(singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many · adjective — nominative plural masculine
of
μαθητῶνmathētōn
G3101
a learner · noun — genitive plural masculine
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
disciples
μαθητήςmathētḗs
G3101
a learner
went
ἀπῆλθονapēlthon
G565
to go off (i.e. depart) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
back
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
walked
περιεπάτουν.¶periepatoun
G4043
to tread all around · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
more
οὐκέτιoukéti
G3765
not yet
with
μετ᾽met᾽
G3326
properly · preposition
him
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — 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 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, t…
John 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
2 Timothy 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
Zephaniah 1:6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 6:60–end
We have here an account of the effects of Christ's discourse. Some were offended and others edified by it; some driven from him and others brought nearer to him.
I. To some it was a savour of death unto death; not only to the Jews, who were professed enemies to him and his doctrine, but even to many of his disciples, such as were disciples at large, who were his frequent hearers, and followed him in public; a mixed multitude, like those among Israel, that began all the discontents. Now here we have,
1. Their murmurings at the doctrine they heard (Joh 6:60): This is a hard saying, who can hear it? (1.) They do not like it themselves: "What stuff is this? Eat the flesh, and drink the blood, of…
From that time, &c.--or, in consequence of this. Those last words of our Lord seemed to have given them the finishing stroke--they could not stand it any longer.
walked no more--Many a journey, it may be, they had taken with Him, but now they gave Him up finally!
Adam Clarke on John 6:66
Many of his disciples went back - They no longer associated with him, nor professed to acknowledge him as the Messiah. None of these were of the twelve. Christ had many others who generally attended his ministry, and acknowledged him for the Messiah.
John Gill on John 6:66
From that time many of his disciples went back,.... Not any of the twelve apostles, for they are distinguished from these in the next verse; nor any of the seventy disciples, for their names were written in heaven, and could not apostatize totally and finally, as these did; but some of the multitude of the disciples, who followed Christ, heard him, and professed to believe in him, and were baptized in his name, but were not true disciples, only nominal ones: they had never heard and learned of the Father, otherwise they would have known what it was to come to Christ, as the Father's gift, and under the drawings of his grace; and would not have been offended at the words of our Lord, just now…
The Church Fathers
"From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." Rightly hath the Evangelist said, not that they "departed," but that they "went back"; showing that they cut themselves off from any increase in virtue, and that by separating themselves they lost the faith which they had of old. But this was not the case with the twelve; wherefore He saith to them, "Will ye also go away?"
(Hom. xlvi. 2) But it may be asked, what reason was there for speaking words to them which did not edify, but might rather have injured them? It was very useful and necessary; for this reason, they had been just now urgent in petitioning for bodily food, and reminding Him of that which had been given to their fathers. So He reminds them here of spiritual food; to show that all those miracles were typical. They ought not then to have been offended, but should have enquired of Him further. The scandal was owing to their fatuity, not to the difficulty of the truths declared by our Lord.
Let the chaff of a fickle faith fly off as much as it will at every blast of temptation, all the purer will be that heap of corn which shall be laid up in the garner of the Lord. Did not certain of the disciples turn back from the Lord Himself, When they were offended? Yet the rest did not therefore think that they must turn away from following Him, but because they knew that He was the Word of Life, and was come from God, they continued in His company to the very last, after He had gently inquired of them whether they also would go away.
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…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
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…
Forsaking God · Exemplified: Many disciples — Exemplified: Many disciples
Instability · . — .
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
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 6:65-71
65. And he said, Therefore have I told you that no man can come to me, unless it be given to him by my Father. 66. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67. Jesus therefore said to the twelve, Do you also wish to go away? 68. Simon Peter therefore answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. 69. And we have believed and known that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 70. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71. Now he spoke of Judas Iscariot, son of Simon; for it was he that would betray him, although he was one of the twelve.
65. Therefore have I told yo…
