Home > Glossary > TOC > Mark > Mark 6 > Feeding the 5000 > Verses > Mark 6:41a
| 37a 37b 37c 37d | 38a 38b | 39 | 40 | 41a 41b 41c 41d 41e 41f | 42a 42b | 43a 43b 43c | 44 |

Mk 6:41a ... And having-taken the five loaves and the two fish, ...

The 13th of the 8+8+8 (24) miracles in Mark's gospel are revealed in the text and diagrams of verses 41 through 44. Verse 41 has six phrases and 32 narrator words. The 1st phrase has these 9 words, ... Kai labōn tous pente artous kai tous duo ixthuas (And having-taken the five loaves and the two fish, ...).

Diagram 1: Verse 41 also has 9 words, the same number as verse 40. The 9 words are top down, laid out in the form of a cross. The last 7 words will line up against the loaves and fish in diagram 41a2. The 4 words "tous pente artous kai " (the five loaves and) overlap the 4 horizontal loaves. The 3 words "tous duo ixthuas" (the two fish) overlap the vertical single loaf and the 2 fish.

Diagram 2: Try as you might, you will never get five loaves (481) and two fish (1224) tangent to the square in diagram 39 or the rectangle in diagram 40 or 41a1 representing the 5000 men. It is impossible. The only way it can be done is to change the dimensions of the rectangle but not it's area. Of the many ways to try, there is only one correct solution (99.9% accurate). Not only do the five loaves and two fish fit inside this new rectangle, it has an area of 5000 square units and the new rectangle is also drawing board tangent to the circle!!

What are the odds of successfully constructing this diagram with these constraints? Based on the words of the text always being true, this construction had to be possible! If not, the entire 13th miracle would not be possible.

6:40 < Verse > 6:41b