John 6:40 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 6:40
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
a determination (properly · noun — nominative singular neuter
of him that sent
πέμπωpémpō
G3992
to dispatch (from the subjective view or point of depar…
me
μου,mou
G3165
me · personal pronoun — 1st person genitive singular
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · preposition
every one
πᾶςpas
G3956
all · adjective — nominative singular masculine
which seeth
θεωρῶνtheōrōn
G2334
to be a spectator of · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
the Son
υἱὸνhuion
G5207
a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
believeth
πιστεύωνpisteuōn
G4100
to have faith (in · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
on
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
may have
ἔχῃechē
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
everlasting
αἰώνιον,aiōnion
G166
perpetual (also used of past time · adjective — accusative singular feminine
life
ζωὴνzōēn
G2222
life (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
I
ἐγὼegō
G1473
I · personal pronoun — 1st person nominative singular
will raise
ἀναστήσωanastēsō
G450
to stand up (literal or figurative · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
up
ἀνίστημιanístēmi
G450
to stand up (literal or figurative
at the
ἡμέρᾳ.¶hēmera
G2250
day · noun — dative singular feminine
last
ἐσχάτῃeschatē
G2078
farthest · adjective — dative singular feminine
day
ἡμέραhēméra
G2250
day
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into c…
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 3:15-18 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of…
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace a…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 6:28-59
Whether this conference was with the Capernaites, in whose synagogue Christ now was, or with those who came from the other side of the sea, is not certain nor material; however, it is an instance of Christ's condescension that he gave them leave to ask him questions, and did not resent the interruption as an affront, no, not from his common hearers, though not his immediate followers. Those that would be apt to teach must be swift to hear, and study to answer. It is the wisdom of teachers, when they are asked even impertinent unprofitable questions, thence to take occasion to answer in that which is profitable, that the question may be rejected, but not the request. Now,
I. Christ having tol…
And this--in the second place.
is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him--seeing the Son believeth on Him.
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day--This is the human side of the same thing as in the foregoing verse, and answering to "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out"; that is, I have it expressly in charge that everyone that so "beholdeth" (so vieweth) the Son as to believe on Him shall have everlasting life; and, that none of Him be lost, "I will raise him up at the last day." (See on Joh 6:54).
Adam Clarke on John 6:40
This is the will of him that sent me - Lest they should take a wrong meaning out of his words, as many have done since, he tells them that, far from any person being excluded from his mercy, it was the will of God that every one who saw him might believe and be saved. The power, without which they could not believe, he freely gave them; but the use of that power was their own. God gives the grace of repentance and faith to every man; but he neither repents nor believes for any man. Each must repent for his own sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus, through the grace given, or perish.
John Gill on John 6:40
And this is the will of him that sent me,.... The Vulgate Latin adds, "of my Father"; and all the Oriental versions read only, "and this is the will of my Father"; this is his declared, his revealed will in the Gospel, which the sons of men are made acquainted with, as the other was his secret will, which was only known to the Son till he discovered it.
That everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him; who so sees him as to believe in him; for this is not to be understood of a corporeal sight of Christ, or of a mere speculative knowledge of him, or historical faith in him; for it is not so to see him, as merely to believe what he is, the Son of God, the Messiah and Saviour of the wor…
The Church Fathers
Faith, so to speak, is the attempt generated in time; the final result is the attainment of the promise secured for eternity. Now the Lord himself has most clearly revealed the equality of salvation when he said, "This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day." As far as possible in this world, which is what he means by the last day—and which is preserved till the time that it shall end—we believe that we are made perfect. Wherefore he says, "The one who believes on the Son has everlasting life." If then, those who have believed have life, what remains beyond the possession of eternal life? Nothing is lacking in faith as it is perfect and complete in itself.
He has said two things: "This is the work of God that you should believe in the one whom he has sent," while here he added, "whoever sees and believes." The Jews saw but did not believe; they had the one condition, lacked the other. How could they attain to eternal life without the other? The reason those who saw did not attain eternal life was because they did not also believe. If so, what about us who have believed but have not seen? If it is those two things that earn eternal life, seeing and believing—and whoever is lacking one of them cannot attain to the reward of eternal life—what are we to do? The Jews [who saw him] lacked the one; we the other. They had seeing but lacked believing. We have believing but lack seeing. Well, as regards our having believing and lacking seeing, we have prophetically been declared blessed by the Lord himself just as Thomas, one of the Twelve, was blessed when he felt his scars by touching them.
(Tr. xxv. 19) See how the twofold resurrection is expressed here. He who cometh to Me, shall forthwith rise again; by becoming humble, and a member of Me. But then He proceeds; But I will raise him up at the last day. To explain the words, All that the Father hath given Me, and, I should lose nothing, He adds; And this is the will of Him that hath sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. Above He said, Whoso heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me: (c. 5:24) now it is, Every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him. He does not say, believe on the Father, because it is the same thing to believe on the Father, and on the Son; for as the Father hath life in Himself, even so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and again, That whoso seeth the Son and believeth on Him, should have everlasting life: i. e. by believing, by passing over to life, as at the first resurrection. But this is only the first resurrection, He alludes to the second when He says, And I will raise him up at the last day.
Dictionary and topics
Capernaum — Nahum’s town, a Galilean city frequently mentioned in the history of our Lord. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. After our Lord’s expulsion from Nazareth (Matt. 4:13-16; Luke 4:16-31),…
Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the…
Faith — Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phil. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. It admits of…
Lords Supper — The words which thus describe the great central act of the worship of the Christian Church occur but in a single passage of the New Testament— (1 Corinthians 11:20)
Philip — Lover of horses. (1.) One of the twelve apostles; a native of Bethsaida, “the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44). He readily responded to the call of Jesus when first addressed to him (43), and…
Christ Is God · As raising the dead — As raising the dead
Faith · Through it is: Eternal life — Through it is: Eternal life
Immortality · 2:11; — 2:11;
Life, Eternal · Given: To those who believe in Christ — Given: To those who believe in Christ
Perseverance · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Resurrection · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
John 6:34-40
34. They said therefore to him, Lord, give us always this bread. 35. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. 36. But I have told you that you have also seen me and do not believe. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will not cast out; 38. For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39. And this is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40. And this is the will of him who sent me, that whosoever seeth the…
Jesus’ mission in the world is sure to succeed. God sent Jesus (6:38) and calls people to follow him (6:37, 44). Those who come to him are secure in Jesus’ promise that he will not reject them or lose them (6:39).
6:37 those the Father has given: God moves in people’s hearts, bringing them to Jesus.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· Effected by the power of: Christ
— Effected by the power of: Christ
Reward Of Saints, The · Described as: Everlasting life — Described as: Everlasting life
Will · OF GOD, THE SUPREME RULE OF DUTY — OF GOD, THE SUPREME RULE OF DUTY
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).