The Feeding of the Multitude is represented in no less than five different places within the tradition of the canonical Gospels, as well as in a variety of forms in that of apocryphal sources. This is a surprising state of affairs in Gospel tradition and, especially as two versions are to be found in one and the same Gospel, it hints at a bifurcation of the traditions concerning the Feeding already at a pre-literary stage.

It is this fact that makes it a priori unlikely that a simple solution can be advanced, or that a reduction of the reports to one or two versions would be possible in this case. Mark 8 cannot simply be styled as a doublet of Mark 6, nor can Matthew 14 and Luke 9 just be considered as reformulations of Mark 6, let alone John 6 be viewed as an offshoot of the Markan account. The differences are too marked to allow acquiescence in the kind of solution which has proved advisable in many other cases.

The Markan account is part of a pre-Markan composition, as the parallel in chapter 8 shows. The Feeding is followed there by the journey over the lake (verses 13–21), the Pharisaic demand for a sign from heaven (verses 1 if) and, finally, a healing story (verses 22–6). All these elements are present in chapters 6 and 7 as well. Lake stories are reproduced in 6: 45–52 (56), the Pharisees appear in 7: 1ff, a healing is narrated in 7: 31–7.4 The scheme is the same, with the single exception that the items in 8: 11–21 are interchanged.