John 6:31
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
John 6:31 in other translations
| BSB | Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” |
|---|---|
| WEB | Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” |
| ASV | Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. |
| YLT | our fathers the manna did eat in the wilderness, according as it is having been written, Bread out of the heaven He gave them to eat.' |
| DARBY | Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. |
| BBE | Our fathers had the manna in the waste land, as the Writings say, He gave them bread from heaven. |
| Webster | Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. |
What does John 6:31 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 6:28-31
28-31. What shall we do ... the works of God--such works as God will approve. Different answers may be given to such a question, according to the spirit which prompts the inquiry. (See Ho 6:6-8; Lu 3:12-14). Here our Lord, knowing whom He had to deal with, shapes His reply accordingly.
Barnes' Notes
Did eat manna. This was the name given by the Jews to the food which was furnished to them by God in their journey. It means literally, "What is this?" and was the question which they asked when they first saw it, Ex 16:14,15. It was small like frost, and of the size of coriander-seed, and had a sweetish taste like honey. It fell in great quantities, and was regarded by the Jews as proof of a continued miracle during forty years, and was incontestable evidence of the interposition of God in favour of their fathers. The manna which is sold in the shops of druggists is a different substance from this. It is obtained from the bark of certain trees in Armenia, Georgia, Persia, and Arabia. It is procured, as resin is, by making an incision in the bark, and it flows out or distils from the tree.
As it is written. The substance of this is written in Ps 78:24,25.
He gave them. This was regarded as a miraculous interference in their behalf, and an attestation of the divine mission of Moses, and hence they said familiarly that Moses gave it to them.
Bread from heaven. The word heaven, in the Scriptures, denotes often the region of the air, the atmosphere, or that region in which the clouds are. See Mt 16:3. "The sky (heaven) is red and lowering." Also Mt 3:16, Lk 4:15, 5:18. The Jews, as appears from their writings (see Lightfoot), expected that the Messiah would provide his followers with plenty of delicious food; and as Moses had provided for the Jews in the wilderness, so they supposed that Christ would make provision for the temporal wants of his friends. This was the sign, probably, which they were now desirous of seeing.
(q) "my Father" Gal 4:4
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 6:28-35
Constant exercise of faith in Christ, is the most important and difficult part of the obedience required from us, as sinners seeking salvation. When by his grace we are enabled to live a life of faith in the Son of God, holy tempers follow, and acceptable services may be done. God, even his Father, who gave their fathers that food from heaven to support their natural lives, now gave them the true Bread for the…
John 6:31 in the original Greek
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for John 6:31
- Nehemiah 9:15
And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
- Psalms 105:40
The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
- Psalms 78:24-25
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
- Exodus 16:4-15
Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? …
- Exodus 16:35
And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
- John 6:49
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
- Numbers 11:6-9
But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
- Deuteronomy 8:3
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
- Nehemiah 9:20
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
- Joshua 5:12
And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
- Revelation 2:17
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
- John 6:58
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.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- John 6:30
They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
- John 6:31
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
- John 6:32
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
John 6:31 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Nuestros padres comieron el maná en el desierto, como está escrito: Pan del cielo les dió á comer. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Nos pères ont mangé la manne au désert, ainsi qu’il est écrit: « Il leur a donné à manger du pain venant du ciel ». |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Unsere Väter aßen das Manna in der Wüste, wie geschrieben steht: "Brot aus dem Himmel gab er ihnen zu essen". |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Patres nostri manducaverunt manna in deserto, sicut scriptum est: Panem de cælo dedit eis manducare. |