Origen,
Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. IX, Origen on Matthew…
(1885)
“ Some, then, as we have said by anticipation, have so understood the passage that neither children nor women were present, when the increase and multiplication of the five loaves and the two fishes took place. But some one might say that, while many ate and according to their desert and capacity participated in the loaves of blessing, some worthy to be numbered, corresponding to the men of twenty years old who are numbered in the Book of Numbers, [2] were Israelitish men, but others who were not worthy of such account and numbering were children and women. ”
