the question deal with what he has left unnoticed,—namely, the fact that, in addition to the
five thousand men, there were also women and children, as Matthew tells us. And it ought
now by all means to be a settled matter, and one kept regularly in view in all such investiga-
tions, that no one should find any difficulty in the mere circumstance that something which
is unrecorded by one writer is related by another. But the question here is as to how the
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several matters narrated by these writers may be [shown to be] all true, so that the one of
them, in giving his own peculiar version, does not put out of court the account offered by
the other. For if the Lord, according to the narrative of John, on seeing the multitudes before
Him, asked Philip, with the view of proving him, whence bread might be got to be given to
them, a difficulty may be raised as to the truth of the statement which is made by the oth-
ers,—namely, that the disciples first said to the Lord that He should send the multitudes
away, in order that they might go and purchase food for themselves in the neighbouring
localities, and that He made this reply to them, according to Matthew: “They need not depart;
give ye them to eat.”1061 With this last Mark and Luke also agree, only that they leave out
the words, “They need not depart.” We are to suppose, therefore, that after these words the
Lord looked at the multitude, and spoke to Philip in the terms which John records, but
which those others have omitted. Then the reply which, according to John, was made by
Philip, is mentioned by Mark as having been given by the disciples,—the intention being,
that we should understand Philip to have returned this answer as the mouthpiece of the
rest; although they may also have put the plural number in place of the singular, according
to very frequent usage. The words here actually ascribed to Philip—namely, “Two hundred
pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a
little”1062—have their counterpart in this version by Mark, “Shall we go and buy two hundred
pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?”1063 The expression, again, which the same
Mark relates to have been used by the Lord, namely, “How many loaves have ye?” has been
passed by without notice by the rest. On the other hand, the statement occurring in John,
to the effect that Andrew made the suggestion about the five loaves and the two fishes, appears
in the others, who use here the plural number instead of the singular, as a notice referring
the suggestion to the disciples generally. And, indeed, Luke has coupled Philip’s reply to-
gether with Andrew’s answer in one sentence. For when he says, “We have no more but five
loaves and two fishes,” he reports Andrew’s response; but when he adds, “except we should
go and buy meat for all this people,” he seems to carry us back to Philip’s reply, only that
he has left unnoticed the “two hundred pennyworth.” At the same time, that [sentence about
the going and buying meat] may also be understood to be implied in Andrew’s own words.
1061 Matt. xiv. 16.
1062 John vi. 7.
1063 Mark vi. 37.
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Of the Question as to How the Four Evangelists Harmonize with Each Other…