SEVEN BASKETS IN THE DECAPOLIS

MARK 8:1–21

The details that comprise the feeding of the four thousand and the five thousand are strikingly similar (Mark 6:30–44; 8:1–21): a large crowd had gathered around Jesus, he took bread and fish and fed thousands, and afterwards the disciples gathered many baskets filled with leftovers. Therefore, when Jesus redirected the attention of the disciples to these two experiences, he urged them to take note of one important difference: the number of baskets they had collected (Mark 8:17–21). We will do the same as we turn our thoughts to the seven baskets the disciples gathered in the feeding of the four thousand.

That feeding took place on the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis (Mark 7:31) during a time when Jesus had withdrawn from the observant Jewish population that lived on the northwest side of the lake. The previous time Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee and visited the Decapolis, the people there pleaded with him to leave (Mark 5:17). But in this visit they thronged around him10 and were affirmed in their faith as Jesus provided them with a miraculous meal. It was after that meal that the disciples gathered the seven baskets.

Like other numbers used by the inspired writers of the Bible, the number seven can carry connotations that exceed its simple numeric value. While seven is often related to the concept of “completeness” or “totality,”11 it is also a number associated with Gentiles. The latter is the association Jesus had in mind.

The excavations at the Decapolis city of Gadara (view looking northwest).

The Decapolis city of Hippos (view looking north).

As he urged the disciples to reflect on these two miraculous feedings, Jesus called attention to the difference in the number of baskets that were collected (Mark 8:17–21). In the feeding of the five thousand, he had provided food for Jews who were headed to Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover.12 The twelve baskets collected after feeding the five thousand affirmed that he had come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel—the number twelve had long been identified with the twelve tribes of Israel. As an example, note the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen. 49:28), twelve loaves (Lev. 24:5), and twelve thrones (Matt. 19:28). This unmistakable connection between those fed and the number of baskets collected points to the significance in the seven baskets collected during the feeding of the four thousand. The number seven was used in reference to the Gentile nations who lived in the Promised Land prior to the Israelites’ arrival (Deut. 7:1; Acts 13:19).13

When we put it all together, we find a powerful message that links location and number. Jesus had miraculously fed two different groups of people in two different places. The difference in the number of baskets collected, together with the location of the miracles, emphasizes the identity of the two groups—one Jewish and the other Gentile. In these miracles Jesus fed both groups, providing them with spiritual and physical nourishment and thereby affirming that his eternal Kingdom includes Jews and Gentiles.14

Locations of the Feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000

A view looking northeast toward the ruins of Scythopolis, illustrating the size and influence a Decapolis city had over its territory.