John 6:10

“Jesus said, make the men sit down, etc.] The Syriac version reads, “all the men”; and the Persic version, “all the people”; men, women, and children: Christ, without reproving his disciples for their unbelief, ordered them directly to place the people upon the ground, and seat them in rows by hundreds and by fifties, in a rank and company, as persons about to take a meal: now there was much grass in the place; at the bottom of the mountain; and it was green, as one of the evangelists observes, it being the spring of the year, and was very commodious to sit down upon: so the men sat down, in number about five thousand; besides women and children, (<401421>Matthew 14:21), so that there was but…”

“6:10 The headcount of about 5,000 reflected the men alone (Matt 14:21), as social custom dictated. With women and children included, the total number was far greater.”

“Make: Mat 14:18, Mat 14:19, Mat 15:35, Mat 15:36; Mar 6:39-41, Mar 8:6, Mar 8:7; Luk 9:14-16 Now: No wonder, since it was the spring, being near the passover; and, from the plenty of grass, it would be a place much more suitable to the purpose. This circumstance, says Dr. Paley, is plainly the remark of an eye-witness. John 6:11”