Mk.6:39-41 – TPT – Then he instructed them to organize the crowd and have them sit down in groups on the grass. So they had them sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Then Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, gazed into heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the bread and the two fish and distributed them to his disciples to serve the people—and the food was multiplied in front of their eyes!

Studying the original language of a text often gives you a different and sometimes more authentic sense of what was actually going on. In verse 39 in this passage Mark uses the word ‘groups’ from the word symposion which is usually a word describing drinking parties. This could be an awesome description of these folks being sat down in intentional rows to drink in the power of God. Reminds me of the prayer lines in a revival meeting where individuals are waiting to receive the miracle power of God. In the next verse Mark uses the word ‘ranks’ translated front the word prasia. This is how Barclay defines this phrase.

“Mark tells us that they sat down in sections of 100 and of 50. The word used for sections (prasiai) is a very pictorial word. It is the normal Greek word for the rows of vegetables in a vegetable garden. When you looked at the little groups, as they sat there in their orderly rows, they looked for all the world like the rows of vegetables in a series of garden plots.”

So if you put these two passages together you get an interesting picture of what was happening in that place that day. Why not ? Jesus was there and the Holy Spirit was flowing out from Jesus to the disciples and out to the people. Here is how the Passion Notes describes these verses.

“The word prasai found in v. 40 can also mean “garden plots” or “flower beds.” Spread out over the hillside the people would have looked like flower beds, planted in green pastures, drinking in the miracle power of Jesus.”

So what a day that must have been; Jesus teaching the word of God, next He was healing the sick and the injured, then He multiplied fish and bread so that all of them could feast until they were satisfied. Finally, they sat together like flowers in a garden soaking in the power of God. What an incredible, life changing moment for everyone who was there.