhnai (anaklinw) aor. pas. inf. "to sit down" - to recline at the table to eat, to lie down = sit down. The infinitive forming an object clause, "he ordered that the people should sit down."
      labwn (lambanw) aor. part. "taking" - having taken, received. The participle is probably temporal; "then he took the five loaves ...." Received the food from the disciples for the purpose of blessing it. "He held the food in his hands."
      anableyaV (abablepw) aor. part. "looking up [to heaven]" - having received sight. The participle is probably temporal. Although "receiving sight" is the meaning elsewhere in Matthew, the word obviously has the sense here of looking upward to the sky above.
      euloghsen (eulogew) aor. "gave thanks" - bless, give thanks, praise. This is similar to our "grace" before a meal. It is a form of thanking God for his bountiful provision.
      klasaV (klaw) aor. part. "broke" - having broken. Continuing the run of temporal participles. In the NT this word is always used of breaking bread, a symbolic action indicating the commencement of the meal by the head of the table. Jesus possibly shared out the fish this way as well, but it is not stated. As one sentence, "and after breaking the loaves, handed them to the disciples ......", Moffatt.

v20
      ecortasqhsan (cortazw) aor. pas. "were satisfied" - filled. The word is used of fattening animals, "fatten", therefore of a satisfying meal. Here, completely satisfied, "they had eaten more than enough."
      to perisseuon (perisseuw) part. "that were left over" - the leftovers, excess, remaining over. Participle as a substantive. There was more than enough food such that there was a lot left over.
      klasmatwn (a atoV) "broken pieces" - fragment, piece, crumb. Here, it may not mean crusts and half eaten food left over, but rather untouched bread and fish. "The broken portions that remained over", Weymouth.