This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
Parallel translations
- WEB This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.
- KJV This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
- BSB This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.
- ESV This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
- NASB This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die.
- NLT Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Jesus points to the bread from heaven that one may eat and not die. He offers a bread that overcomes death itself.
Overview
Unlike the manna, this heavenly bread gives life that death cannot end. To 'eat' it is to receive Christ by faith, as the discourse makes clear. The promise of not dying points to the eternal life and resurrection that belong to all who feed on Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- John 6:33For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
- Rom 8:10If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
- John 6:51I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
- John 6:58This is the bread which came down out of heaven — not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
- John 8:51Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
- John 3:13No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
- John 6:42They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, ‘I have come down out of heaven?’”
- John 11:25–26Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 6:50 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.