Psalms 119:11

Context

119:11 In my heart I store up¹ your words,²

so I might not sin against you.

Jeremiah 15:16

Context

15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in,³

and they filled my heart with joy and happiness

because I belong to you.⁴

John 6:53-63

Context
6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth,⁵ unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,⁶ you have no life⁷ in yourselves. 6:54 The one who eats⁸ my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.⁹ 6:55 For my flesh is true¹⁰ food, and my blood is true¹¹ drink. 6:56 The one who eats¹² my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him.¹³ 6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes¹⁴ me will live because of me. 6:58 This¹⁵ is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors¹⁶ ate, but then later died.¹⁷ The one who eats¹⁸ this bread will live forever.”

Many Followers Depart

6:59 Jesus¹⁹ said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue²⁰ in Capernaum.²¹ 6:60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things,²² said, “This is a difficult²³ saying!²⁴ Who can understand it?”²⁵ 6:61 When Jesus was aware²⁶ that his disciples were complaining²⁷ about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended?²⁸ 6:62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?²⁹ 6:63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help!³⁰ The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.³¹

[119:11] ¹tn Or “hide.”

[119:11] ²tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”

[15:16] ³sn Heb “Your words were found and I ate them.” This along with Ezek 2:8–3:3 is a poetic picture of inspiration. The prophet accepted them, assimilated them, and made them such a part of himself that he spoke with complete assurance what he knew were God’s words.

[15:16] ⁴tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”

[6:53] ⁵tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:53] ⁶sn 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] ⁷tn That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).

[6:54] ⁸tn 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] ⁹sn 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] ¹⁰tn Or “real.”

[6:55] ¹¹tn Or “real.”

[6:56] ¹²tn 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] ¹³sn 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] ¹⁴tn 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] ¹⁵tn Or “This one.”

[6:58] ¹⁶tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:58] ¹⁷tn 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] ¹⁸tn 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] ¹⁹tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:59] ²⁰sn 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] ²¹map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[6:60] ²²tn The words “these things” are not present in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the English reader.

[6:60] ²³tn Or “hard,” “demanding.”

[6:60] ²⁴tn Or “teaching”; Grk “word.”

[6:60] ²⁵tn Or “obey it”; Grk “hear it.” The Greek word ἀκούω (akouw) could imply hearing with obedience here, in the sense of “obey.” It could also point to the acceptance of what Jesus had just said, (i.e., “who can accept what he said?” However, since the context contains several replies by those in the crowd of hearers that suggest uncertainty or confusion over the meaning of what Jesus had said (6:42; 6:52), the meaning “understand” is preferred here.

[6:61] ²⁶tn Grk “When Jesus knew within himself.”

[6:61] ²⁷tn Or “were grumbling.”

[6:61] ²⁸tn Or “Does this cause you to no longer believe?” (Grk “cause you to stumble?”)

[6:62] ²⁹tn Or “he was formerly?”

[6:63] ³⁰tn Grk “the flesh counts for nothing.”

[6:63] ³¹tn Or “are spirit-giving and life-producing.”