The Bread of Life

The words

John 6:22–71 (opens a new tab)

1. Bread of Life

   John records Jesus calling himself the bread of life, linking coming to him with never hungering and believing in him with never thirsting; the saying follows the request for continuing bread.

   John 6:34–35 (opens a new tab)

2. Dwelleth

   Lives or remains in.

   Jesus’s saying joins eating his flesh and drinking his blood with dwelling in him and he in that person; the NET uses resides for this shared relationship.

   John 6:56 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

3. Endureth

   Lasts; continues.

   Jesus sets food that perishes beside food enduring to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give; the NET’s remains explains endureth as lasting.

   John 6:27 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

4. Evermore

   Always; continually.

   After Jesus speaks of bread from heaven, the hearers ask him to give it evermore; the NET says all the time, before Jesus identifies himself as the bread of life.

   John 6:32–35 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

5. Hard Saying

   A difficult or demanding teaching.

   Many of Jesus’s disciples call the teaching a hard saying and ask who can hear it; later, many stop following him, while Peter speaks of words of eternal life.

   John 6:60, 66–68 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

6. Living Bread

   Jesus calls himself the living bread from heaven and promises life forever to whoever eats it; he then identifies the bread he will give for the world’s life as his flesh.

   John 6:51 (opens a new tab)

7. Manna

   The hearers recall manna given to their ancestors in the wilderness; Jesus returns to that food later, contrasting their ancestors’ deaths with the life he promises through the bread from heaven.

   Did you know?

   Exodus also describes keeping manna in a pot as a memorial for future generations; Aaron does as Moses directs, setting aside a portion of the wilderness food.

   John 6:31, 49–51 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 16:32–34 (opens a new tab)

8. Murmured

   Complained or grumbled.

   John describes hearers murmuring at Jesus’s claim to be bread from heaven; they question his origin by saying they know his father and mother. The NET calls their response complaining.

   John 6:41–43 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

9. Perisheth

   Passes away; does not last.

   Jesus contrasts food that perisheth with food lasting to everlasting life. The NET says disappears; the following exchange turns from the hearers’ question about works to Jesus’s answer about believing.

   John 6:27–29 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

10. Profiteth

    Benefits; is of use.

    In John 6:63, Jesus says the flesh profiteth nothing, then describes his spoken words as spirit and life; the NET renders the contrast as human nature being of no help.

    John 6:63 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

11. Quickeneth

    Gives life.

    John records Jesus saying that the Spirit quickeneth, immediately before the contrast with flesh; the verse then describes Jesus’s words as spirit and life. The NET renders the verb as gives life.

    John 6:63 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

12. Sealed

    Marked with approval, here.

    In the saying about lasting food, Jesus says God the Father has sealed the Son of Man; the NET’s seal of approval makes the word’s sense of attestation explicit.

    John 6:27 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

13. Shipping

    Boats; passage by boat.

    John says boats from Tiberias arrive near the place of the feeding; the people then take shipping to Capernaum while seeking Jesus. The NET names the boats they board.

    John 6:23–24 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

14. Strove

    Argued or disputed.

    John describes hearers disputing among themselves after Jesus speaks of giving his flesh for the world’s life; their question asks how he can give them his flesh to eat.

    John 6:51–52 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 6:22-71 (opens a new tab)

15. True Bread

    Jesus answers the manna comparison by identifying the Father as the giver of the true bread from heaven; he then describes the bread of God as coming down and giving life to the world.

    John 6:31–33 (opens a new tab)