The Meaning of Mark 8:8 Explained

Mark 8:8

KJV: So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.

YLT: and they did eat and were filled, and they took up that which was over of broken pieces -- seven baskets;

Darby: And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up of fragments that remained seven baskets.

ASV: And they ate, and were filled: and they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

So  they did eat,  and  were filled:  and  they took up  of the broken  [meat] that was left  seven  baskets. 

What does Mark 8:8 Mean?

Context Summary

Mark 8:1-21 - The Demand For Signs Rebuked
Notice the Master's tender considerateness, Mark 8:1-9. He would not have the people faint on their way home. There are distinct differences between this miracle and the feeding of the five thousand. Most of these are evident to the English reader, but that between the baskets used for the fragments is clear only from the original-those used in the case of the five thousand being quite different from the large ones used here, Mark 8:20; Matthew 15:37. Our Lord never repeats His work.
The Savior sighed in the previous chapter over physical need; here He sighs over moral obtuseness, Mark 8:10-21. The language is very strong, and gives a glimpse into the Redeemer's heart. Had the Pharisees been as willing to discern the signs of the age as to read the weather, they must have been able to recognize Him and His claims; but their foolish heart was darkened. Having sighed over the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees, might He not equally have done so over the obtuseness of the Twelve? They thought that He was referring to their carelessness in omitting to take bread. How little they realized that the cause lay far deeper! Let us be quick to read the divine intention in very simple incidents, and to learn that all God's past dealings contain lessons for the present! [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 8

1  Jesus feeds the people miraculously;
10  refuses to give a sign to the Pharisees;
14  admonishes his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod;
22  gives a blind man his sight;
27  acknowledges that he is the Jesus who should suffer and rise again;
34  and exhorts to patience in persecution for the profession of the gospel

Greek Commentary for Mark 8:8

Broken pieces that remained over [περισσευματα κλασματων]
Overplus, abundance, remains of broken pieces not used, not just scraps or crumbs. [source]
Were filled []
See on Matthew 5:6. Wyc., fulfilled. Tynd., sufficed. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 8:8

Matthew 5:6 Shall be filled [χορτασθήσονται]
A very strong and graphic word, originally applied to the feeding and fattening of animals in a stall. In Revelation 19:21, it is used of the filling of the birds with the flesh of God's enemies. Also of the multitudes fed with the loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:20; Mark 8:8; Luke 9:17). It is manifestly appropriate here as expressing the complete satisfaction of spiritual hunger and thirst. Hence Wycliffe's rendering, fulfilled, is strictly true to the original. [source]
John 6:13 Twelve baskets [δωδεκα κοπινους]
One for each of the apostles. What about the lad? Stout wicker baskets (coffins, Wycliff) in distinction from the soft and frail σπυριδες — sphurides used at the feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8:8; Matthew 15:37). Here all the Gospels (Mark 6:43; Matthew 14:20; Luke 9:17; John 6:13) use κοπινοι — kophinoi The same distinction between κοπινοι — kophinoi and σπυριδες — sphurides is preserved in the allusion to the incidents by Jesus in Mark 8:19, Mark 8:20; Matthew 16:9, Matthew 16:10. Unto them that had eaten Articular perfect active participle (dative case) of βιβρωσκω — bibrōskō old verb to eat, only here in N.T., though often in lxx. [source]
Acts 9:25 Lowering him [αυτον χαλασαντες]
First aorist active participle of χαλαω — chalaō old and common verb in a nautical sense (Acts 27:17, Acts 27:30) as well as otherwise as here. Same verb used by Paul of this experience (2 Corinthians 11:33). In a basket (εν σπυριδι — en sphuridi). The word used when the four thousand were fed (Mark 8:8; Matthew 15:37). A large basket plaited of reeds and distinguished in Mark 8:19. (Matthew 16:9.) from the smaller κοπινος — kophinos Paul uses σαργανη — sarganē a basket made of ropes. This escape by night by the help of the men whom he had come to destroy was a shameful memory to Paul (2 Corinthians 11:33). Wendt thinks that the coincidences in language here prove that Luke had read II Corinthians. That, of course, is quite possible. [source]
Acts 9:25 In a basket [εν σπυριδι]
The word used when the four thousand were fed (Mark 8:8; Matthew 15:37). A large basket plaited of reeds and distinguished in Mark 8:19. (Matthew 16:9.) from the smaller κοπινος — kophinos Paul uses σαργανη — sarganē a basket made of ropes. This escape by night by the help of the men whom he had come to destroy was a shameful memory to Paul (2 Corinthians 11:33). Wendt thinks that the coincidences in language here prove that Luke had read II Corinthians. That, of course, is quite possible. [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 8:8 mean?

And they ate were satisfied they took up over and above of fragments seven baskets
Καὶ ἔφαγον ἐχορτάσθησαν ἦραν περισσεύματα κλασμάτων ἑπτὰ σπυρίδας

ἔφαγον  they  ate 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐσθίω  
Sense: to eat.
ἐχορτάσθησαν  were  satisfied 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: χορτάζω  
Sense: to feed with herbs, grass, hay, to fill, satisfy with food, to fatten.
ἦραν  they  took  up 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: αἴρω  
Sense: to raise up, elevate, lift up.
περισσεύματα  over  and  above 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: περίσσευμα  
Sense: abundance, in which one delights.
κλασμάτων  of  fragments 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: κλάσμα  
Sense: a fragment, broken piece.
ἑπτὰ  seven 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: ἑπτά  
Sense: seven.
σπυρίδας  baskets 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: σπυρίς  
Sense: a reed basket, (a plaited basket, a lunch basket, hamper).