John 6

After this, Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is also called the Sea of Tiberias.

1After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

NoteThe lake had more than one name. Galilee was the region around it; Tiberias was a city built on its western shore in the AD 20s by Herod Antipas and named in honor of the Roman emperor Tiberius. The Roman name was the one an outsider would recognize, which is likely why John supplies it.

2A large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miracles he did on people who were sick.

2And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

NoteThe King James "miracles" translates a Greek word meaning signs. John uses that word consistently for what Jesus does: it points at what an act indicates, not merely at its power to astonish.

3Jesus went up on the mountain, and he sat down there with his disciples.

3And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

Note"A mountain" renders a phrase that can equally mean the hill country, the high ground set back from the shore, rather than one named peak.

4The Passover, a Jewish festival, was near.

4And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

NotePassover was the yearly spring festival marking Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt, kept with a lamb and with bread made without yeast. Jews traveled to Jerusalem to keep it, so the roads through Galilee would have been busy at this season.

5Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him. He said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread so these people can eat?"

5When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

6He asked this to test Philip, because he already knew what he was going to do.

6And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

7Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' pay would not buy enough bread for each of them to have even a little."

7Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

NoteThe King James "pennyworth" translates denarius, a Roman silver coin that was the standard day's wage for an ordinary laborer. Two hundred of them is roughly two hundred days of a working man's income, which is Philip's point: even a sum that large would not stretch far enough.

8One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,

8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,

9"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish. But what good is that among so many people?"

9There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

NoteBarley was the cheap grain, often about half the price of wheat, and barley bread was poor people's food. The loaves were small flat rounds, closer to pita than to a modern loaf, and the "small fishes" were most likely the salted or pickled fish eaten as a relish alongside bread. The word for the boy can mean either a young child or a young servant.

10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place. So the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

10And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

NoteThe wording shifts: Jesus says to seat the people, but the Greek word behind the count of five thousand is the one meaning adult males, so the crowd on the hillside was larger than the number given. The note about plenty of grass fits the season, since the slopes around the lake are green only in spring, near Passover.

11Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he handed them out to the disciples, and the disciples handed them to the people who were seated. He did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted.

11And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

NoteThe thanks is the ordinary blessing said over food at a Jewish meal, in which the head of the table thanked God for bringing bread out of the earth. The Greek verb is eucharisteo, from which the word eucharist later came.

12When they had eaten all they wanted, he said to his disciples, "Gather up the pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted."

12When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

Note"Fragments" means broken pieces, not crumbs and scraps. Bread was torn rather than sliced, and gathering up what was left of it was ordinary table practice.

13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over by the people who had eaten.

13Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

NoteThe baskets are the stiff wicker carrying baskets a traveler took his food in, one each for the twelve disciples. Each held a fair amount, perhaps a couple of gallons, so the leftovers outweighed what they started with.

14When those men saw the miracle Jesus had done, they said, "This really is the Prophet who is supposed to come into the world."

14Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

Note"That prophet that should come into the world" is a particular expected figure, not any prophet at all. Moses had said God would raise up a prophet like himself for Israel to listen to, and by this period a definite figure was widely looked for.

15Jesus realized that they meant to come and make him a king by force, so he went away again to the mountain by himself, alone.

15When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

NoteGalilee and Judea were under Roman control, and proclaiming a man king was a political act with immediate consequences, treated as the opening move of a revolt rather than as an honor.

16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

16And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,

17got into a boat, and started across the water toward Capernaum. It was dark by now, and Jesus had not come to them.

17And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

NoteCapernaum was a fishing town on the north shore of the lake and the base Jesus worked from in Galilee.

18A strong wind was blowing, and the water grew rough.

18And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.

19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water and coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

19So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.

NoteThe King James "furlongs" translates stadia. One stadion was about six hundred feet, so twenty five or thirty of them is roughly three to three and a half miles. The lake is about seven miles across at its widest, so they were out near the middle of it.

20But he said to them, "It is I. Do not be afraid."

20But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.

Note"It is I" renders the Greek ego eimi, literally "I am." It is the ordinary way of identifying yourself in the dark, and it is also the exact phrase that opens the sayings later in this chapter, "I am the bread of life." Both senses sit in the Greek and no English wording can carry both at once.

21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and right away the boat reached the shore they were heading for.

21Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They knew Jesus had not gotten into that boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had gone off alone.

22The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;

23(Other boats, however, came from Tiberias and landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.)

23(Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:)

24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

24When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.

25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi" (that means teacher), "when did you get here?"

25And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?

NoteRabbi is a Hebrew form of address for a teacher, literally something like "my master." At this date it was a courteous title for a respected teacher, not yet the formal office it became in later Judaism.

26Jesus answered them, "I tell you the truth: you are looking for me not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the bread and had your fill.

26Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

Note"Verily, verily" translates "amen, amen," a Hebrew word meaning roughly "this is firm" or "so it is." Ordinarily a person said it to endorse someone else's words; in the gospels Jesus puts it in front of his own, which is unusual.

27Do not work for food that spoils. Work instead for the food that lasts into eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. God the Father has put his own mark of approval on him."

27Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

NoteIn 1611 "meat" meant food of any kind, not flesh, so the King James "meat which perisheth" is food that goes bad. "Son of man" is the phrase Jesus habitually uses of himself: in Hebrew idiom it can mean simply a human being, and it is also the title of the figure in Daniel's vision who is given lasting authority. To "seal" something was to press an owner's mark into wax or clay, certifying both that it was genuine and whose it was.

28Then they said to him, "What must we do to do the works God wants?"

28Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

29Jesus answered them, "This is the work God wants: that you believe in the one he has sent."

29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

30So they said to him, "Then what sign will you do, so we can see it and believe you? What work will you do?

30They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?

31Our ancestors ate the manna in the desert, just as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

31Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

NoteManna was the flaky food described in Exodus, which the Israelites gathered each morning through the forty years in the desert after leaving Egypt. The name comes from their own question on first seeing it, "man hu," what is it? The line quoted, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat," comes from Psalm 78, which retells that story.

32Then Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth: it was not Moses who gave you that bread from heaven. It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.

32Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

NoteThe argument turns partly on a tense that the King James preserves: Moses "gave," past and finished, while the Father "giveth," present and continuing. The Greek can also be read as shifting the emphasis to who did the giving, since on the Exodus account it was God rather than Moses who sent the manna.

33For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

33For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34Then they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread from now on."

34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

Note"Lord" here is the ordinary polite address, closer to "sir," the word anyone might use to a person of standing.

35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

NoteThis is the first of a series of sayings in John that begin with the Greek ego eimi, "I am," followed by an image: bread, light, door, shepherd, vine.

36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.

36But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

37Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and I will never turn away anyone who comes to me.

37All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Note"In no wise cast out" is an emphatic double negative in the Greek, much stronger than a plain "not." The verb is the one used for throwing someone out of a house or driving a person out of a town.

38For I came down from heaven not to do what I want, but to do what the one who sent me wants.

38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

39And this is what the Father who sent me wants: that I lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up on the last day.

39And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

Note"The last day" was a standing expression for the end of the present age, when the dead were expected to be raised and judged. Many Jews of the period held that expectation; others, including the Sadducees, denied it.

40And this is what the one who sent me wants: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day."

40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

41Then the Jews grumbled about him, because he had said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

41The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

Note"The Jews" in John does not usually mean the Jewish people as a whole, since Jesus, his disciples and this crowd are all Jewish. It generally marks out a particular group: often the religious authorities, and here the local hearers who object. "Murmured" is the King James word for grumbling, and it is the same word used in Exodus for the complaints of the wilderness generation against Moses and against God.

42They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and his mother. How can he say now, 'I came down from heaven'?"

42And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

NoteNaming a man's father was the normal way to place him. Their objection is that his family is known and unremarkable, so in their view his origin is not an open question.

43So Jesus answered them, "Stop grumbling among yourselves.

43Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.

44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.

44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

NoteThe verb behind "draw" is physical: it is used for hauling in a loaded fishing net and for pulling a sword from its sheath. It carries more force than inviting or persuading; how much more has been argued over for centuries.

45It is written in the prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' So everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.

45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

NoteThe quotation is from Isaiah, and "the prophets" names the section of Hebrew scripture that holds the prophetic books, a normal way of citing by division rather than by author. "Taught of God" is older English for "taught by God."

46This does not mean that anyone has seen the Father. Only the one who is from God has seen the Father.

46Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

47I tell you the truth: whoever believes in me has eternal life.

47Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

48I am that bread of life.

48I am that bread of life.

49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

49Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die.

50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Note"Flesh" translates sarx, the word for the physical substance of a body. It is the same word John uses when he writes that the Word became flesh, and the same word that appears in verse 63 with a wider sense.

52So the Jews argued with each other, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

52The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

Note"Strove" in the King James means argued or disputed with each other, not fought physically.

53Then Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

53Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

NoteDrinking blood was flatly forbidden in the Law of Moses. Leviticus says the life of a creature is in its blood, and blood was to be drained out and never consumed. That prohibition is the background against which this saying landed on the people hearing it.

54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

54Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

NoteThe King James uses "eateth" throughout, but the Greek verb changes at this point, from the ordinary word for eating to a blunter one meaning to chew or gnaw, the sort of word used of an animal at its food. That harsher verb is kept for the rest of the passage.

55For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.

55For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Note"Meat" is 1611 English for food of any kind. "Indeed" here means truly or genuinely: real food, real drink.

56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood stays in me, and I stay in him.

56He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Note"Dwelleth in me, and I in him" translates a verb meaning to stay, remain or lodge somewhere. It is about continuing to be in a place rather than about a feeling.

57The living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father. In the same way, whoever feeds on me will live because of me.

57As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

Note"He that eateth me" uses the chewing verb introduced in verse 54. "Live by me" is older English for live because of me, or by way of me as the source.

58This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna your ancestors ate, for they died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever."

58This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

59He said these things in the synagogue, the Jewish meeting place for worship, while he was teaching in Capernaum.

59These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

NoteA synagogue was the local assembly where Jews gathered to hear the scriptures read and explained, found in any town of size. It was a different thing from the temple in Jerusalem: nothing was sacrificed in a synagogue, and a visiting teacher could be invited to speak, which is what is happening here.

60When many of his disciples heard this, they said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can listen to it?"

60Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

Note"Hard" here means harsh or hard to accept, not hard to understand. "Who can hear it" uses hear in its older sense of listening and going along with: who can put up with this?

61Jesus knew inside himself that his disciples were grumbling about it, so he said to them, "Does this offend you?

61When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

Note"Offend" translates skandalizo, which means to trip someone up or make them stumble. It is far stronger than the modern sense of giving offense to someone's feelings.

62Then what if you see the Son of Man go up to where he was before?

62What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

NoteThe sentence is unfinished in the Greek: "What then if you should see the Son of man going up where he was before..." with no conclusion supplied. The King James "What and if" preserves that broken shape; "what and if" was older English for "what then if."

63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life.

63It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Note"Quickeneth" is 1611 English for gives life or makes alive; "quick" meant living, as in the phrase the quick and the dead. "Flesh" here is the same Greek word as in verse 51 but in its wider sense, human nature or human effort taken on its own.

64But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray him.

64But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

65And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father grants it to him."

65And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

66From that time on, many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.

66From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Note"Walked no more with him" is an idiom rather than a comment on travel: to walk with a teacher meant to go about as his follower. The word "disciple" in this chapter covers a wide circle of such people, not only the twelve.

67Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you want to leave too?"

67Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

Note"The twelve" is the fixed inner group Jesus had picked out of that larger body of followers, which is why many disciples can leave while the twelve are still there to be asked.

68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, who else would we go to? You have the words of eternal life.

68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

69And we believe, and we know for sure, that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

NoteThe King James follows later Greek manuscripts, which read "that Christ, the Son of the living God." The earliest manuscripts read "the Holy One of God," which is what most modern translations print. "Christ" is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew "Messiah," meaning anointed one.

70Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you twelve? Yet one of you is a devil."

70Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

Note"A devil" translates diabolos, a word meaning slanderer or false accuser. Applied to a person it charges him with that behavior, and it is also the standard word for the figure called the devil; both senses are live in the Greek.

71He was speaking about Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Judas was one of the twelve, and he was the one who would betray him.

71He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

Note"Iscariot" is most likely "man of Kerioth," a place name distinguishing this Judas from the other disciple of the same name. In the Greek the word can attach to Simon as readily as to Judas, which is why some translations read "Judas, son of Simon Iscariot."