John 6:41

41 Now the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven,"

John 6:41 Meaning and Commentary

John 6:41

The Jews then murmured at him
When they found that he spoke of himself as the true bread, the bread of God, and bread of life, and as descending from heaven: and which was to be fed upon in a spiritual manner by faith, which they were ignorant of, and had no desire unto: and thus being disappointed of the delicious corporeal food they expected, they grew uneasy, and displeased,

because he said I am the bread which came down from heaven;
for though, as yet, he had not said this in so many words, and in this direct form, as afterwards, in ( John 6:51 ) ; yet he had said what amounted to it, and which might be easily gathered from ( John 6:35 John 6:38 ) The Vulgate Latin reads, "I am the living bread"; and the Persic version, "I am the bread of life". And this last renders the first clause "mocked at him".

John 6:41 In-Context

39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me: that everyone whom he has given me, I would not lose [any] of them, but raise them up on the last day.

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him would have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

41 Now the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven,"

42 and they were saying, "Is this one not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble {among yourselves}!

Footnotes

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