Jesus asked to test Philip, not to get information. John says so plainly: "this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do" (John 6:6). Barnes explains the test: "to see if he had faith, or if he would show that he believed that Jesus had power to supply them." Gill says Jesus spoke to Philip in particular because "he was of Bethsaida, near to which place Christ now was." Gill adds that the test was meant to prepare the disciples for the miracle that followed. Matthew Henry writes, "When Christ is pleased to puzzle his people, it is only with a design to prove them."

Philip answered with a cost estimate, not a source: "Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little" (John 6:7). Andrew pointed to a lad with five barley loaves and two small fishes (John 6:8-9). Then Jesus had the men sit down, gave thanks, and distributed the food "as much as they would" (John 6:10-11). Twelve baskets of fragments were gathered (John 6:13). The answer to "whence" was Jesus Himself.

The miracle took place when "the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh" (John 6:4). Philip's "two hundred pennyworth" is two hundred pence; Gill identifies them as Roman denarii, and the ESV reads "Two hundred denarii." Gill suggests this sum might have been the whole stock that was in the disciples' bag, though he states it as a possibility.

Barnes notes that this miracle is also recorded in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:32-44, and Luke 9:10-17. Only John records Jesus' question to Philip. Luke places the event in a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida (Luke 9:10), which fits Gill's reason for asking Philip.

This question shows that Jesus sometimes asks what He already knows so that His people will discover what they believe. "He himself knew what he would do" (John 6:6). Matthew Henry observes, "Our Lord Jesus is never at a loss in his counsels."

The test exposed how quickly we measure needs by money and visible supplies. Henry says, "We are apt thus to distrust God's power when visible and ordinary means fail." Yet Jesus did not scold Philip. He fed the crowd, and the people said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world" (John 6:14). The miracle set the stage for Jesus to teach that He Himself is "the bread of life" (John 6:35).