On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?”
- KJV Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
- NKJV Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
- NASB So then many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?”
- NLT Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
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
Many disciples call this a hard saying and ask who can listen to it. His teaching exposes the limits of their commitment.
Overview
The difficulty is not that the words are obscure but that they offend, demanding faith in Christ's heavenly origin and sacrificial death. These were broader followers, not the Twelve. Their complaint reveals that crowds may follow Jesus for benefits yet recoil when His true claims confront them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- John 6:66From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.
- John 8:43Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.
- John 8:31So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
- Matt 11:6Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”
- John 6:41–42At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
- 2 Pet 3:16He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
- Heb 5:11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 6:60 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.