{They sat down in ranks} (anepesan prasiai prasiai). They
half-way reclined (anaklith(886e)ai, verse  39 ). Fell up here (we
have to say fell down), the word anepesan means. But they were
arranged in groups by hundreds and by fifties and they looked
like garden beds with their many-coloured clothes which even men
wore in the Orient. Then again Mark repeats the word, prasiai
prasiai, in the nominative absolute as in verse  39  instead of
using ana or kata with the accusative for the idea of
distribution. Garden beds, garden beds. Peter saw and he never
forgot the picture and so Mark caught it. There was colour as
well as order in the grouping. There were orderly walks between
the rows on rows of men reclining on the green grass. The grass
is not green in Palestine much of the year, mainly at the
passover time. So here the Synoptic Gospels have an indication of
more than a one-year ministry of Jesus (Gould). It is still one
year before the last passover when Jesus was crucified.