John 6:17

17 And getting into a boat, they began to go to the other side of the sea, to Capernaum. And it had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

John 6:17 Meaning and Commentary

John 6:17

And entered into a ship
In which they came, and was waiting for them; or into another:

and went over the sea towards Capernaum;
steered their course from Bethsaida, where they took shipping over the sea of Galilee; at least over one part of it, a creek or bay of it, as they intended, towards the city of Capernaum, which lay over against Bethsaida:

and it was now dark;
quite night, which made their voyage more uncomfortable, especially as it afterwards was tempestuous: but the worst of all was,

and Jesus was not come to them;
as they expected, and therefore were obliged to set sail and go without him.

John 6:17 In-Context

15 Then Jesus, [because he] knew that they were about to come and seize him in order to make [him] king, withdrew again up the mountain [by] himself alone.

16 Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea.

17 And getting into a boat, they began to go to the other side of the sea, to Capernaum. And it had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

18 And the sea began to be stirred up [because] a strong wind was blowing.

19 Then [when they] had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

Footnotes

• [a]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to go")