OET interlinear YHN (JHN) 6:31

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν τὸ μάννα ἔφαγον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ

the fathers ˱of˲_us the manna ate in the desert

In this verse, John assumes that his readers will know that the crowd is referring to a story recorded in the Old Testament book of Exodus. In that story, the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron because they were hungry. God responded by providing a flake-like food that fell from the sky and could be baked into bread. The people called this flake-like food “manna.” (See: manna) You could indicate this explicitly if it would be helpful to your readers, particularly if they would not know the story. Alternate translation: [Our fathers ate the manna when they were wandering in the wilderness after leaving Egypt]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν

the fathers ˱of˲_us

The crowd used fathers to refer to their ancestors. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Our ancestors] or [Our forefathers]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

ἐστιν γεγραμμένον

is /having_been/_written

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [the prophets wrote in the Scriptures]

Note 4 topic: writing-quotations

ἐστιν γεγραμμένον

is /having_been/_written

Here the crowd uses it is written to introduce a quotation from an Old Testament book (Psalm 78:24). If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase that indicates that the crowd is quoting from an important text. Alternate translation: [it was written in the scriptures]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes

ἐστιν γεγραμμένον, ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν

is /having_been/_written bread out_of ¬the heaven ˱he˲_gave ˱to˲_them /to/_eat

If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [it is written that he gave them bread from heaven to eat]

Note 6 topic: writing-pronouns

ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν

bread out_of ¬the heaven ˱he˲_gave ˱to˲_them /to/_eat

He here could refer to: (1) Moses, in which case the crowd was mistakenly quoting a scripture about God and applying it to Moses. This is possible because Jesus says in the next verse, “Moses has not given you the bread from heaven.” Alternate translation: [Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat] (2) God, which is who it referred to in the scripture the crowd is quoting. Alternate translation: [God gave them bread from heaven to eat]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

ἄρτον

bread

Here, John records the crowd using the word bread to represent food in general that is needed to sustain life. The manna that God gave the Israelites from heaven was not bread, but a food that could be baked into bread. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [food]