Tag Archives: Mark 8:19

Ὅτε τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους ἔκλασα εἰς τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους, καὶ πόσους κοφίνους κλασμάτων πλήρεις ἤρατε; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· δώδεκα. (Mark 8:19)

When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? They say to him, “Twelve.”

Today we analyze a single interrogative sentence from Jesus that is both grammatically intricate and theologically evocative: ὅτε τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους ἔκλασα εἰς τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους, καὶ πόσους κοφίνους κλασμάτων πλήρεις ἤρατε; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· δώδεκα from Mark 8:19. It is a question designed not for information, but for confrontation — and grammar plays a crucial role in shaping that rhetorical impact.… Learn Koine Greek