The “Feeding of the 5,000”, is in all four gospels (Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:31–44; Luke 9:12–17; and John 6:1–14).

(TLDR: 5,000 people were fed from bottomless baskets with 5 loaves and two fish, resulting in 12 baskets of waste.)

The “Feeding of the 4,000”, with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, is in Matthew 15:32–39 and Mark 8:1–9.

(TLDR: 4,000 people were fed from bottomless baskets with 7 loaves and a few small fish, resulting in 7 baskets of waste.)

Then, Jesus gets a bit grumpy with disappointment:

Mark 8 King James Version  14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.  15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.  17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?  18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?  19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.  20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.  21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

The answer to this question is - they, and we, are told - simple.

The apostles are very nearly called “stupid” for needing it to be explained.

This is not complicated - though it has never been simplified.

It is not so obtuse as to be symbolic of bread rituals or numerology.

They - Jesus and the Apostles - had fed more people with less bread, and it resulted in more waste.

More of the bread provided by the five loaves went uneaten, or was inedible, though it had fed a group that was larger.

A group diminished in number - 5000 reduced to 4000, Jesus’ tour attendance polls were down 20% - was then fed with more loaves that resulted in less waste.

The analogy appears to be about the quality of the bread, and the quality of those eating it.

This is not a matter of symbolic numeric quantity, but qualitative comparison that may be considered either literally or figuratively.

“Bread” may be indicative of food, unity, theology, and/or discipline, in this context.

The gospel was improving with miracles and teachings, and those receiving it were becoming less in number, but greater in understanding.

Another Guru Jew (Jew-Ru?) that is a contender for being “The Christ” to the perspectives of average Jews is travelling around.

He’s the hip new thing, and some people are saying that he is legit.

People check it out. Some of them are unconvinced.

Jesus wasn’t winning over all of the minds of Judaism - he was creating Jews that were either improving in quality or being wasteful of miraculous food.

This is the “sword”, or “Jesus’ Razor” as it were.

The gathering of waste was a “harbinger”, “omen”, “sign”, or demonstration of the state of Judaism, and lowered expectations.

So… it’s kind of a bad trajectory.

This may be recognized as an exercise in preparatory grieving. The parallel passage to the loaves debacle says “Sadducees” instead of “Herodians”:

Matthew 16 King James Version  6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Matthew (which is the only gospel to contain zombies) is the more evidently perverted of the texts, and that’s saying something, considering that Mark becomes a choose-your-own-adventure at the end:

a) Longer Ending [enter the weirdos]

b) Freer Logion [accept a one-of-a-kind ending from an otherwise incomplete text]

c) Shorter Ending [simple… ends with an “Amen”… nothing to see here]

or

d) Abrupt Ending [None of the above.]

The Hasmoneans, Qumranians, Apostles, and Jesus were essentially Sadduceean, and most certainly not Herodian.

It cannot be argued against that the perverter of scripture was either “pro-Herodian” in particular or a monarchist in general.

An authoritarian that was inconsiderate of Judaism - such as Constantine or his ancestors - is a possibility, but the alteration is so minimal in scope (it did not revise the entirety of Jesus’ negative perspectives of or on the Herodian Dynasty) that it seems to be a much smaller mechanism at work.

To blame the scribe would be a cop-out. If he were able to transcribe so much of a gospel correctly, but somehow replace a single word with an opposing one, I assert that her intention is obvious [see what I did there?].

A previous perverter, or the same pervert presumably previously (probably picking a peck of pickled peppers) had attempted to qualify “Christianity” to his understanding (to mine, of his [still with me?]) by revising Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter to include Joseph.

The genealogy in Luke is truly of Joseph, who, being only the adoptive parent of Jesus, isn’t very interesting.

The genealogy in Matthew 1 is, in fact, the actual lineage of Jesus through Mary and also King Solomon, fulfilling prophetic requirements:

YHWH

Adam

Seth

Enos

Cainan

Mahalalel

Jared

Enoch

Methuselah

Lamech

Noah

Shem

Arpachshad

OMITTED  —   Cainan (Presumably removed from his lineage as per Lev. 18:29.)

Salah (Selah)

Eber

Peleg

Reu

Serug

Nahor

Terah

Abraham

Isaac

Jacob

Judas (Judah)

Phares (Perez)

Esrom (Hezron)

Aram (Ram)

Aminadab (Amminadab)

Naasson (Nahshon)

Salmon

Booz (Boaz)

Obed

Jesse

David

Solomon

Rehoboam

Abijah

Asa

Jehosaphat

Jehoram

OMITTED  —   Ahaziah   (Presumably removed from his Kingdom and lineage as per Lev. 18:29.)

OMITTED  —   Joash   (Presumably removed from his Kingdom and lineage as per Lev. 18:29.)

OMITTED  —   Amaziah   (Presumably removed from his Kingdom and lineage as per Lev. 18:29.)

Uzziah/Azariah

Jotham

Ahaz

Hezekiah

Manasseh

Amon

Josiah (Josias)

Jehoiakim (Removed from his Kingdom and lineage as per Lev. 18:29.)

Jeconiah/Conaniah (Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Ephraimi offer ιεχονιας, while Bezae offers Iechonias.  He is the genetic son of Jehoiakim ben Josiah, re-titled as the son of his Grandfather, Josiah.)  [Jeremiah 22:30 The Lord saith these things, Write thou this man barren, a man that shall not have prosperity in his days; for of his seed shall be no man, that shall sit on the seat of David, and have power further in Judah.] [Matthew 1:11 Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, into the transmigration of Babylon.]

Shealtiel (Salathiel/Ezra/Esdras - 2nd Esdras)

Zerubbabel (Zorobabel)

Abiud

Eliakim

Azor

Zadok

Achim

Eliud

Eleazar

Matthan

Jacob, Joachim, Ya`iqob, Yaʿaqob, Ya-ah-qu-ub-el, Ya-qu-ub-el, Ιακωβος, Jacobus, (PB-5 of the Protoevangelium of James offers “IAKWB” as the father of Mary)

Mary (preserved in Matthew 1:16 of the Ethiopic Canon)

Jesus