OET interlinear YHN (JHN) 6:15

6:15a

Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force: The text does not say how Jesus realized this. Perhaps he heard them talking to one another, or perhaps God revealed it to him. You should not make this explicit.

In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a separate sentence. For example:

Jesus realized that the people were about to come and force him to become their king. So he left and went to the mountain alone.

Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king. So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone. (CEV)

make Him king by force: The people wanted to grab Jesus physically to force him to be their king. They apparently hoped that they could make Jesus become their military commander. They had seen his supernatural (not human) power in his miracle. So they thought that he could use that power to remove the Roman rulers from their land.

king: A king was the political leader or ruler of a nation. In the Jewish context, the king was also the top military commander. In your translation, use a word that implies or allows for the fact that this ruler was the chief commander of the army.

6:15b

withdrew again to a mountain by Himself: This clause tells what Jesus did as a result of what he knew. He withdrew (went away) from the people and went to the mountain. See the General Comment on 6:15a–b. Some English translations include the word “So” in this clause to indicate this result. For example:

so he left and went into the hills alone (NCV)

So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone. (CEV)

Jesus returned to the mountain that was mentioned in 6:3. At that previous time he had been with his disciples. Now he was by Himself (alone). Translate this clause in a way that avoids implying that Jesus had been alone the previous time. The NCV and CEV (above) avoid this by leaving the word again untranslated. Here is another example:

So he returned to the mountain by himself. (GW)

withdrew: There is a textual problem here:

1. Many Greek manuscripts say “withdrew, went away.” For example:

   left (NCV) (BSB, KJV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, ESV, NIV, REB, NET, GW, GNT, CEV, NCV)

2. Some Greek manuscripts say “fled (ran away).” For example:

   fled (NJB) (NJB)

The NLT (“slipped away”) is ambiguous. It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most English translations.The UBS Greek News Testament gives option (1) a B rating, indicating that this is the probable text but there is some doubt.

a mountain: The Greek word that the BSB translates as mountain here refers to a hill or an area with many hills. It did not refer to a high mountain here. See the note on 6:3. Use the same word in both verses.