John 6 - Introduction
CHAPTER 6. _ Jesus miraculously furnishes a meal for_ 5000 _men with women and children, and thus manifests Himself as the Bread from heaven_. _This provokes the crisis in Galilee_.... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 6. _ Jesus miraculously furnishes a meal for_ 5000 _men with women and children, and thus manifests Himself as the Bread from heaven_. _This provokes the crisis in Galilee_.... [ Continue Reading ]
μετὰ ταῦτα, John's indefinite note of time. The interval between chap. 5 and chap. 6 depends on the feast alluded to, John 5:1. If it was Purim, only a month had elapsed; if it was Passover, a year. In any case Jesus had left Jerusalem, the reason being that the Jews sought to slay Him (John 7:1). ἀ... [ Continue Reading ]
_The miracle narrated_.... [ Continue Reading ]
But another crowd was to be accounted for, as John 6:4 intimates, ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς … Ἰουδαίων, “now the Passover, the Jewish feast, was at hand”. [Grotius says: “Hoc ideo interjicit, ut intelligatur tempus fuisse opportunum ad eliciendam multitudinem, et quo melius cohaereat quod de herba sequitur”. Gode... [ Continue Reading ]
πολὺς ὄχλος ἔρχεται, not the same crowd as was mentioned in John 6:2, else the article would have been inserted, but a Passover caravan coming from some other direction, and probably guided to Jesus' retirement by some of those who had followed in the first crowd. Seeing the crowd approaching, He in... [ Continue Reading ]
Philip swiftly calculating declares it impossible to provide bread for so vast a multitude, Διακοσίων … λάβῃ. “Two hundred denarii worth of loaves are not enough for them that each should receive a little.” “Denarius” means containing ten; and originally the denarius contained ten asses. The _as_ wa... [ Continue Reading ]
With the same matter-of-factness as Philip εἷς … Πέτρου, “one of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,” a description apparently inserted in forget fulness that it has already been given, John 1:41, supplementing Philip's judgment, _cf._ John 12:22, λέγει αὐτῳ, “says to Him” [the dative... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃ ἔχει … ὀψάρια. The Synoptic account speaks of these provisions as already belonging to the disciples. κριθίνους, the cheapest kind of bread; see Ezekiel 13:19, and the extraordinary profusion of illustrations in Wetstein, among which occurs one from the Talmud: “Jochanan dixit, hordeum factum est... [ Continue Reading ]
The moral ground for the miracle being thus prepared Jesus at once says, ποιήσατε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀναπεσεῖν. [For the form of speech _cf._ Soph., _Philoct._, 925, κλύειν … με … ποιεῖ.] This order was given for two reasons: (1) that there might be no unseemly crowding round Him and crushing out of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Facing the vast and hungry crowd Jesus took up and gave thanks for the slender provision, ἔλαβε δὲ [better ἔλαβεν οὖν] τοὺς ἄρτους, the loaves already mentioned, καὶ εὐχαριστήσας [Phrynichus says εὐχαριστεῖν οὐδεὶς τῶν δοκίμων εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ χάριν εἰδέναι; and Rutherford says Polybius is the first writ... [ Continue Reading ]
Συνήγαγον οὖν … βεβρωκόσιν, the superabundance, the broken pieces of the five loaves which were in excess of the requirements, ἃ ἐπερίσσεύσε, filled δώδεκα κοφίνους, that is to say, far exceeded the original five loaves. κόφινος [French, _Coffin_, petit panier d'osier; _cf._ our “coffin” and “coffer... [ Continue Reading ]
The conclusion drawn from the miracle by those who had witnessed it, was that this was “the beginning of that reign of earthly abundance, which the prophets were thought to have foretold”. See Lightfoot, _Hor. Heb._, 552. This at once found expression in the words οὗτός ἐστιν … κόσμον. “This is inde... [ Continue Reading ]
_The immediate impression made by the miracle and the consequent movements of Jesus and the crowd_.... [ Continue Reading ]
For Jesus perceived that they were on the point of coming and carrying Him off to make Him king. ἁρπάζειν, to snatch suddenly and forcibly (derived from the swoop of the falcon, the ἅρπη; hence, the Harpies). This scene throws light on the use of ἁρπάζουσιν in Matthew 11:12. Their purpose was to mak... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐληλακότες οὖν ὡς σταδίους εἰκοσιπέντε ἢ τριάκοντα. The Vulgate renders “cum remigassent ergo,” and modern Greek ἐκωπηλάτησαν, rightly; see Aristoph., _Frogs_, 195; and other passages in Elsner. The stadium was about 194 (Rich gives 202) yards, so that nine rather than eight would go to a mile. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Hearing this, ἤθελον οὖν λαβεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον, by which Lücke, Holtzmann, Weiss, Thayer, and others suppose it is meant, that they merely wished to take Him into the boat, but did not actually do so. The imperfect tense favours this sense; and so do the expressions ἤθελον πιάσαι αὐτόν, John 7:... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:22-24 form one sentence, in which John describes the observations made by the crowd the following morning and their consequent action. The observations they made are described under ἰδών, which never finds its verb, but is resumed in ὅτε οὖν εἴδεν of John 6:24; and their consequent action is... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀμὴν … ἐχορτάσθητε. In this pursuing crowd Jesus sees no evidence of faith or spiritual hunger, but only of carnality and misunderstanding. Ye follow me οὐχ ὅτι εἴδετε σημεῖα, “not because you saw signs,” not because in the feeding of the 5000 and other miracles you saw the Kingdom of God and glimps... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐργάζεσθε … ὑμῖν δώσει. “Work not for the meat which perisheth.” ἐργάζομαι means “I earn by working,” “I acquire,” see passages cited by Thayer _in voc_. The food which He had given them the evening before He called βρῶσιν ἀπολλυμένην : they were already hungry again, and had toiled after Him for mi... [ Continue Reading ]
This is proved by the suggestion added in John 6:31. οἱ πατέρες … φαγεῖν; they demanded that He as Messiah should make good His claim by outdoing Moses. Schoettgen and Lightfoot quote from Rabbinical literature a relevant and significant saying: “Qualis fuit redemptor primus (Moses) talis erit redem... [ Continue Reading ]
Moses therefore could not give this bread, since it comes down out of heaven. It is characterised by two attributes: (1) it is ὁ καταβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, that which cometh down out of heaven not, as Godet renders, “He who cometh down from heaven”; at least the request of John 6:34 shows that those... [ Continue Reading ]
But although God and this perfect satisfaction were brought so near them, they did not believe: ἀλλʼ εἶπον … πιστεύετε. Beza, Grotius, Bengel, Godet, Weiss, etc., understand that εἶπον refers to John 6:26. Euthymius, preferably, says εἰκὸς τοῦτο ῥηθῆναι μὲν, μὴ γραφῆναι δέ. Lampe gives the alternati... [ Continue Reading ]
No; for πᾶν ὃ δίδωσι … ἥξει. “Everything which the Father gives”; the neuter is used as being more universal than the masculine and including everything which the Father determines to save from the world's wreck, viewed as a totality. _Cf._ John 6:39. ἀναστήσω αὐτό : and the collective neuter, as in... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι καταβέβηκα … ἡμέρᾳ. Everywhere Jesus forestalls the idea that He is speaking for Himself, and is uttering merely human judgments, or is in any way regulated in His action by what is arbitrary: it is the Supreme Will He represents. And this will requires Him to protect and provide for all that is... [ Continue Reading ]
In John 6:40 Jesus describes the recipients of salvation from the human side, πᾶς ὁ θεωρῶν τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτόν, the latter, “believing,” being necessary, as already shown, to complete the former. The neuter πᾶν necessarily gives place to the masculine. καὶ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐγὼ τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμ... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἐγόγγυζον … οὐρανοῦ. “The Jews,” not as we might expect, “the Galileans,” probably because John identifies this unbelieving crowd with the characteristically unbelieving Jews. ἐγόγγυζον in Exodus 16:7-9; 1 Corinthians 10:10, etc., has a note of malevolence, but in John 7:32 no such note. “Murmur” th... [ Continue Reading ]
In this paragraph we are first told how the Jews were staggered by our Lord's affirming that He had come down from heaven; second, how Jesus explains that in order to understand and receive Him they must be taught of God; and third, how He reiterates His claim to be the Bread of Life, adding now the... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore He merely says Μὴ γογγύζετε μετʼ ἀλλήλων. That was not the way to light. Nor could He expect to convince all of them, for οὐδεὶς … ἑλκύσῃ αὐτόν, “no one can come to me unless the Father who hath sent me draw him”. ἑλκύειν has the same latitude of meaning as “draw”. It is used of towing a s... [ Continue Reading ]
In confirmation of His assertion in John 6:44, Jesus, as is His wont, cites Scripture: ἔστι γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, that is, it is written in that part of Scripture known as “the Prophets”. The passage cited is Isaiah 54:13, where, in describing Messianic times, the prophet says, “Thy childre... [ Continue Reading ]
Lest His hearers should suppose that in Messianic times direct knowledge of God was to be communicated, He adds, οὐχ ὅτι τὸν πατέρα τις ἑώρακεν, it is not by direct vision men are to learn of God. One alone has direct perception of the Father, ὁ ὢν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, He whose origin is Divine; not ὁ ἀπε... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ πατέρες … μὴ ἀποθάνῃ, “Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and died: this is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die”. In other words: The manna which was given to your fathers to maintain them in physical, earthly life, could not assert its power again... [ Continue Reading ]
In John 6:51 Jesus adds two fresh terms in explanation of the living bread, which, however, through their want of apprehension, increased their difficulty. The first is ἐγώ εἰμι … ζωῆς. In giving this explanation He slightly alters the designation of Himself as the Bread: He now claims to be not “th... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἐμάχοντο … The further explanations sprang from a fresh question put not directly to Jesus, but to one or other of the crowd. They differed in their judgment of Him. Some impatiently denounced Him as insane: others suggesting that there was truth in His words. The discussion all tended to the questi... [ Continue Reading ]
εἶπεν οὖν … ἡμέρᾳ. Instead of explaining the mode Jesus merely reiterates the statement. The reason of this is that their attention was thus more likely to be fixed on the necessity of using Him as the living bread. The difficulty of the statement disappears when it is perceived that the figure of s... [ Continue Reading ]
This is further shown in John 6:55-56. ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου ἀληθῶς [better ἀληθής] ἐστι βρῶσις, “For my flesh is a genuine food and my blood is a genuine drink”; with an implied contrast to those things with which men ordinarily endeavour to satisfy themselves. The satisfying, genuine character of Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
οὗτός ἐστιν … αἰῶνα. These characteristics, now mentioned, identify this bread from heaven as something of a different and superior nature to the manna.... [ Continue Reading ]
With his usual exact specification of time and place John adds ταῦτα … ἐν Καφαρναούμ. Lampe says: “Colligi etiam inde potest, quod haec acciderint in Sabbato”; but the synagogue was available for teaching on other days, and it is not likely that on a Sabbath so many persons would have followed Him a... [ Continue Reading ]
Πολλοὶ οὖν … ἀκούειν; many of His disciples [_i.e._, of the larger and more loosely attached circle of His followers, as distinct from the Twelve, John 6:67] having heard the foregoing utterances, said Σκληρός ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ λόγος. Σκληρός is rather “hard to receive” than “hard to understand”. Abraha... [ Continue Reading ]
_The crisis in Galilee_.... [ Continue Reading ]
This apparently was said out of the hearing of Jesus, for John 6:61 says εἰδὼς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν ἑαυτῷ, “Jesus knowing in Himself,” that is, perceiving that they were murmuring, He intuitively understood what it was they were stumbling at, and said τοῦτο ὑμᾶς … πρότερον; “Does this saying stumble you?... [ Continue Reading ]
But τινὲς οὐ πιστεύουσιν, and therefore do not receive the life. This Jesus said ἤδει γὰρ … αὐτόν, for Jesus knew from the first who they were that believed not, and who it was who should betray Him. “Hoc ideo addidit Evangelista, ne quis putet temere judicasse Christum de suis auditoribus,” Calvin.... [ Continue Reading ]
He therefore points this out, διὰ τοῦτο … πατρός μου. All that brings men to Christ is the Father's gift.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐκ τούτου, “on this”; neither exclusively “from this time” ἔκτοτε (Euthymius), “from this moment onwards” (Lücke), nor exclusively “on this account,” but a combination of both. _Cf._ John 19:12. Here the time is in the foreground, as is shown by the οὐκ ἔτι following. Lampe has: “Qui ab illo tempore... [ Continue Reading ]
This giving up of their adherence to Christ was probably manifested in an immediate and physical withdrawal from His presence. For He turned to the Twelve with the words: μὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς θέλετε ὑπάγειν; “Sciebat id non facturos,” Lampe, who adds six reasons for the question, of which the most important... [ Continue Reading ]
Simon Peter answered in name of all, Κύριε … ζῶντος. He gives a threefold reason why they remained faithful while others left. (1) πρὸς τίνα ἀπελευσόμεθα; “To whom shall we go away?” implying that they must attach themselves to some one as a teacher and mediator in divine things. They cannot imagine... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπεκρίθη … ἐστιν; this reply of Jesus to Peter's warmhearted confession at first sight seems chilling. Peter had claimed for himself and the rest a perfect loyalty; but this confidence of Peter's carried in it a danger, and must be abated. Also it was well that the conscience of Judas should be pric... [ Continue Reading ]
Using the knowledge brought by subsequent events John explains that Judas was meant, ἔλεγε δὲ τὸν Ἰούδαν Σίμωνος Ἰσκαριώτην [better Ἰσκαριώτου, which shows that the father of Judas was also known as Iscariot], ἔλεγε with the accusative, meaning “He spoke of,” is classical, and see Mark 14:71. The wo... [ Continue Reading ]