John 6:1

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

6:1 After this ¹  Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). ² 

John 6:17

6:17 got into a boat, and started to cross the lake ³  to Capernaum. ⁴  (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.) ⁵ 

John 6:25

Jesus’ Discourse About the Bread of Life

6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, ⁶  they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” ⁷ 

[6:1]  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.

[6:1]  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.

[6:17]  ³ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in the previous verse.

[6:17]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[6:17]  ⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[6:25]  ⁶ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.

[6:25]  ⁷ 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.