Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
- KJV And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
- BSB Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.
- NKJV Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
- NLT (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Passover feast was near. This note connects the feeding miracle to themes of redemption and the bread of life.
Overview
John mentions the approaching Passover, the feast commemorating Israel's deliverance and the Passover lamb. This timing enriches the meaning of the coming sign and Jesus' bread of life discourse. It points to Christ as the true Passover Lamb who gives himself for the life of the world.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 2:13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
- John 11:55Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
- John 5:1After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
- Deut 16:1Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
- Lev 23:7In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
- John 13:1Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
- John 12:1Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
- Lev 23:5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover.
- Exod 12:6–14and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 6:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.