John 6:17-22

6:17 got into a boat, and started to cross the lake ¹  to Capernaum. ²  (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.) ³  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, ⁴  they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake, ⁵  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 ⁶  realized that only one small boat ⁷  had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded ⁸  it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.

[6:17]  ¹ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in the previous verse.

[6:17]  ² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[6:17]  ³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[6:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “about twenty-five or thirty stades” (a stade as a unit of linear measure is about 607 feet or 187 meters).

[6:19]  ⁵ 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.”

[6:22]  ⁷ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.

[6:22]  ⁸ 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 [˹³ 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.

[6:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “entered.”