UTN uW Translation Notes:

John 6 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

1. Jesus’ fourth sign: Jesus feeds a large crowd (6:1–14)2. Jesus’ fifth sign: Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee (6:15–21)3. Jesus says he is the bread of life (6:22–71)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

King

The king of any nation was the richest and most powerful person in that nation. The people wanted Jesus to be their king because he gave them food. They thought he would make the Jews into the richest and most powerful nation in the world. They did not understand that Jesus came to die so God could forgive his people’s sins and that the world would persecute his people.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Bread

Bread was the most common and important food in Jesus’ day, so the word “bread” was their general word for “food.” It is often difficult to translate the word “bread” into the languages of people who do not eat bread, because the general word for food in some languages refers to food that did not exist in Jesus’ culture. Jesus used the word “bread” to refer to himself. He wanted the people to understand that they need him so they can have eternal life, just as people need food to sustain physical life. (See: figs-metaphor and figs-synecdoche)

Eating the flesh and drinking the blood

When Jesus said, “unless you would eat the flesh of the Son of Man and would drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves,” he was speaking of believing in his sacrificial death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. He also knew that before he died he would tell his followers to commemorate this sacrifice by eating bread and drinking wine. In the event this chapter describes, he expected that his hearers would understand that he was using a metaphor but would not understand to what the metaphor referred. (See: flesh and blood)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Parenthetical ideas

Several times in this passage, John explains something or gives the reader some background information needed to better understand the story. These explanations are intended to give the reader some additional knowledge without interrupting the flow of the narrative. This information is placed inside parentheses.

“Son of Man”

Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man” several times in this chapter. Your language may not allow people to speak of themselves as if they were speaking about someone else. See the discussion of this concept in Part 3 of the General Introduction to the Gospel of John. (See: sonofman and figs-123person)