Jesus' Life and Times - Feeding of the 4000

Arriving at Ein Gev, our faithful guide, Doran, again prompts us to open our Bibles, this time to Mark 7, the account of one of Jesus' miracles that possibly took place here on the eastern side the Sea of Galilee:

"...some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (which means, "Be opened!"). At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. 'He has done everything well,' they said. 'He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak"' (Mark 7:32-36)

The Decapolis (Greek: deka, ten; polis, city) was a group of ten cities in Palestine and Syria. The were grouped together because of their language, culture, location and political status. Though the number of cities changed from time to time, the Decapolis was a center of Greek and Roman culture in a region that was otherwise Semitic (Nabatean, Aramean, and Jewish). Most of the cities were located in modern-day Jordan and Syria, one (Scythopolis) was west of the Jordan River in (modern Israel). Each city had a certain degree of autonomy and self-rule.
How far Jesus traveled into the Decapolis is not known. The NASB reads: "within the region of Decapolis," while the NKJV reads: in “the midst of the region of Decapolis." The farmers and craftsmen on the northwest shore of the lake could see the sophisticated Gentile world only eight miles away, barely a day's walk. Its culture was alluring. Some believe the "distant country" of Jesus' parable of the lost (or prodigal) son in Luke 15:11-32 refered to the Decapolis.

"During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.' His disciples answered, 'But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?' 'How many loaves do you have?' Jesus asked. 'Seven,' they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterwards the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand men were present" (Mark 8:1-9).

(Above left) View from the Golan Heights on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee (a pagan/non-Jewish region at the time of Jesus); (above right) steep hillside on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee.

The feeding of the 4,000, also recorded in Matthew 15:32-39, sounds very similar to the earlier feeding of the 5,000. But other than the number of people fed, there are significant differences in this miracle, also known as the "Miracle of the Seven Loaves and Fishes." The disciples gathered twelve baskets of "leftovers" after the feeding of the 5,000; after the feeding of the 4,000, there are seven. Seven and twelve are intentionally symbolic. In Jewish thought "12" always represented the twelve tribes of Israel and thus themselves, the people of the Covenant. On the other hand, "7" represented the number of pagan nations driven out of Canaan at the time of the Conquest, as listed in Joshua 3:

"This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites" (Joshua 3:10).

Furthermore, the type baskets used to collect the leftover food after each feeding is different. In the feeding of the 5,000 the basket is a kophinos, a large basket for carrying items on the head. In the feeding of the 4,000 the basket, called spuris in Greek, was a plaited reed basket or lunch basket with handles (probably the disciples' personal lunch baskets). Clearly, this is a totally separate multiplication miracle meant to show that Jesus was a Messiah for both Gentiles and Jews, as Jesus himself pointed out to his seemingly perpetually dense disciples:

"Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?' 'Twelve,' they replied. 'And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, 'Seven.' He said to them, 'Do you still not understand?'" (Mark 8:18-21).