I saw a comment on a YouTube video where a person of Islam said that the Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Feeding of the Four Thousand people were contradictions in the Bible as they were the same miracles. If one looks at the two accounts, one will see that they are, in fact, carried out on two separate occasions therefore are different miracles. The chapters the person cited were from Matthew 14:13-21 [Five Thousand] and Matthew 15:32-38 [Four Thousand].
Let's take the first account - The Feeding of the Five Thousand Matthew 14:13-21:
Back in Chapter 13 and verse 54 we are told when He had come to His own country... [Nazareth - about 25km approx 15.5 miles West of the Sea of Galilee]. Chapter 14:1-12 tells of the beheading of Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. From verse 13 the account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand begins.
When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.(14:1a) - we're not told where the deserted place was, but there was more than likely a lot of deserted places in that area.
The multitudes heard where Jesus was and came to Him with their sick and healed them.
In v 15 we see it's evening and the disciples wanted Jesus to send the people away to buy food for themselves as they [the multitudes] would have been hungry.
Jesus was going to test the disciples' faith - they had seen many miracles (even that day they had seen Jesus healing many sick), so here was going to be an amazing one. Jesus tells the disciples to give them something to eat, but they only had five loaves and two fish and that wouldn't feed five thousand+ people!
Jesus commanded the people to sit down on the grass [Greek word 'chortos'] [chortos means: (1)the place where grass grows and animals graze; (2) grass, herbage, hay, provender [of green grass; of growing crops] ]
The disciples took the bread and fish to Jesus and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. Matthew 14:19b
After the people had eaten the disciples ...took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Matthew 14:20b
Verse 21 tells the reader how many people had been fed. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. So in fact there were more than 5,000 fed, that day.
Let's look at the second account - The Feeding of the Four Thousand Matthew 15:32-38
Jesus had come from Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21), He skirted [NKJV] (came nigh [KJV]) the Sea of Galilee and went on a mountain and sat down there. Again great multitudes came to Him and there is a list of those whom they brought to Jesus (v30): lame, blind, mute, maimed and many others. The multitude marveled at the miracles Jesus performed and they glorified the God of Israel.
In verse 32 Jesus said I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way. Now comes the test for the disciples who had seen the previous miracle - will they turn to Jesus and say - guess what we have bread and fish again, or will they not have remembered/learned from the last time?
Verse 33: Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"
Oh dear they had forgotten! This time there were 7 loaves and a few little fish (v34)
v35 says: So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground [Greek word ge] [ge means: (1) arable land; (2) the ground, the earth as a standing place; (3) the main land as opposed to the sea or water; (4) the earth as a whole [the earth as opposed to the heavens; the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals] (5) a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region]
v36: And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude
v37: So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of fragments that were left.
v38: Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. Again there were more than 4,000 who were fed.
Let's look at both these accounts now:
Matthew 13 - Jesus had come from Nazareth (v54)
Matthew 15 - Jesus had come from Tyre and Sidon (v21)
Matthew 14 - Jesus went to a deserted place [eremos]
Matthew 15 - Jesus went to a mountain [oros]
Matthew 14 - it was evening and the people had only been with Jesus that day
Matthew 15 - the people had been following Jesus for 3 days
Matthew 14 - they had five [pente] loaves and 2 fish [dyo ichthys]
Matthew 15 - they had seven [hepta] loaves and a few little fish [ichthydion]
Matthew 14 - Jesus told them to sit on the grass [chortos]
Matthew 15 - Jesus told them to sit on the ground [ge]
Matthew 14 - 12 [dodeka] baskets of fragments remained
Matthew 15 - 7 [hepta] baskets of fragments remained
Matthew 14 - 5,000 [pentakischolioi] men were fed (besides women and children)
Matthew 15 - 4,000 [tetrakischilioi] men were fed (besides women and children)
As we see from the passages and the comparison above - these were 2 different occurrences. The disciples had to learn lessons over and over again (as we all do). We also have to remember that although these events were only 1 chapter apart - it could have been months between each one and as Jesus was performing many miracles all the time, the disciples could have easily forgotten the former one.
Let's take the first account - The Feeding of the Five Thousand Matthew 14:13-21:
Back in Chapter 13 and verse 54 we are told when He had come to His own country... [Nazareth - about 25km approx 15.5 miles West of the Sea of Galilee]. Chapter 14:1-12 tells of the beheading of Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. From verse 13 the account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand begins.
When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.(14:1a) - we're not told where the deserted place was, but there was more than likely a lot of deserted places in that area.
The multitudes heard where Jesus was and came to Him with their sick and healed them.
In v 15 we see it's evening and the disciples wanted Jesus to send the people away to buy food for themselves as they [the multitudes] would have been hungry.
Jesus was going to test the disciples' faith - they had seen many miracles (even that day they had seen Jesus healing many sick), so here was going to be an amazing one. Jesus tells the disciples to give them something to eat, but they only had five loaves and two fish and that wouldn't feed five thousand+ people!
Jesus commanded the people to sit down on the grass [Greek word 'chortos'] [chortos means: (1)the place where grass grows and animals graze; (2) grass, herbage, hay, provender [of green grass; of growing crops] ]
The disciples took the bread and fish to Jesus and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. Matthew 14:19b
After the people had eaten the disciples ...took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Matthew 14:20b
Verse 21 tells the reader how many people had been fed. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. So in fact there were more than 5,000 fed, that day.
Let's look at the second account - The Feeding of the Four Thousand Matthew 15:32-38
Jesus had come from Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21), He skirted [NKJV] (came nigh [KJV]) the Sea of Galilee and went on a mountain and sat down there. Again great multitudes came to Him and there is a list of those whom they brought to Jesus (v30): lame, blind, mute, maimed and many others. The multitude marveled at the miracles Jesus performed and they glorified the God of Israel.
In verse 32 Jesus said I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way. Now comes the test for the disciples who had seen the previous miracle - will they turn to Jesus and say - guess what we have bread and fish again, or will they not have remembered/learned from the last time?
Verse 33: Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"
Oh dear they had forgotten! This time there were 7 loaves and a few little fish (v34)
v35 says: So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground [Greek word ge] [ge means: (1) arable land; (2) the ground, the earth as a standing place; (3) the main land as opposed to the sea or water; (4) the earth as a whole [the earth as opposed to the heavens; the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals] (5) a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region]
v36: And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude
v37: So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of fragments that were left.
v38: Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. Again there were more than 4,000 who were fed.
Let's look at both these accounts now:
Matthew 13 - Jesus had come from Nazareth (v54)
Matthew 15 - Jesus had come from Tyre and Sidon (v21)
Matthew 14 - Jesus went to a deserted place [eremos]
Matthew 15 - Jesus went to a mountain [oros]
Matthew 14 - it was evening and the people had only been with Jesus that day
Matthew 15 - the people had been following Jesus for 3 days
Matthew 14 - they had five [pente] loaves and 2 fish [dyo ichthys]
Matthew 15 - they had seven [hepta] loaves and a few little fish [ichthydion]
Matthew 14 - Jesus told them to sit on the grass [chortos]
Matthew 15 - Jesus told them to sit on the ground [ge]
Matthew 14 - 12 [dodeka] baskets of fragments remained
Matthew 15 - 7 [hepta] baskets of fragments remained
Matthew 14 - 5,000 [pentakischolioi] men were fed (besides women and children)
Matthew 15 - 4,000 [tetrakischilioi] men were fed (besides women and children)
As we see from the passages and the comparison above - these were 2 different occurrences. The disciples had to learn lessons over and over again (as we all do). We also have to remember that although these events were only 1 chapter apart - it could have been months between each one and as Jesus was performing many miracles all the time, the disciples could have easily forgotten the former one.
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