6:28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds 20 God requires?” 21 6:29 Jesus replied, 22 “This is the deed 23 God requires 24 – to believe in the one whom he 25 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 26 ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 27
6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, 28 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 29 comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 6:34 So they said to him, “Sir, 30 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. 31 6:36 But I told you 32 that you have seen me 33 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. 34 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 35 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 36 at the last day.” 37
6:41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus 38 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, 39 “Do not complain about me to one another. 40 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, 41 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.’ 42 Everyone who hears and learns from the Father 43 comes to me. 6:46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God – he 44 has seen the Father.) 45 6:47 I tell you the solemn truth, 46 the one who believes 47 has eternal life. 48 6:48 I am the bread of life. 49 6:49 Your ancestors 50 ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 6:50 This 51 is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person 52 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 53 that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
6:52 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus 54 began to argue with one another, 55 “How can this man 56 give us his flesh to eat?” 6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, 57 unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, 58 you have no life 59 in yourselves. 6:54 The one who eats 60 my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 61 6:55 For my flesh is true 62 food, and my blood is true 63 drink. 6:56 The one who eats 64 my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him. 65 6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes 66 me will live because of me. 6:58 This 67 is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors 68 ate, but then later died. 69 The one who eats 70 this bread will live forever.”
6:59 Jesus 71 said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue 72 in Capernaum. 73
19:9 Then 74 the angel 75 said to me, “Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
1 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.
2 tn Or “watching”; Grk “awake,” but in context this is not just being awake but alert and looking out.
3 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
4 tn See v. 35 (same verb).
5 tn Grk “have them recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.
6 tn The participle παρελθών (parelqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
7 sn He…will come and wait on them is a reversal of expectation, but shows that what Jesus asks for he is willing to do as well; see John 13:5 and 15:18-27, although those instances merely foreshadow what is in view here.
8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the discourse.
9 tn Grk “they”; the referent (people who will come to participate in the kingdom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. The word “banquet” has been supplied to clarify for the modern reader the festive nature of the imagery The banquet imagery is a way to describe the fellowship and celebration of accompanying those who are included as the people of God at the end.
11 sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.
12 tn This verb is future indicative, and thus not subordinate to “grant” (διατίθεμαι, diatiqemai) as part of the result clause beginning with ἵνα ἔσθητε ({ina esqhte) at the beginning of v. 30. It is better understood as a predictive future.
13 sn The statement you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel looks at the future authority the Twelve will have when Jesus returns. They will share in Israel’s judgment.
14 tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. The word “banquet” has been supplied to clarify for the modern reader the festive nature of the imagery. The banquet imagery is a way to describe the fellowship and celebration of being among the people of God at the end.
15 tn Grk “and Isaac and Jacob,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
17 tn Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food).
18 tn The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.
19 tn Grk “on this one.”
20 tn Grk “the works.”
21 tn Grk “What must we do to work the works of God?”
22 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
23 tn Grk “the work.”
24 tn Grk “This is the work of God.”
25 tn Grk “that one” (i.e., God).
26 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
27 sn A quotation from Ps 78:24 (referring to the events of Exod 16:4-36).
28 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
29 tn Or “he who.”
30 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”).
31 tn Grk “the one who believes in me will not possibly thirst, ever.”
32 tn Grk “But I said to you.”
33 tc A few witnesses lack με (me, “me”; א A a b e q sys,c), while the rest of the tradition has the word (Ì66,75vid rell). It is possible that the
34 tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”
35 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.
36 tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”
37 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).
38 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.
39 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
40 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).
41 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).
42 sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.
43 tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”
44 tn Grk “this one.”
45 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.
46 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
47 tc Most witnesses (A C2 D Ψ Ë1,13 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 (Ì66,75vid א B C* L T W Θ 892 pc) lack any object is solid testimony to the shorter text’s authenticity.
48 tn Compare John 6:40.
49 tn That is, “the bread that produces (eternal) life.”
50 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
51 tn Or “Here.”
52 tn Grk “someone” (τις, tis).
53 tn Grk “And the bread.”
54 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.
55 tn Grk “with one another, saying.”
56 tn Grk “this one,” “this person.”
57 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
58 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.
59 tn That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).
60 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”).
61 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).
62 tn Or “real.”
63 tn Or “real.”
64 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.
65 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.
66 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.
67 tn Or “This one.”
68 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
69 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.
70 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.
71 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
72 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).
73 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
74 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
75 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.