a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
mother
μητέρα;mētera
G3384
a "mother" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular feminine
we
ἡμεῖςhēmeîs
G2249
we (only used when emphatic)
know
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
how
πῶςpōs
G4459
an interrogative particle of manner · particle — interrogative
then
οὖνoûn
G3767
(adverbially) certainly
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
he
οὗτοςhoûtos
G3778
the he (she or it)
saith
λέγειlegei
G3004
properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
down
καταβέβηκα;¶katabebēka
G2597
to descend (literally or figuratively) · verb — perfect active indicative, 1st person singular
from
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
heaven
οὐρανοῦouranou
G3772
the sky · noun — genitive singular masculine
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
Luke 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Matthew 13:55-56 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? A…
John 7:27-28 Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.
1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
John 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Romans 1:3-4 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
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…
Jews murmured--muttered, not in our Lord's hearing, but He knew it (Joh 6:43; Joh 2:25).
he said, I am the bread, &c.--Missing the sense and glory of this, and having no relish for such sublimities, they harp upon the "Bread from heaven." "What can this mean? Do we not know all about Him--where, when, and of whom He was born? And yet He says He came down from heaven!"
Adam Clarke on John 6:41
The Jews then murmured - Because the whole of his discourse event to prove that he was infinitely greater than Moses; and that he alone could give present peace and eternal glory to men.
John Gill on John 6:42
And they said, is not this Jesus the son of Joseph?.... From murmuring they go to mocking and scoffing at his parentage and descent, and object this to his coming down from heaven; and intend by it to upbraid him with the meanness of his birth, being the son of Joseph, a poor carpenter; and suggest, that it was great arrogance in him to claim an heavenly original, and to ascribe such things to himself, that he was the bread of God, and the bread of life, and came from heaven:
whose father and mother we know? for Capernaum and Nazareth were not at a great distance from each other; so that Joseph and Mary might be personally known by the inhabitants of Capernaum, and they might be intimately…
The Church Fathers
O deep unlearning, and understanding darkened with unmixed strong drink: the heart of this people is waxen fat, as it is written. For indeed they perceive not a whit of those things which they ought clearly to understand, and both think and speak things worthy of laughter. For they ought rather, exercising themselves in the writing of the all-wise Moses, and delighting themselves in the preachings of the holy Prophets to have considered, that not without flesh or bodily array was Christ expected to come to us, but in human form was it foretold that He would appear and that He should be found in this common garb of all. Therefore does the Prophet's voice tell us that the holy Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son: and the Lord is found to have sworn in truth unto blessed David, which He promised He would no wise turn from, that of the fruit of his body would He set upon His throne, as it is written: it was foretold too that there should come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse. But they rushing into so great unreason, perceive it not, supposing that since they knew the mother after the flesh of Him Who was foreannounced to come with Flesh, they ought therefore utterly to disbelieve that He had come down from heaven. For even though we do not find that this took place in regard of the Body, yet the Divine Word dwelt in His Body from the Virgin, as in His Own Temple, having come from above from the Father unto us, and for the salvation of all laid hold on the seed of Abraham that in all things He might he made like unto His brethren, and might call the nature of man unto sonship with God, being declared alike God and Man. But the Jews not understanding the economy with Flesh of our Saviour Christ, from knowing His mother and father, though he was not His father, are not ashamed of being annoyed, because Christ said He came down from heaven. In this too ariseth to us an example of no small profit: for hence we learn in respect to ourselves, that it will do us much harm, if we do not rather with the spiritual eyes of the heart consider the virtue that dwells in the saints, and look on the glory that is hidden in them, but on account of the frequent meanness of bodily appearance hold of no value what is great before God and precious. Thus God says of the Saints in the prophets, speaking of all in the person of one, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the. Lord,…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
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…
Jesus — (1.) Joshua, the son of Nun (Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8; R.V., “Joshua”). (2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus (Col. 4:11). Je’sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish…
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…
Murmuring · .Jews, against Jesus — .Jews, against Jesus
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).
John 6:41-45
41. The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, I am the bread which have come down from heaven. 42. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How therefore doth he say, I have come down from heaven? 43. Jesus therefore answered, and said to them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44. No man can come to me, unless the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45. It is written in the Prophets, And they shall be all taught by God; whosoever therefore hath heard my Father, and hath learned, [149] cometh to me.
41. The Jews therefore murmured concerning him. The Evangelist explains the caus…
When Jesus identified himself as the true bread . . . from heaven, the crowd faced a decision. • Isn’t this . . . the son of Joseph? They stumbled because their familiarity with Jesus made his claims seem outlandish.
