John 6:1-21
Jesus feeds 5000
6:1After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
6:2A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
6:3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
6:4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.
6:5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”
6:6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
6:7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”
6:8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
6:9″There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?”
6:10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
6:11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
6:12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
6:13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
6:14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
6:15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
6:16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
6:17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
6:18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
6:19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
6:20But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
6:21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
[1]Μετὰ ταῦτα ἀπῆλθεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης τῆς Γαλιλαίας τῆς Τιβεριάδος·
[2]καὶ ἠκολούθει αὐτῷ ὄχλος πολύς, ὅτι ἑώρων αὐτοῦ τὰ σημεῖα ἃ ἐποίει ἐπὶ τῶν ἀσθενούντων.
[3]ἀνῆλθε δὲ εἰς τὸ ὄρος ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐκάθητο μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ.
[4]ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς τὸ πάσχα, ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων.
[5]ἐπάρας οὖν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ θεασάμενος ὅτι πολὺς ὄχλος ἔρχεται πρὸς αὐτόν, λέγει πρὸς τὸν Φίλιππον· πόθεν ἀγοράσωμεν ἄρτους ἵνα φάγωσιν οὗτοι;
[6]τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγε πειράζων αὐτόν· αὐτὸς γὰρ ᾔδει τί ἔμελλε ποιεῖν.
[7]ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Φίλιππος· διακοσίων δηναρίων ἄρτοι οὐκ ἀρκοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἵνα ἕκαστος αὐτῶν βραχύ τι λάβῃ.
[8]λέγει αὐτῷ εἷς ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, ᾿Ανδρέας ὁ ἀδελφὸς Σίμωνος Πέτρου.
[9]ἔστι παιδάριον ἓν ὧδε, ὃς ἔχει πέντε ἄρτους κριθίνους καὶ δύο ὀψάρια· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα τί ἐστιν εἰς τοσούτους;
[10]εἶπε δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· ποιήσατε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀναπεσεῖν· ἦν δὲ χόρτος πολὺς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ. ἀνέπεσον οὖν οἱ ἄνδρες τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὡσεὶ πεντακισχίλιοι.
[11]ἔλαβε δὲ τοὺς ἄρτους ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς καὶ εὐχαριστήσας διέδωκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς, οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ τοῖς ἀνακειμένοις· ὁμοίως καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀψαρίων ὅσον ἤθελον.
[12]ὡς δὲ ἐνεπλήσθησαν, λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· συναγάγετε τὰ περισσεύσαντα κλάσματα, ἵνα μή τι ἀπόληται.
[13]συνήγαγον οὖν καὶ ἐγέμισαν δώδεκα κοφίνους κλασμάτων ἐκ τῶν πέντε ἄρτων τῶν κριθίνων ἃ ἐπερίσσευσε τοῖς βεβρωκόσιν.
[14]Οἱ οὖν ἄνθρωποι, ἰδόντες ὃ ἐποίησε σημεῖον ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς, ἔλεγον ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης ὁ ἐρχόμενος εἰς τὸν κόσμον.
[15]᾿Ιησοῦς οὖν γνοὺς ὅτι μέλλουσιν ἔρχεσθαι καὶ ἁρπάζειν αὐτὸν ἵνα ποιήσωσιν αὐτὸν βασιλέα, ἀνεχώρησε πάλιν εἰς τὸ ὄρος αὐτὸς μόνος.
[16]῾Ως δὲ ὀψία ἐγένετο, κατέβησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν,
[17]καὶ ἐμβάντες εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ἤρχοντο πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς Καπερναούμ. καὶ σκοτία ἤδη ἐγεγόνει καὶ οὐκ ἐληλύθει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς,
[18]ἥ τε θάλασσα ἀνέμου μεγάλου πνέοντος διηγείρετο.
[19]ἐληλακότες οὖν ὡς σταδίους εἴκοσι πέντε ἢ τριάκοντα θεωροῦσι τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν περιπατοῦντα ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ ἐγγὺς τοῦ πλοίου γινόμενον, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν.
[20]ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐτοῖς· ἐγώ εἰμι· μὴ φοβεῖσθε.
[21]ἤθελον οὖν λαβεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον, καὶ εὐθέως τὸ πλοῖον ἐγένετο ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἰς ἣν ὑπῆγον.
Comments
A straightforward narrative.
[2] τὰ σημεῖα: σημεῖον, ‘sign’; ‘miracle’ revealing Jesus’ glory and mission; here the miracles involve healing, ἐπὶ τῶν ἀσθενούντων (‘upon the ailing’). Cf. v. 14 below.
[5] πολὺς ὄχλος: ὄχλος, ‘crowd, masses’; πολὺς ὄχλος, ‘a large crowd’. πόθεν ἀγοράσωμεν ἄρτους: ἀγοράσωμεν, deliberative subjunctive—‘From where can we buy loaves of bread?’
[9] παιδάριον: dimin. of παῖς, ‘young lad’. ὀψάρια: pl., ὀψάριον, dimin. of ὄψον, a prepared dish; relish, e.g. onion. By the time of Jesus ὀψάριον was koine for ‘fish’; cf. modern Greek ψάρι, ‘fish’. Koine has a high number of diminutives.
[10] ὡσεὶ πεντακισχίλιοι: ὡσεὶ, ‘as if’, before numerals means ‘about, approximately’ (EDNT, s.v.). Cf. 19.
[15] γνοὺς ὅτι μέλλουσιν ἔρχεσθαι: γνοὺς, aor. part., γινώσκω, ‘Ι realise, know (by perception)’; μέλλουσιν + ἔρχεσθαι (pres. inf.), lit. ‘they intend to come’ (the present tense lends liveliness to the narrative). Jesus gauged the enthusiasm of the multitude. Cf. v. 6, τί ἔμελλε ποιεῖν, ‘what he (Jesus) was going to do’.
αὐτὸς μόνος: the intensive adjectival pron. αὐτὸς, (‘himself’) + μόνος (‘alone’) emphasise Jesus’ aloneness.
[19] ὡς σταδίους εἴκοσι πέντε ἢ τριάκοντα: the comparative particle ὡς before numerals means ‘about, approximately’.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 