Matthew 4:4

4:4 But he answered, ¹  “It is written, ‘Man ²  does not live ³  by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁴ 

Exodus 16:16-35

16:16 “This is what ⁵  the Lord has commanded: ⁶  ‘Each person is to gather ⁷  from it what he can eat, an omer ⁸  per person ⁹  according to the number ¹⁰  of your people; ¹¹  each one will pick it up ¹²  for whoever lives ¹³  in his tent.’” 16:17 The Israelites did so, and they gathered – some more, some less. 16:18 When ¹⁴  they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

16:19 Moses said to them, “No one ¹⁵  is to keep any of it ¹⁶  until morning.” 16:20 But they did not listen to Moses; some ¹⁷  kept part of it until morning, and it was full ¹⁸  of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them. 16:21 So they gathered it each morning, ¹⁹  each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt. ²⁰  16:22 And ²¹  on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers ²²  per person; ²³  and all the leaders ²⁴  of the community ²⁵  came and told ²⁶  Moses. 16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, ²⁷  a holy Sabbath ²⁸  to the Lord. Whatever you want to ²⁹  bake, bake today; ³⁰  whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”

16:24 So they put it aside until the morning, just as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 16:25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the area. ³¹  16:26 Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

16:27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing. 16:28 So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse ³²  to obey my commandments and my instructions? 16:29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why ³³  he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; ³⁴  let no one ³⁵  go out of his place on the seventh day.” 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

16:31 The house of Israel ³⁶  called its name “manna.” ³⁷  It was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted ³⁸  like wafers with honey.

16:32 Moses said, “This is what ³⁹  the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept ⁴⁰  for generations to come, ⁴¹  so that they may see ⁴²  the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’” 16:33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Lord to be kept for generations to come.” 16:34 Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony ⁴³  for safekeeping. ⁴⁴ 

16:35 Now the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

Job 23:12

23:12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion. ⁴⁵ 

Psalms 33:18-19

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, ⁴⁶ 

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness ⁴⁷ 

33:19 by saving their lives from death ⁴⁸ 

and sustaining them during times of famine. ⁴⁹ 

Psalms 34:10

34:10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Proverbs 30:8

30:8 Remove falsehood and lies ⁵⁰  far from me;

do not give me poverty or riches,

feed me with my allotted portion ⁵¹  of bread, ⁵² 

Isaiah 33:16

33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; ⁵³ 

he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; ⁵⁴ 

he will have food

and a constant supply of water.

Luke 11:3

11:3 Give us each day our daily bread, ⁵⁵ 

John 6:31-59

6:31 Our ancestors ⁵⁶  ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ⁵⁷ 

6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵⁸  it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven. 6:33 For the bread of God is the one who ⁵⁹  comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 6:34 So they said to him, “Sir, ⁶⁰  give us this bread all the time!”

6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty. ⁶¹  6:36 But I told you ⁶²  that you have seen me ⁶³  and still do not believe. 6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away. ⁶⁴  6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ⁶⁵  at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up ⁶⁶  at the last day.” ⁶⁷ 

6:41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus ⁶⁸  began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” 6:42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 6:43 Jesus replied, ⁶⁹  “Do not complain about me to one another. ⁷⁰  6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, ⁷¹  and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ ⁷²  Everyone who hears and learns from the Father ⁷³  comes to me. 6:46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God – he ⁷⁴  has seen the Father.) ⁷⁵  6:47 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁷⁶  the one who believes ⁷⁷  has eternal life. ⁷⁸  6:48 I am the bread of life. ⁷⁹  6:49 Your ancestors ⁸⁰  ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 6:50 This ⁸¹  is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person ⁸²  may eat from it and not die. 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread ⁸³  that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

6:52 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus ⁸⁴  began to argue with one another, ⁸⁵  “How can this man ⁸⁶  give us his flesh to eat?” 6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁸⁷  unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ⁸⁸  you have no life ⁸⁹  in yourselves. 6:54 The one who eats ⁹⁰  my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁹¹  6:55 For my flesh is true ⁹²  food, and my blood is true ⁹³  drink. 6:56 The one who eats ⁹⁴  my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him. ⁹⁵  6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes ⁹⁶  me will live because of me. 6:58 This ⁹⁷  is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ⁹⁸  ate, but then later died. ⁹⁹  The one who eats ¹⁰⁰  this bread will live forever.”

Many Followers Depart

6:59 Jesus ¹⁰¹  said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue ¹⁰²  in Capernaum. ¹⁰³ 

John 6:2

6:2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick.

John 3:12

3:12 If I have told you people ¹⁰⁴  about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹⁰⁵ 

John 3:1

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ¹⁰⁶  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ¹⁰⁷ 

John 6:8

6:8 One of Jesus’ disciples, ¹⁰⁸  Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

[4:4]  ¹ tn Grk “answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been changed for clarity.

[4:4]  ² tn Or “a person.” Greek ὁ ἄνθρωπος (Jo anqrwpo") is used generically for humanity. The translation “man” is used because the emphasis in Jesus’ response seems to be on his dependence on God as a man.

[4:4]  ³ tn Grk “will not live.” The verb in Greek is a future tense, but it is unclear whether it is meant to be taken as a command (also known as an imperatival future) or as a statement of reality (predictive future).

[4:4]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 8:3.

[16:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the thing that.”

[16:16]  ⁶ tn The perfect tense could be taken as a definite past with Moses now reporting it. In this case a very recent past. But in declaring the word from Yahweh it could be instantaneous, and receive a present tense translation – “here and now he commands you.”

[16:16]  ⁷ tn The form is the plural imperative: “Gather [you] each man according to his eating.”

[16:16]  ⁸ sn The omer is an amount mentioned only in this chapter, and its size is unknown, except by comparison with the ephah (v. 36). A number of recent English versions approximate the omer as “two quarts” (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT); TEV “two litres.”

[16:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “for a head.”

[16:16]  ¹⁰ tn The word “number” is an accusative that defines more precisely how much was to be gathered (see GKC 374 §118.h).

[16:16]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally “souls.”

[16:16]  ¹² tn Heb “will take.”

[16:16]  ¹³ tn “lives” has been supplied.

[16:18]  ¹⁴ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is subordinated here as a temporal clause.

[16:19]  ¹⁵ tn The address now is for “man” (אִישׁ, ’ish), “each one”; here the instruction seems to be focused on the individual heads of the households.

[16:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “some of it,” “from it.”

[16:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “men”; this usage is designed to mean “some” (see GKC 447 §138.h, n. 1).

[16:20]  ¹⁸ tn The verb וַיָּרֻם (vayyarum) is equivalent to a passive – “it was changed” – to which “worms” is added as an accusative of result (GKC 388-89 §121.d, n. 2).

[16:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “morning by morning.” This is an example of the repetition of words to express the distributive sense; here the meaning is “every morning” (see GKC 388 §121.c).

[16:21]  ²⁰ tn The perfect tenses here with vav (ו) consecutives have the frequentative sense; they function in a protasis-apodosis relationship (GKC 494 §159.g).

[16:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “and it happened/was.”

[16:22]  ²² tn This construction is an exception to the normal rule for the numbers 2 through 10 taking the object numbered in the plural. Here it is “two of the omer” or “the double of the omer” (see GKC 433 §134.e).

[16:22]  ²³ tn Heb “for one.”

[16:22]  ²⁴ tn The word suggests “the ones lifted up” above others, and therefore the rulers or the chiefs of the people.

[16:22]  ²⁵ tn Or “congregation” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[16:22]  ²⁶ sn The meaning here is probably that these leaders, the natural heads of the families in the clans, saw that people were gathering twice as much and they reported this to Moses, perhaps afraid it would stink again (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 197).

[16:23]  ²⁷ tn The noun שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbaton) has the abstract ending on it: “resting, ceasing.” The root word means “cease” from something, more than “to rest.” The Law would make it clear that they were to cease from their normal occupations and do no common work.

[16:23]  ²⁸ tn The technical expression is now used: שַׁבַּת־קֹדֶשׁ (shabbat-qodesh, “a holy Sabbath”) meaning a “cessation of/for holiness” for Yahweh. The rest was to be characterized by holiness.

[16:23]  ²⁹ tn The two verbs in these objective noun clauses are desiderative imperfects – “bake whatever you want to bake.”

[16:23]  ³⁰ tn The word “today” is implied from the context.

[16:25]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the field” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV); NAB, NIV, NLT “on the ground.”

[16:28]  ³² tn The verb is plural, and so it is addressed to the nation and not to Moses. The perfect tense in this sentence is the characteristic perfect, denoting action characteristic, or typical, of the past and the present.

[16:29]  ³³ sn Noting the rabbinic teaching that the giving of the Sabbath was a sign of God’s love – it was accomplished through the double portion on the sixth day – B. Jacob says, “God made no request unless He provided the means for its execution” (Exodus, 461).

[16:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “remain, a man where he is.”

[16:29]  ³⁵ tn Or “Let not anyone go” (see GKC 445 §138.d).

[16:31]  ³⁶ sn The name “house of Israel” is unusual in this context.

[16:31]  ³⁷ tn Hebrew מָן (man).

[16:31]  ³⁸ tn Heb “like seed of coriander, white, its taste was.”

[16:32]  ³⁹ tn Heb “This is the thing that.”

[16:32]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “for keeping.”

[16:32]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “according to your generations” (see Exod 12:14).

[16:32]  ⁴² tn In this construction after the particle expressing purpose or result, the imperfect tense has the nuance of final imperfect, equal to a subjunctive in the classical languages.

[16:34]  ⁴³ sn The “Testimony” is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant; so the pot of manna would be placed before Yahweh in the tabernacle. W. C. Kaiser says that this later instruction came from a time after the tabernacle had been built (see Exod 25:10-22; W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:405). This is not a problem since the final part of this chapter had to have been included at the end of the forty years in the desert.

[16:34]  ⁴⁴ tn “for keeping.”

[23:12]  ⁴⁵ tc The form in the MT (מֵחֻקִּי, mekhuqqi) means “more than my portion” or “more than my law.” An expanded meaning results in “more than my necessary food” (see Ps 119:11; cf. KJV, NASB, ESV). HALOT 346 s.v. חֹק 1 indicates that חֹק (khoq) has the meaning of “portion” and is here a reference to “what is appointed for me.” The LXX and the Latin versions, along with many commentators, have בְּחֵקִי (bÿkheqi, “in my bosom”).

[33:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[33:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

[33:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “to save from death their live[s].”

[33:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and to keep them alive in famine.”

[30:8]  ⁵⁰ tn The two words might form a hendiadys: “falsehood and lies” being equivalent to “complete deception.” The word שָׁוְא means “false; empty; vain; to a false purpose.” The second word means “word of lying,” thus “a lying word.” Taken separately they might refer to false intentions and false words.

[30:8]  ⁵¹ tn The word חֹק (khoq) means “statute”; it is also used of a definite assignment in labor (Exod 5:14; Prov 31:15), or of a set portion of food (Gen 47:22). Here it refers to food that is the proper proportion for the speaker.

[30:8]  ⁵² sn Agur requested an honest life (not deceitful) and a balanced life (not self-sufficient). The second request about his provision is clarified in v. 9.

[33:16]  ⁵³ tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”

[33:16]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”

[11:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “Give us bread each day for the coming day,” or “Give us each day the bread we need for today.” The term ἐπιούσιος (epiousio") does not occur outside of early Christian literature (other occurrences are in Matt 6:11 and Didache 8:2), so its meaning is difficult to determine. Various suggestions include “daily,” “the coming day,” and “for existence.” See BDAG 376 s.v.; L&N 67:183, 206.

[6:31]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:31]  ⁵⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 78:24 (referring to the events of Exod 16:4-36).

[6:32]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:33]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “he who.”

[6:34]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “Lord.” The Greek κύριος (kurios) means both “Sir” and “Lord.” In this passage it is not at all clear at this point that the crowd is acknowledging Jesus as Lord. More likely this is simply a form of polite address (“sir”).

[6:35]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “the one who believes in me will not possibly thirst, ever.”

[6:36]  ⁶² tn Grk “But I said to you.”

[6:36]  ⁶³ tc A few witnesses lack με (me, “me”; א A a b e q sy^s,c), while the rest of the tradition has the word (Ì^66,75vid rell). It is possible that the mss that lack the pronoun preserve the original wording here, with the rest of the witnesses adding the pronoun for clarity’s sake. This likelihood increases since the object is not required in Greek. Without it, however, ambiguity increases: The referent could be “me” or it could be “signs,” reaching back to vv. 26 and 30. However, the oblique form of ἐγώ (egw, the first person personal pronoun) occurs some two dozen times in this chapter alone, yet it vacillates between the emphatic form and the unemphatic form. Although generally the unemphatic form is used with verbs, there are several exceptions to this in John (cf. 8:12; 12:26, 45, 48; 13:20; 14:9). If the pronoun is a later addition here, one wonders why it is so consistently the unemphatic form in the mss. Further, that two unrelated Greek witnesses lack this small word could easily be due to accidental deletion. Finally, the date and diversity of the witnesses for the pronoun are so weighty that it is likely to be authentic and should thus be retained in the text.

[6:37]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”

[6:39]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[6:40]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

[6:40]  ⁶⁷ sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[6:41]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “Then the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the translation restricts the phrase to those Jews who were hostile to Jesus (cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.β), since the “crowd” mentioned in 6:22-24 was almost all Jewish (as suggested by their addressing Jesus as “Rabbi” (6:25). Likewise, the designation “Judeans” does not fit here because the location is Galilee rather than Judea.

[6:43]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[6:43]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “Do not grumble among yourselves.” The words “about me” are supplied to clarify the translation “complain to one another” (otherwise the Jewish opponents could be understood to be complaining about one another, rather than complaining to one another about Jesus).

[6:44]  ⁷¹ tn Or “attracts him,” or “pulls him.” The word is used of pulling or dragging, often by force. It is even used once of magnetic attraction (A. Oepke, TDNT 2:503).

[6:45]  ⁷² sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.

[6:45]  ⁷³ tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”

[6:46]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “this one.”

[6:46]  ⁷⁵ sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author. Although some would attribute these words to Jesus himself, the switch from first person in Jesus’ preceding and following remarks to third person in v. 46 suggests that the author has added a clarifying comment here.

[6:47]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:47]  ⁷⁷ tc Most witnesses (A C² D Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat and other versions) have “in me” (εἰς ἐμέ, eis eme) here, while the Sinaitic and Curetonian Syriac versions read “in God.” These clarifying readings are predictable variants, being motivated by the scribal tendency toward greater explicitness. That the earliest and best witnesses (Ì^66,75vid א B C* L T W Θ 892 pc) lack any object is solid testimony to the shorter text’s authenticity.

[6:47]  ⁷⁸ tn Compare John 6:40.

[6:48]  ⁷⁹ tn That is, “the bread that produces (eternal) life.”

[6:49]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:50]  ⁸¹ tn Or “Here.”

[6:50]  ⁸² tn Grk “someone” (τις, tis).

[6:51]  ⁸³ tn Grk “And the bread.”

[6:52]  ⁸⁴ tn Grk “Then the Jews began to argue.” Here the translation restricts the phrase to those Jews who were hostile to Jesus (cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.β), since the “crowd” mentioned in 6:22-24 was almost all Jewish (as suggested by their addressing Jesus as “Rabbi” (6:25). See also the note on the phrase “the Jews who were hostile to Jesus” in v. 41.

[6:52]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “with one another, saying.”

[6:52]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “this one,” “this person.”

[6:53]  ⁸⁷ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:53]  ⁸⁸ sn Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. These words are at the heart of the discourse on the Bread of Life, and have created great misunderstanding among interpreters. Anyone who is inclined toward a sacramental viewpoint will almost certainly want to take these words as a reference to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist, because of the reference to eating and drinking. But this does not automatically follow: By anyone’s definition there must be a symbolic element to the eating which Jesus speaks of in the discourse, and once this is admitted, it is better to understand it here, as in the previous references in the passage, to a personal receiving of (or appropriation of) Christ and his work.

[6:53]  ⁸⁹ tn That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).

[6:54]  ⁹⁰ tn Or “who chews”; Grk ὁ τρώγων (Jo trwgwn). The alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) may simply reflect a preference for one form over the other on the author’s part, rather than an attempt to express a slightly more graphic meaning. If there is a difference, however, the word used here (τρώγω) is the more graphic and vivid of the two (“gnaw” or “chew”).

[6:54]  ⁹¹ sn Notice that here the result (has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day) is produced by eating (Jesus’) flesh and drinking his blood. Compare John 6:40 where the same result is produced by “looking on the Son and believing in him.” This suggests that the phrase here (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood by the phrase in 6:40 (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[6:55]  ⁹² tn Or “real.”

[6:55]  ⁹³ tn Or “real.”

[6:56]  ⁹⁴ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[6:56]  ⁹⁵ sn Resides in me, and I in him. Note how in John 6:54 eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood produces eternal life and the promise of resurrection at the last day. Here the same process of eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood leads to a relationship of mutual indwelling (resides in me, and I in him). This suggests strongly that for the author (and for Jesus) the concepts of ‘possessing eternal life’ and of ‘residing in Jesus’ are virtually interchangeable.

[6:57]  ⁹⁶ tn Or “who chews”; Grk “who eats.” Here the translation “consumes” is more appropriate than simply “eats,” because it is the internalization of Jesus by the individual that is in view. On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[6:58]  ⁹⁷ tn Or “This one.”

[6:58]  ⁹⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:58]  ⁹⁹ tn Grk “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not just like your ancestors ate and died.” The cryptic Greek expression has been filled out in the translation for clarity.

[6:58]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[6:59]  ¹⁰¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:59]  ¹⁰² sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).

[6:59]  ¹⁰³ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[3:12]  ¹⁰⁴ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).

[3:12]  ¹⁰⁵ sn Obviously earthly things and heavenly things are in contrast, but what is the contrast? What are earthly things which Jesus has just spoken to Nicodemus? And through him to others – this is not the first instance of the plural pronoun, see v. 7, you must all. Since Nicodemus began with a plural (we know, v. 2) Jesus continues it, and through Nicodemus addresses a broader audience. It makes most sense to take this as a reference to the things Jesus has just said (and the things he is about to say, vv. 13-15). If this is the case (and it seems the most natural explanation) then earthly things are not necessarily strictly physical things, but are so called because they take place on earth, in contrast to things like v. 16, which take place in heaven. Some have added the suggestion that the things are called earthly because physical analogies (birth, wind, water) are used to describe them. This is possible, but it seems more probable that Jesus calls these things earthly because they happen on earth (even though they are spiritual things). In the context, taking earthly things as referring to the words Jesus has just spoken fits with the fact that Nicodemus did not believe. And he would not after hearing heavenly things either, unless he first believed in the earthly things – which included the necessity of a regenerating work from above, by the Holy Spirit.

[3:1]  ¹⁰⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[6:8]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Grk “one of his disciples.”