How much bread might they get?

        Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”  John 6:7

        Early in September I found Wonder white bread on sale at Fortino’s for $1.99 per 675-gram loaf. I counted to find how many slices—19—expecting that we were talking a slice or two each. Then I guessed at an average salary of $40,000. This means that half a year’s wages would be $20,000 and, in Philip’s estimation, each of the 5000 men would get about two modern loaves.

        This means that Philip was slightly exaggerating the amount each would get as “a bite”. But it also means that food, in particular, bread, cost a much higher percentage of a person’s income then than it now does.