And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children.
All Commentaries on Matthew 15:38 Go To Matthew 15
Jerome
AD 420
Christ first took away the infirmities of the sick, and afterwards supplied food to them that had been healed. Also He calls His disciples to tell them what He is about to do; “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude.” This He does that He may give an example tomasters of sharing their counsels with the young, and their disciples; or, that by this dialogue they might come to understand the greatness of the miracle.
Sup. c. xiv, 15: As we have spoken of this above, it would be tedious to repeat what has been already said; we shall therefore only dwell on those particularsin which this differs from the former.
For these are not five, but four thousand; the number four being one always used in a good sense, and a four-sided stone is firm and rocks not, for which reason the Gospels also have been sacredly bestowed in this number. Also in the former miracle, because the people were neighbours unto the five senses , it is the disciples, and not the Lord, that calls to mind their condition; but here the Lord Himself says, that He has compassion upon them, “because they continue now three days” with Him, that is, they believed on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
