6:1 After this 1 Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). 2 6:2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. 6:3 So Jesus went on up the mountainside 3 and sat down there with his disciples. 6:4 (Now the Jewish feast of the Passover 4 was near.) 5 6:5 Then Jesus, when he looked up 6 and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?” 6:6 (Now Jesus 7 said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.) 8 6:7 Philip replied, 9 “Two hundred silver coins worth 10 of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.” 6:8 One of Jesus’ disciples, 11 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 6:9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good 12 are these for so many people?”
6:10 Jesus said, “Have 13 the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.) 14 So the men 15 sat down, about five thousand in number. 6:11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish, 16 as much as they wanted. 6:12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus 17 said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.” 6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves 18 left over by the people who had eaten.
6:14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus 19 performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet 20 who is to come into the world.” 21 6:15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone. 22
6:16 Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 23 6:17 got into a boat, and started to cross the lake 24 to Capernaum. 25 (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.) 26 6:18 By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough. 6:19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, 27 they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake, 28 approaching the boat, and they were frightened. 6:20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 6:21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.
6:22 The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake 29 realized that only one small boat 30 had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded 31 it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 6:23 But some boats from Tiberias 32 came to shore 33 near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 34 6:24 So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats 35 and came to Capernaum 36 looking for Jesus.
6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, 37 they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 38 6:26 Jesus replied, 39 “I tell you the solemn truth, 40 you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted. 41 6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, 42 but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food 43 which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” 44
6:28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds 45 God requires?” 46 6:29 Jesus replied, 47 “This is the deed 48 God requires 49 – to believe in the one whom he 50 sent.” 6:30 So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 6:31 Our ancestors 51 ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 52
1 tn Again, μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is a vague temporal reference. How Jesus got from Jerusalem to Galilee is not explained, which has led many scholars (e.g., Bernard, Bultmann, and Schnackenburg) to posit either editorial redaction or some sort of rearrangement or dislocation of material (such as reversing the order of chaps. 5 and 6, for example). Such a rearrangement of the material would give a simple and consistent connection of events, but in the absence of all external evidence it does not seem to be supportable. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:236) says that such an arrangement is attractive in some ways but not compelling, and that no rearrangement can solve all the geographical and chronological problems in John.
2 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Only John in the New Testament refers to the Sea of Galilee by the name Sea of Tiberias (see also John 21:1), but this is correct local usage. In the mid-20’s Herod completed the building of the town of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the lake; after this time the name came into use for the lake itself.
3 sn Up on the mountainside does not necessarily refer to a particular mountain or hillside, but may simply mean “the hill country” or “the high ground,” referring to the high country east of the Sea of Galilee (known today as the Golan Heights).
4 sn Passover. According to John’s sequence of material, considerable time has elapsed since the feast of 5:1. If the feast in 5:1 was Pentecost of
5 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
6 tn Grk “when he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).
7 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
9 tn Grk “Philip answered him.”
10 tn Grk “two hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth about eight months’ pay.
11 tn Grk “one of his disciples.”
12 tn Grk “but what are these”; the word “good” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
13 tn Grk “Make.”
14 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author (suggesting an eyewitness recollection).
15 tn Here “men” has been used in the translation because the following number, 5,000, probably included only adult males (see the parallel in Matt 14:21).
16 tn Grk “likewise also (he distributed) from the fish.”
17 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 sn Note that the fish mentioned previously (in John 6:9) are not emphasized here, only the five barley loaves. This is easy to understand, however, because the bread is of primary importance for the author in view of Jesus’ upcoming discourse on the Bread of Life.
19 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 sn The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief.
21 sn An allusion to Deut 18:15.
22 sn Jesus, knowing that his “hour” had not yet come (and would not, in this fashion) withdrew again up the mountainside alone. The ministry of miracles in Galilee, ending with this, the multiplication of the bread (the last public miracle in Galilee recorded by John) aroused such a popular response that there was danger of an uprising. This would have given the authorities a legal excuse to arrest Jesus. The nature of Jesus’ kingship will become an issue again in the passion narrative of the Fourth Gospel (John 18:33ff.). Furthermore, the volatile reaction of the Galileans to the signs prepares for and foreshadows the misunderstanding of the miracle itself, and even the misunderstanding of Jesus’ explanation of it (John 6:22-71).
23 tn Or “sea.” The Greek word indicates a rather large body of water, but the English word “sea” normally indicates very large bodies of water, so the word “lake” in English is a closer approximation.
24 tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in the previous verse.
25 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
26 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
27 tn Grk “about twenty-five or thirty stades” (a stade as a unit of linear measure is about 607 feet or 187 meters).
28 tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16. John uses the phrase ἐπί (epi, “on”) followed by the genitive (as in Mark, instead of Matthew’s ἐπί followed by the accusative) to describe Jesus walking “on the lake.”
29 tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.
30 tc Most witnesses have after “one” the phrase “which his disciples had entered” (ἐκεῖνο εἰς ὃ ἐνέβησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, ekeino ei" }o enebhsan Joi maqhtai autou) although there are several permutations of this clause ([א* D] Θ [Ë13 33] Ï [sa]). The witnesses that lack this expression are, however, significant and diffused (Ì75 א2 A B L N W Ψ 1 565 579 1241 al lat). The clarifying nature of the longer reading, the multiple variants from it, and the weighty testimony for the shorter reading all argue against the authenticity of the longer text in any of its variations.
31 tn Grk “entered.”
32 map For location see Map1-E2; Map2-C2; Map3-C3; Map4-D1; Map5-G4.
33 tn Or “boats from Tiberias landed”; Grk “came.”
34 tc D 091 a e sys,c lack the phrase “after the Lord had given thanks” (εὐχαριστήσαντος τοῦ κυρίου, eucaristhsanto" tou kuriou), while almost all the rest of the witnesses ({Ì75 א A B L W Θ Ψ 0141 [Ë1] Ë13 33 Ï as well as several versions and fathers}) have the words (though {l672 l950 syp pbo} read ᾿Ιησοῦ [Ihsou, “Jesus”] instead of κυρίου). Although the shorter reading has minimal support, it is significant that this Gospel speaks of Jesus as Lord in the evangelist’s narrative descriptions only in 11:2; 20:18, 20; 21:12; and possibly 4:1 (but see tc note on “Jesus” there). There is thus but one undisputed preresurrection text in which the narrator calls Jesus “Lord.” This fact can be utilized on behalf of either reading: The participial phrase could be seen as a scribal addition harking back to 6:11 but which does not fit Johannine style, or it could be viewed as truly authentic and in line with what John indisputably does elsewhere even if rarely. On balance, in light of the overwhelming support for these words it is probably best to retain them in the text.
35 tn Or “embarked in the boats.”
36 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
37 tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.
38 sn John 6:25-31. The previous miracle of the multiplication of the bread had taken place near the town of Tiberias (cf. John 6:23). Jesus’ disciples set sail for Capernaum (6:17) and were joined by the Lord in the middle of the sea. The next day boats from Tiberias picked up a few of those who had seen the multiplication (certainly not the whole 5,000) and brought them to Capernaum. It was to this group that Jesus spoke in 6:26-27. But there were also people from Capernaum who had gathered to see Jesus, who had not witnessed the multiplication, and it was this group that asked Jesus for a miraculous sign like the manna (6:30-31). This would have seemed superfluous if it were the same crowd that had already seen the multiplication of the bread. But some from Capernaum had heard about it and wanted to see a similar miracle repeated.
39 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
40 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
41 tn Grk “because you ate of the loaves of bread and were filled.”
42 tn Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food).
43 tn The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.
44 tn Grk “on this one.”
45 tn Grk “the works.”
46 tn Grk “What must we do to work the works of God?”
47 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
48 tn Grk “the work.”
49 tn Grk “This is the work of God.”
50 tn Grk “that one” (i.e., God).
51 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
52 sn A quotation from Ps 78:24 (referring to the events of Exod 16:4-36).