tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

tn The participle ὑποστρέψαντες (hupostrepsantes) has been taken temporally.

tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

tc There is a seeming myriad of variants for this text. Many mss read εἰς τόπον ἔρημον (eis topon erēmon, “to a deserted place”; א*,2 [1241]) or εἰς τόπον ἔρημον πόλεως καλουμένης Βηθσαϊδά (eis topon erēmon poleōs kaloumenēs BēthsaiHda, “to a deserted place of a town called Bethsaida”; [A] C W Ξmg [f1, 13] [565] 𝔐) here, while others have εἰς κώμην λεγομένην Βηδσαϊδά (eis kōmēn legomenēn BēdsaiHda, “to a village called Bedsaida”; D), εἰς κώμην καλουμένην Βηθσαϊδά εἰς τόπον ἔρημον (eis kōmēn kaloumenēn BēthsaiHda eis topon erēmon, “to a village called Bethsaida to a deserted place”; Θ), or εἰς τόπον καλουμένον Βηθσαϊδά (eis topon kaloumenon Bēthsaida, “to a place called Bethsaida”; Ψ). The Greek behind the translation (εἰς πόλιν καλουμένην Βηθσαϊδά, eis polin kaloumenēn BēthsaiHda) is supported by (𝔓75) א1 B L Ξ* 33 2542 pc co. The variants can be grouped generally into those that speak of a “deserted place” and those that speak of a place/city/town called Bethsaida. The Byzantine reading is evidently a conflation of the earlier texts, and should be dismissed as secondary. The variants that speak of a deserted place are an assimilation to Mark 6:32, as well a harmonization with v. 12, and should also be regarded as secondary. The reading that best explains the rise of the others—both internally and externally—is the one that stands behind the translation and is found in the text of NA27.

tn Or “city.”

sn Bethsaida was a town on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. Probably this should be understood to mean a place in the vicinity of the town. It represents an attempt to reconcile the location with the place of the miraculous feeding that follows.