John 6 · Verse 49

John 6:49

Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
John 6:49, King James Version

John 6:49 in other translations

BSBYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
WEBYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died.
ASVYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
YLTyour fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they died;
DARBYYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died.
BBEYour fathers took the manna in the waste land--and they are dead.
WebsterYour fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

What does John 6:49 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 6:47-51

47-51. He that believeth, &c.--(See on Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24).

Read the full comment on John 6:47-51 →

Barnes' Notes
Verse 49. Your fathers did eat manna. There was a real miracle wrought in their behalf; there was a perpetual interposition of God which showed that they were his chosen people.

And are dead. The bread which they ate could not save them from death. Though God interfered in their behalf, yet they died. We may learn,

1st. That that is not the most valuable of God's gifts which merely satisfies the temporal wants.

2nd. That the most distinguished temporal blessings will not save from death. Wealth, friends, food, raiment, will not preserve life.

3rd. There is need of something better than mere earthly blessings; there is need of that bread which cometh down from heaven, and which giveth life to the world.

(k) "and are dead" Zech 1:5

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 49 Your fathers did eat manna - and are dead - That bread neither preserved their bodies alive, nor entitled them to life eternal; but those who receive my salvation, shall not only be raised again in the last day, but shall inherit eternal life. It was an opinion of the Jews themselves that their fathers, who perished in the wilderness, should never have a resurrection. Our Lord takes them on their own ground: Ye acknowledge that your fathers who fell in the wilderness shall never have a resurrection; and yet they ate of the manna: therefore that manna is not the bread that preserves to everlasting life, according even to your own concession.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 6:47-51

The advantage of the manna was small, it only referred to this life; but the living Bread is so excellent, that the man who feedeth on it shall never die. This bread is Christ's human nature, which he took to present to the Father, as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; to purchase all things pertaining to life and godliness, for sinners of every nation, who repent and believe in him.

Read the full comment on John 6:47-51 →

John 6:49 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.

οἱhoiTheG3588
πατέρεςpateresfathersG3962
ὑμῶνhumōnof YouG4771
ἔφαγονephagonateG5315
ἐνeninG1722
τῇtēatheG3588
ἐρήμῳerēmōwildernessG2048
τὸtotheG3588
μάνναmannamannaG3131
καὶkaiandG2532
ἀπέθανον·apethanondied;G599

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for John 6:49

  • Jude 1:5

    I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

  • Hebrews 3:17-19

    But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

  • 1 Corinthians 10:3-5

    And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

  • John 6:31

    Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

  • Numbers 26:65

    For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

  • 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.

  • Zechariah 1:5

    Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
fathers.
31
and are.
Nu 26:65; Zec 1:5; 1Co 10:3-5; Heb 3:17-19; Jude 1:5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • John 6:48

    I am that bread of life.

  • John 6:49

    Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

  • John 6:50

    This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

Read all of John 6

John 6:49 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Vuestros padres comieron el maná en el desierto, y son muertos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Vos pères ont mangé la manne au désert, et sont morts;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Eure Väter haben das Manna in der Wüste gegessen und sind gestorben.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Patres vestri manducaverunt manna in deserto, et mortui sunt.