Mark 6:44

44. ὡσεί has very little authority.

44. ἄνδρες. In all four; men; ἄνθρωποι. would be “people,” including women and children, whom Mt. mentions separately. Mt., Lk., and Jn have ὡσεί or ὡς before πεντακισχίλιοι.

The attempts to explain away the miracle as a myth, or a parable, or a gross exaggeration, are very unsatisfying. The first Temptation, as recorded by Mt. and Lk. (Luke a narrative which must have had its origin in Christ Himself), points strongly to His having powers such as are indicated here. He would not have put His temptation into a form that implied that He had power which He knew that He did not possess. At the time when He told the disciples about His temptations experience would have taught Him whether there was the supposed limit to His supernatural power. We are not in a position to draw a hard and fast line between what is only unknown and what is certainly impossible. This consideration applies also to the narrative which immediately follows.