I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
Parallel translations
- WEB This 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.”
- KJV This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
- BSB This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
- NKJV This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
- NASB This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
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 contrasts the bread from heaven with the manna their fathers ate and died; whoever eats this bread will live forever. He concludes the discourse with the promise of eternal life in Himself.
Overview
Summing up His teaching, Jesus again sets the perishing manna against the living bread that grants everlasting life. The repeated 'will live forever' seals the promise to all who receive Him. The verse gathers the discourse's threads into a final invitation to find unending life in the true bread, Christ Himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- John 3:36One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
- John 6:47–51Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.
- John 6:31–34Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”
- John 6:41The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down out of heaven.”
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 6:58 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.