^6:1After this¹ Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias).²^6:2A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. ^6:3So Jesus went on up the mountainside³ and sat down there with his disciples. ^6:4(Now the Jewish feast of the Passover⁴ was near.)⁵^6:5Then Jesus, when he looked up⁶ and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?” ^6:6(Now Jesus⁷ said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.)⁸^6:7Philip replied,⁹ “Two hundred silver coins worth¹⁰ of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.” ^6:8One of Jesus’ disciples,¹¹ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ^6:9“Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good¹² are these for so many people?”

^6:10Jesus said, “Have¹³ the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.)¹⁴ So the men¹⁵ sat down, about five thousand in number. ^6:11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish,¹⁶ as much as they wanted. ^6:12When they were all satisfied, Jesus¹⁷ said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.” ^6:13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves¹⁸ left over by the people who had eaten.

^6:14Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus¹⁹ performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet²⁰ who is to come into the world.”²¹^6:15Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone.²²

Walking on Water

^6:16Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,²³^6:17got into a boat, and started to cross the lake²⁴ to Capernaum.²⁵ (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.)²⁶^6:18By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough. ^6:19Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles,²⁷ they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake,²⁸ approaching the boat, and they were frightened. ^6:20But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” ^6:21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.

^6:22The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake²⁹ realized that only one small boat³⁰ had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded³¹ it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ^6:23But some boats from Tiberias³² came to shore³³ near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.³⁴^6:24So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats³⁵ and came to Capernaum³⁶ looking for Jesus.

Read in Logos

John 6:11: Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

Footnotes

1 Again, μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is a vague temporal reference. How Jesus got from Jerusalem to Galilee is not explained, which has led many scholars (e.g., Bernard, Bultmann, and Schnackenburg) to posit either editorial redaction or some sort of rearrangement or dislocation of material (such as reversing the order of chaps. 5 and 6, for example). Such a rearrangement of the material would give a simple and consistent connection of events, but in the absence of all external evidence it does not seem to be supportable. R. E. Brown (John [], 1:) says that such an arrangement is attractive in some ways but not compelling, and that no rearrangement can solve all the geographical and chronological problems in John.
2 This is a parenthetical note by the author. Only John in the New Testament refers to the Sea of Galilee by the name Sea of Tiberias (see also John 21:1), but this is correct local usage. In the mid-20’s Herod completed the building of the town of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the lake; after this time the name came into use for the lake itself.
3 Up on the mountainside does not necessarily refer to a particular mountain or hillside, but may simply mean “the hill country” or “the high ground,” referring to the high country east of the Sea of Galilee (known today as the Golan Heights).
4 Passover. According to John’s sequence of material, considerable time has elapsed since the feast of 5:1. If the feast in 5:1 was Pentecost of a.d. 31, then this feast would be the Passover of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion.
5 This is a parenthetical note by the author.
6 Grk “when he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).
7 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 This is a parenthetical note by the author.
9 Grk “Philip answered him.”
10 Grk “two hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth about eight months’ pay.
11 Grk “one of his disciples.”
12 Grk “but what are these”; the word “good” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
13 Grk “Make.”
14 This is a parenthetical note by the author (suggesting an eyewitness recollection).
15 Here “men” has been used in the translation because the following number, 5,000, probably included only adult males (see the parallel in Matt 14:21).
16 Grk “likewise also (he distributed) from the fish.”
17 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 Note that the fish mentioned previously (in John 6:9) are not emphasized here, only the five barley loaves. This is easy to understand, however, because the bread is of primary importance for the author in view of Jesus’ upcoming discourse on the Bread of Life.
19 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief.
21 An allusion to Deut 18:15.
22 Jesus, knowing that his “hour” had not yet come (and would not, in this fashion) withdrew again up the mountainside alone. The ministry of miracles in Galilee, ending with this, the multiplication of the bread (the last public miracle in Galilee recorded by John) aroused such a popular response that there was danger of an uprising. This would have given the authorities a legal excuse to arrest Jesus. The nature of Jesus’ kingship will become an issue again in the passion narrative of the Fourth Gospel (John 18:33ff.). Furthermore, the volatile reaction of the Galileans to the signs prepares for and foreshadows the misunderstanding of the miracle itself, and even the misunderstanding of Jesus’ explanation of it (John 6:22–71).
23 Or “sea.” The Greek word indicates a rather large body of water, but the English word “sea” normally indicates very large bodies of water, so the word “lake” in English is a closer approximation.
24 Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in the previous verse.
25 For location see ; ; .
26 This is a parenthetical note by the author.
27 Grk “about twenty-five or thirty stades” (a stade as a unit of linear measure is about 607 feet or 187 meters). About three or four miles. The Sea of Galilee was at its widest point 7 mi (11.6 km) by 12 mi (20 km). So at this point the disciples were in about the middle of the lake.
28 Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. . John uses the phrase ἐπί (epi, “on”) followed by the genitive (as in Mark, instead of Matthew’s ἐπί followed by the accusative) to describe Jesus walking “on the lake.”
29 Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. .
30 Most witnesses have after “one” the phrase “which his disciples had entered” (ἐκεῖνο εἰς ὂ ἐνέβησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, ekeino eis ho enebēsan hoi mathētai autou) although there are several permutations of this clause ([א* D] Θ [f13 33] 𝔐 [sa]). The witnesses that lack this expression are, however, significant and diffused (𝔓75 א2 A B L N W Ψ 1 565 579 1241 lat). The clarifying nature of the longer reading, the multiple variants from it, and the weighty testimony for the shorter reading all argue against the authenticity of the longer text in any of its variations. Grk “one”; the referent (a small boat) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 Grk “entered.”
32 For location see ; ; ; ; .
33 Or “boats from Tiberias landed”; Grk “came.”
34 D 091 a e sys,c lack the phrase “after the Lord had given thanks” (εὐχαριστήσαντος τοῦ κυρίου, eucharistēsantos tou kuriou), while almost all the rest of the witnesses ({𝔓75 א A B L W Θ Ψ 0141 [f1] f13 33 𝔐 as well as several versions and fathers}) have the words (though {l672 l950 syp pbo} read Ἰησοῦ [Iēsou, “Jesus“] instead of κυρίου). Although the shorter reading has minimal support, it is significant that this Gospel speaks of Jesus as Lord in the evangelist’s narrative descriptions only in 11:2; 20:18, 20; 21:12; and possibly 4:1 (but see on “Jesus” there). There is thus but one undisputed preresurrection text in which the narrator calls Jesus “Lord.” This fact can be utilized on behalf of either reading: The participial phrase could be seen as a scribal addition harking back to 6:11 but which does not fit Johannine style, or it could be viewed as truly authentic and in line with what John indisputably does elsewhere even if rarely. On balance, in light of the overwhelming support for these words it is probably best to retain them in the text.
35 Or “embarked in the boats.”
36 For location see ; ; .