Multiplication of the loaves
The Multiplication of the loaves and fish is an enigmatic sign (miracle) performed multiple times by Jesus, in light of how it is reported in all four Gospels, sometimes even twice: Mark 6:31-44 , Matthew 14:19 , Matthew 15:34 , Luke 9:13 , and John 6:9 . Its frequent reference in the Gospels, including twice by the Gospel of Matthew and twice by the Gospel of Mark, indicates that Jesus performed this work more than once. Its repeated references by Mark suggest that he may have been the boy mentioned in John's account.
In the Gospel of Mark, he quotes Jesus as describing multiple occurrences of this miracle, each time using a prime number of loaves:
| “ | When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.”[1] | ” |
Mark's account slightly implies, with full modesty that omits any reference to him, that he was the one who had the five loaves and two fish as recounted in John 6:9 (“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”[2]), beginning in Mark 6:37:
| “ | But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii [day's wage] on bread, and give it to them to eat?” But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” And He ordered them all to recline by groups on the green grass.[3] | ” |
This sign by Jesus indicates that scarcity is due to a lack of faith, not a lack of resources. This also exemplifies the Coase theorem as it embodies productivity of the assembled people without transaction costs associated with seeking food.
This work illustrates the existence of infinity, which Greek philosophers and mathematicians had denied.
It is strikingly similar to the Banach-Tarski Paradox in mathematics.
The multiplication of the loaves is also similar to an event described in 2 Kings 4:42-44:[4]
| “ | Now a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat.” His attendant said, “What, will I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. | ” |
