<P> "Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish ." </P> <P> Some commentators note the differences between some of the details of the accounts as a means of emphasizing that there were two distinct miracles: for example, the baskets used for collecting the food which remained were twelve' κοφινους' (hand baskets) in Mark 6: 43 but seven' σπυριδας' (large baskets) in Mark 8: 8 . Cornelius a Lapide stated that a' σπυρίς' or' large basket' was double the size of a' κόφινος' . An indication of the size of a' σπυρίς' is that the apostle Paul was let out of a building through a gap in the Damascus city wall inside one, in order to avert a plot to kill him . </P> <P> In Mark 8: 16 - 21 Jesus distinguishes the two miracles in a conversation with his apostles . </P>

The story of the loaves and the fishes