translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JHN

label: NET translator note

text: 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.


text: Grk “when he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).


text: Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Grk “Philip answered him.”


text: Grk “two hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth about eight months’ pay.


text: Grk “one of his disciples.”


text: Grk “but what are these”; the word “good” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.


text: Grk “Make.”


text: Here “men” has been used in the translation because the following number, 5,000, probably included only adult males (see the parallel in Matt 14:21 ).


text: Grk “likewise also (he distributed) from the fish.”


text: Or “sea.” The Greek word indicates a rather large body of water, but the English word “sea” normally indicates very large bodies of water, so the word “lake” in English is a closer approximation.


text: Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in the previous verse.


text: For location see Map1-D2 ; Map2-C3 ; Map3-B2 .


text: Grk “about twenty-five or thirty stades” (a stade as a unit of linear measure is about 607 feet or 187 meters). sn About three or four miles . The Sea of Galilee was at its widest point 7 mi (11.6 km) by 12 mi (20 km). So at this point the disciples were in about the middle of the lake.


text: 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.”


text: Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16 .


text: 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. Grk “one”; the referent (a small boat) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Grk “entered.”


text: For location see Map1-E2 ; Map2-C2 ; Map3-C3 ; Map4-D1 ; Map5-G4 .


text: Or “boats from Tiberias landed”; Grk “came.”


text: pbo} read ᾿Ιησοῦ [ Ihsou , “Jesus”] instead of κυρίου ). Although the shorter reading has minimal support, it is significant that this Gospel speaks of Jesus as Lord in the evangelist’s narrative descriptions only in 11:2; 20:18, 20; 21:12 ; and possibly 4:1 (but see tc note on “Jesus” there). There is thus but one undisputed preresurrection text in which the narrator calls Jesus “Lord.” This fact can be utilized on behalf of either reading: The participial phrase could be seen as a scribal addition harking back to 6:11 but which does not fit Johannine style, or it could be viewed as truly authentic and in line with what John indisputably does elsewhere even if rarely. On balance, in light of the overwhelming support for these words it is probably best to retain them in the text.


text: Or “embarked in the boats.”


text: Grk “answered and said to them.”


text: Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”


text: Grk “because you ate of the loaves of bread and were filled.”


text: Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food). sn Do not work for the food that disappears. Note the wordplay on “work” here. This does not imply “working” for salvation, since the “work” is later explained (in John 6:29 ) as “to believe in the one whom he (the Father) sent.”


text: The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.


text: Grk “on this one.”


text: Grk “the works.”


text: Grk “What must we do to work the works of God?”


text: Grk “the work.”


text: Grk “This is the work of God.”


text: Grk “that one” (i.e., God).


text: Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”


text: Or “he who.”


text: 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”).


text: Grk “the one who believes in me will not possibly thirst, ever.” sn The one who believes in me will never be thirsty. Note the parallelism between “coming to Jesus” in the first part of v. 35 and “believing in Jesus” in the second part of v. 35 . For the author of the Gospel of John these terms are virtually equivalent, both referring to a positive response to Jesus (see John 3:17-21 ).


text: Grk “But I said to you.”


text: rell ). It is possible that the mss that lack the pronoun preserve the original wording here, with the rest of the witnesses adding the pronoun for clarity’s sake. This likelihood increases since the object is not required in Greek. Without it, however, ambiguity increases: The referent could be “me” or it could be “signs,” reaching back to vv. 26 and 30 . However, the oblique form of ἐγώ ( egw , the first person personal pronoun) occurs some two dozen times in this chapter alone, yet it vacillates between the emphatic form and the unemphatic form. Although generally the unemphatic form is used with verbs, there are several exceptions to this in John (cf. 8:12; 12:26, 45, 48; 13:20; 14:9 ). If the pronoun is a later addition here, one wonders why it is so consistently the unemphatic form in the mss . Further, that two unrelated Greek witnesses lack this small word could easily be due to accidental deletion. Finally, the date and diversity of the witnesses for the pronoun are so weighty that it is likely to be authentic and should thus be retained in the text.


text: Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”


text: 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.


text: Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”


text: 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.


text: Grk “answered and said to them.”


text: 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).


text: 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). sn The Father who sent me draws him. The author never specifically explains what this “drawing” consists of. It is evidently some kind of attraction; whether it is binding and irresistible or not is not mentioned. But there does seem to be a parallel with 6:65 , where Jesus says that no one is able to come to him unless the Father has allowed it. This apparently parallels the use of Isaiah by John to reflect the spiritual blindness of the Jewish leaders (see the quotations from Isaiah in John 9:41 and 12:39-40 ).


text: Or “listens to the Father and learns.”


text: Grk “this one.”


text: Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”


text: א B C* L T W Θ 892 pc ) lack any object is solid testimony to the shorter text’s authenticity.


text: Compare John 6:40 .


text: That is, “the bread that produces (eternal) life.”


text: Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”


text: Or “Here.”


text: Grk “someone” ( τις , tis ).


text: Grk “And the bread.”


text: 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 .


text: Grk “with one another, saying.”


text: Grk “this one,” “this person.”


text: That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).


text: 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”).


text: Or “real.”


text: 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 .


text: 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 .


text: Or “This one.”


text: 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.


text: Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.


text: For location see Map1-D2 ; Map2-C3 ; Map3-B2 .


text: 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.


text: Or “hard,” “demanding.”


text: Or “teaching”; Grk “word.”


text: 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.


text: Grk “When Jesus knew within himself.”


text: Or “were grumbling.”


text: Or “Does this cause you to no longer believe?” ( Grk “cause you to stumble?”) sn Does this cause you to be offended? It became apparent to some of Jesus’ followers at this point that there would be a cost involved in following him. They had taken offense at some of Jesus’ teaching (perhaps the graphic imagery of “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood,” and Jesus now warned them that if they thought this was a problem, there was an even worse cause for stumbling in store: his upcoming crucifixion ( John 6:61 b-62). Jesus asked, in effect, “Has what I just taught caused you to stumble? What will you do, then, if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? ” This ascent is to be accomplished through the cross; for John, Jesus’ departure from this world and his return to the Father form one continual movement from cross to resurrection to ascension.


text: Or “he was formerly?”


text: Grk “the flesh counts for nothing.”


text: Or “are spirit-giving and life-producing.”


text: Grk “And he said”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Grk “unless it has been permitted to him by the Father.”


text: Grk “many of his disciples went back to what lay behind.”


text: Grk “were not walking with him.”


text: Questions prefaced with μή ( mh ) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “do you?”).


text: Grk “And we.”


text: Grk “Jesus answered them.”


text: Although most translations render this last phrase as “one of you is a devil,” such a translation presupposes that there is more than one devil. This finds roots in the KJV in which the Greek word for demon was often translated “devil.” In fact, the KJV never uses the word “demon.” (Sixty-two of the 63 NT instances of δαιμόνιον [ daimonion ] are translated “devil” [in Acts 17:18 the plural has been translated “gods”]. This can get confusing in places where the singular “devil” is used: Is Satan or one of the demons in view [cf. Matt 9:33 (demon); 13:39 (devil); 17:18 (demon); Mark 7:26 (demon); Luke 4:2 (devil); etc.]?) Now regarding John 6:70 , both the construction in Greek and the technical use of διάβολος ( diabolos ) indicate that the one devil is in view. To object to the translation “the devil” because it thus equates Judas with Satan does not take into consideration that Jesus often spoke figuratively (e.g., “destroy this temple” [ John 2:19 ]; “he [John the Baptist] is Elijah” [ Matt 11:14 ]), even equating Peter with the devil on one occasion ( Mark 8:33 ). According to ExSyn 249, “A curious phenomenon has occurred in the English Bible with reference to one particular monadic noun, διάβολος . The KJV translates both διάβολος and δαιμόνιον as ‘devil.’ Thus in the AV translators’ minds, ‘devil’ was not a monadic noun. Modern translations have correctly rendered δαιμόνιον as ‘demon’ and have, for the most part, recognized that διάβολος is monadic (cf., e.g., 1 Pet 5:8 ; Rev 20:2 ). But in John 6:70 modern translations have fallen into the error of the King James translators. The KJV has ‘one of you is a devil.’ So does the RSV, NRSV, ASV, NIV, NKJV, and the JB [Jerusalem Bible]. Yet there is only one devil…The legacy of the KJV still lives on, then, even in places where it ought not.”


text: Grk “this one”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.