Jesus adds a second witness. The feeding of the four thousand had happened even more recently, just before the Pharisees and Sadducees came asking for a sign (Matthew 15:32-39; Matthew 16:1). Gill calls it "the other miracle done but a very little while ago" and sums up the point of the question: "and am I not able to provide for you?" Two crowds, two miracles, and both times food was left over. The question presses the disciples to see a pattern, not just a single event.

Again Matthew records no reply, and Jesus goes straight on to explain Himself: "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread?" (Matthew 16:11). In Mark's account the disciples do answer this question: "And they said, Seven" (Mark 8:20). In Matthew the explanation brings understanding: "Then understood they" that He meant "the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees" (Matthew 16:12).

The word for "baskets" here is spyridas, which Thayer defines as a reed basket, a plaited basket, a lunch basket or hamper. It is a different word from the one in Matthew 16:9 (kophinous). The Gospels keep the two words with the two miracles: kophinos for the twelve baskets after the five thousand (Matthew 14:20) and spyris for the seven baskets after the four thousand (Matthew 15:37). The same word spyris names the basket in which Paul was let down over the wall at Damascus (Acts 9:25), so it could be large.

Matthew notes that the four thousand were "men, beside women and children" (Matthew 15:38), so the crowd was larger than the number given.

The second feeding grew out of Jesus' compassion. The crowd had been with Him "three days" with nothing to eat, and He said, "I have compassion on the multitude" (Matthew 15:32). By asking His disciples to remember both feedings, Jesus invites them to trust Him on the strength of a growing record, not on one experience.

The careful details in His question, the number of loaves, the size of the crowd, the count of baskets, show that these miracles were meant to be remembered. God's past care for His people is not just history; it is evidence for the next need.