The baskets (kophinoi) were woven containers that people typically carried with them like a handbag. They served, for example, as knapsacks for soldiers or for carrying food and other necessities on a journey. When Jesus later also fed the four thousand (Matthew 15:37), another kind of basket (spyris) was used—a much larger one that is also mentioned in Acts 9:25.
Each of the twelve disciples—who had prior to this miracle been so anxious about providing food to the crowds—ended up with a basket full of leftovers. The baskets (kophinoi) were woven containers that people typically carried with them like a handbag. They served, for example, as knapsacks for soldiers or for carrying food and other necessities on a journey. When Jesus later also fed the four thousand (Matthew 15:37), a different kind of basket (spyris) was used—a much larger one that is also mentioned in Acts 9:25.1
20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.