There is a lad here - Παιδαριον, a little boy, or servant, probably one who carried the apostles' provisions, or who came on purpose to sell his bread and fish.

Five barley loaves - Barley scarcely bore one-third of the value of wheat in the east: see Revelation 6:6. That it was a very mean fare appears from Ezekiel 13:19, where the false prophetesses are said to pollute the name of God for handfuls of barley, i.e. for the meanest reward. And Plutarch, in Apoph. p. 174, speaking concerning the flight of Artaxerxes Mnemon, says he was reduced to such distress as to be obliged to eat barley bread. See Kypke. From this and other circumstances we may plainly perceive that the self-denying doctrine preached by Christ and his apostles was fully exemplified in their own manner of living.

Two small fishes - Δυο οψαρια. The word of οψαριον signifies whatever is eaten with bread, to perfect the meal, or to make it easy of deglutition, or to help the digestion. There is no word in the English language for it, which is a great defect. The inhabitants of Scotland, and of the north and north-west of Ireland, use the word kytshen, by which they express what ever is eaten with bread or potatoes, as flesh, fish, butter, milk, eggs, etc., no satisfactory etymology of which word I am able to offer. In the parallel places in the other three evangelists, instead of οψαρια, ιχθυας is used; so that the word evidently means fish in the text of St. John: see on John 21:5 (note).

There is a lad here,.... Who either belonged to Christ and his disciples, and was employed to carry their provisions for them; which, if so, shows how meanly Christ and his disciples lived; or he belonged to some in the multitude; or rather he came here to sell what he had got:

which hath five barley loaves. The land of Canaan was a land of barley, as well as wheat, Deuteronomy 8:8; this sort of grain grew there in plenty, and was in much use; the Jews had a barley harvest, Ruth 1:22, which was at the time of the passover; for on the second day after the passover, the sheaf of the first fruits was waved before the Lord, which was of barley; hence the Targumist on the place just cited, paraphrases it thus;

"they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the passover, and on the day the children of Israel began to reap the sheaf of the wave offering, which was of barley.''

And it was now about the time of the passover, as appears from John 6:4, and had it been quite the time, and the barley sheaf had been waved, it might have been thought that these loaves were made of the new barley; but though barley was in use for bread among the Jews, as is evident, from the mention that is made of barley loaves and cakes, 2 Kings 4:42; yet it was bread of the coarsest sort, and what the meaner sort of people ate; see Ezekiel 4:12. Yea, barley was used for food for horses and dromedaries, 1 Kings 4:28; and since therefore these loaves were, if not designed for the use of Christ and his twelve apostles, yet for some of his followers, and which they all ate of; it is an instance of the meanness and poverty of them: but however, they had better bread than this, even the bread of life, which is afterwards largely treated of in this chapter, which some of them at least ate of; and as our countryman Mr. Dod used to say,

"brown bread and the Gospel are good fare:''

and it may be further observed, that the number of these loaves were but few; there were but "five" of them, for "five thousand" persons; and these do not seem to be very large ones, since one lad was able to carry them; and indeed, these loaves were no other than cakes, in which form they used to be made:

and two small fishes; there were but "two", and these "small"; it is amazing, that five thousand persons should everyone have something of them, and enough: these fishes seem to be what the Jews (c) call and which the gloss interprets "small fishes": and by the word which is used of them, they seem to be salted, or pickled fishes, and such it is very probable these were; Nonnus calls them, , "fishes which were broiled", or perhaps dried in the sun; see Luke 24:42.

But what are they among so many? everyone cannot possibly have a taste, much less any refreshment, still less a meal.

(c) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 60. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 49. 1.

A lad (παιδάριον)

Diminutive. Only here in the New Testament. Only John mentions the lad.

Barley (κριθίνους)

A detail peculiar to John. The word occurs in the New Testament only here and John 6:13. An inferior sort of bread is indicated by the term. Pliny and some of the Jewish writers describe barley as food fit for beasts. Suetonius speaks of a turgid rhetorician as a barley orator, inflated like barley in moisture: and Livy relates how cohorts which had lost their standards were ordered barley for food.

Fishes (ὀψάρια)

The word occurs only here and at John 21:9. The Synoptists use ἰχθυές. The A.V., small fishes, is intended to render the diminutive. The word means anything that is eaten with bread, and may apply to meat generally, or to what is eaten with bread as a relish. Homer speaks of an onion as a relish (ὄψον) for drink ("Iliad," 11, 630). The term was applied to fish par excellence. Fish became among the Greeks a chief dainty to gourmands, so that Demosthenes describes a glutton and spendthrift as one who is extravagant in fish.

But what are they among so many?

Peculiar to John, though the idea is implied in Luke 9:13.

There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

6:2-13 And a great multitude followed him. The miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, which follows, is the only miracle of the Savior recorded by all the four Gospels. It is found in Mt 14:13-21 Mr 6:30-44 Lu 9:10-17 From a comparison of the accounts we learn that it took place after the death of John the Baptist, and hence as late as the third year of our Lord's ministry. We gain from John the information that it occurred near the passover, that is, in the early spring, about one year before the death of the Savior.

6:1-14 John relates the miracle of feeding the multitude, for its reference to the following discourse. Observe the effect this miracle had upon the people. Even the common Jews expected the Messiah to come into the world, and to be a great Prophet. The Pharisees despised them as not knowing the law; but they knew most of Him who is the end of the law. Yet men may acknowledge Christ as that Prophet, and still turn a deaf ear to him.