This case is in contrast to the case in ch. 5. There the person was by a pool; here the people are around a sea. The scene of the foregoing case was the holy city with a sacred pool for man's healing. The scene of this case is the wilderness with a secular sea for man's livelihood. The person in the previous case was impotent and needed life's enlivening. The people in this case are hungry and need life's feeding. In typology the land signifies the earth, which was created by God for man to live on, and the sea signifies the world, which has been corrupted by Satan and in which fallen mankind lives. In this world mankind is hungry and has no satisfaction. In this world mankind is troubled and has no peace, as portrayed in v. 18.