* Passages # 03 & # 04 – Matthew 14:13-21 & Matthew 15:32-39 ( see also parallel passages in Mark 6:30-44 & Mark 8:1-10 ) … These two popular texts both have Jesus telling his disciples to feed two large groups of followers ( first “ the 5000 ” and later “ the 4000 ”) and both times fish are mentioned as one of the foods provided (“ two fish ” in Matthew 14:17 & “ a few fish ” in Matthew 15:34 ). On its face , this would indeed seem to support the contention that Jesus approved the eating of meat , and yet there is much more to these verses than first meets the eye …
Initially , it is interesting to note that some scholars ( Rosen and Knicely among them ) contend that “ fish ” are not present in these texts at all – that in actuality the Greek word for " fishweed " ( a form of dried seaweed ) has been mistranslated as " fish " in these verses . While it is true that the ancient Greek words for seaweed ( φῦκος / fukos + µ νίον / mnion ) are not specifically found in the Bible ’ s ancient manuscripts , it is just as true that such a mistranslation could very easily have occurred – and it is most certainly true that dried fishweed would be far more likely than fish to be served in a basket of bread . Indeed , a type of “ fishweed ” even remains a popular food to this day among coastal Palestinian peasants – people quite similar to the ones to whom Jesus was speaking in these stories .
It is interesting to note as well that both Biblical feedings took place on the shoreline & that at least a few of Jesus ’ disciples were fishermen by trade , meaning that if people had truly wanted to eat fish , they simply would have had to go and catch some for themselves . Indeed , a careful reading of Matthew 14 shows that Jesus only divided the loaves of bread and only gave bread to the people gathered there – and that afterwards , the baskets were only filled with remnants of bread – not fish .
Additionally , more than a few scholars have noted that there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that the original story never included fish at all . Indeed , the earliest pre-Gospel accounts of the feed-the-masses stories do not include fish , and Jesus himself never mentions fish when later referring to those events ( see Matthew 16:5-12 , Mark 8:19-20 & John 6:26 ) … Finally , it is worth remembering that Jesus called his first disciples by asking them to cease fishing and follow him instead ( see Matthew 3 , Mark 1 & Luke 5 ); clearly resembling his later calls to tax collectors , prostitutes and others engaged in activities not in harmony with his ministry ’ s message of Love & Compassion to “ sin no more ”.
As such , it seems much more likely than not that neither “ fish ” nor “ fishweed ” were present in the original telling of these tales , but rather that – just like the last 12 verses of the Gospel of Mark and the last chapter of the Gospel of John – scribes added words to the original texts for their own religious purposes ( in this case , to insert the Greek word “ fish ” [ ixous ] – whose letters formed a then-popular acronym for “ Jesus Christ God ’ s Son Savior ”).
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