John 6 · Verse 63

John 6:63

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

John 6:63, King James Version

John 6:63 in other translations

BSB	The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
WEB	It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
ASV	It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.
YLT	the spirit it is that is giving life; the flesh doth not profit anything; the sayings that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life;
DARBY	It is the Spirit which quickens, the flesh profits nothing: the words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.
BBE	The spirit is the life giver; the flesh is of no value: the words which I have said to you are spirit and they are life.
Webster	It is the spirit that reviveth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.

What does John 6:63 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 6:60-65

60-65. Many ... of his disciples--His pretty constant followers, though an outer circle of them. hard saying--not merely harsh, but insufferable, as the word often means in the Old Testament. who can hear--submit to listen to it.

Read the full comment on John 6:60-65 →

Barnes' Notes

Verse 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth. These words have been understood in different ways. The word "Spirit," here, evidently does not refer to the Holy Ghost, for he adds, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit." He refers here, probably, to the doctrine which he had been teaching in opposition to their notions and desires. "My doctrine is spiritual; it is fitted to quicken and nourish the soul. It is from heaven. Your doctrine or your views are earthly, and may be called flesh, or fleshly, as pertaining only to the support of the body. You place a great value on the doctrine that Moses fed the body; yet that did not permanently profit, for your fathers are dead. You seek also food from me, but your views and desires are gross and earthly."

Quickeneth. Gives life. Jn 5:21.

The flesh. Your carnal views and desires, and the literal understanding of my doctrine. By this Jesus shows them that he did not intend that his words should be taken literally.

Profiteth nothing. Would not avail to the real wants of man. The bread that Moses gave, the food which you seek, would not be of real value to man's highest wants.

They are spirit. They are spiritual. They are not to be understood literally, as if you were really to eat my flesh, but they are to be understood as denoting the need of that provision for the soul which God has made by my coming into the world.

Are life. Are fitted to produce or give life to the soul dead in sins.

(x) "It is the Spirit" 2Cor 3:6

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth - It is the spiritual sense only of my words that is to be attended to, and through which life is to be attained, 2Cor 3:6. Such only as eat and drink what I have mentioned, in a spiritual sense, are to expect eternal life. The flesh profiteth nothing - If ye could even eat my flesh and drink my blood, this would not avail for your salvation. These words contain a caution that the hearers should not understand his words in the strict literal sense, as if his body were really Bread, and as if his flesh and blood were really to be eaten and drank. The words that I speak - Or, I have spoken. Instead of λαλω, I speak, I read λελαληκα, I have spoken, on the authority of BCDKLT, thirteen others; the Syriac, all the Arabic, all the Persic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Gothic, Slavonic, Vulgate, all the Itala; Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, Chrysostom, Tertullian, Ambrosias, Augustin, Gaudentius, and Vigilius Taps. This is an important reading, and plainly shows that our Lord's words here do not refer to any new point of doctrine which he was then inculcating, but to what he had spoken concerning his being the living bread, and concerning the eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood, in the preceding verses. Are spirit, and they are life - As my words are to be spiritually understood, so the life they promise is of a spiritual nature: see Bishop Pearce.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 6:60-65

The human nature of Christ had not before been in heaven, but being God and man, that wondrous Person was truly said to have come down from heaven. The Messiah's kingdom was not of this world; and they were to understand by faith, what he had said of a spiritual living upon him, and his fulness. As without the soul of man the flesh is of no value, so without the quickening Spirit of God all forms of religion are…

Read the full comment on John 6:60-65 →

John 6:63 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.

τὸtoTheG3588

πνεῦμάpneumaSpiritG4151

ἐστινestinisG1510

τὸtothe [one]G3588

ζῳοποιοῦν,zōopoioungiving life,G2227

ἡhētheG3588

σὰρξsarxfleshG4561

οὐκouknotG3756

ὠφελεῖōpheleiprofitsG5623

οὐδέν·oudenno [thing];G3762

τὰtaTheG3588

ῥήματαrhēmatadeclarationsG4487

ἃhathatG3739

ἐγὼegōI myselfG1473

λελάληκαlelalēkahave spokenG2980

ὑμῖνhuminto youG4771

πνεῦμάpneumaspiritG4151

ἐστινestinareG1510

καὶkaiandG2532

ζωήzōēlifeG2222

ἐστιν.estinthey are.G1510

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

Cross references for John 6:63

Galatians 5:25
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Psalms 119:93
I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
John 6:68
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Psalms 119:130
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
1 Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Psalms 119:50
This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
Deuteronomy 32:47
For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
1 Corinthians 15:45
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
2 Corinthians 3:6-8
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
Romans 10:8-10
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the spirit.
Ge 2:7; Ro 8:2; 1Co 15:45; 2Co 3:6; Ga 5:25; 1Pe 3:18
the flesh.
Ro 2:25; 3:1,2; 1Co 11:27-29; Ga 5:6; 6:15; 1Ti 4:8; Heb 13:9
1Pe 3:21
the words.
68; 12:49,50; De 32:47; Ps 19:7-10; 119:50,93,130; Ro 10:8-10,17
1Co 2:9-14; 2Co 3:6-8; 1Th 2:13; Heb 4:12; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23

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

Context

John 6:62
What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
John 6:63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:64
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

Read all of John 6

John 6:63 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	El espíritu es el que da vida; la carne nada aprovecha: las palabras que yo os he hablado, son espíritu, y son vida.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	C’est l’Esprit qui vivifie; la chair ne profite de rien: les paroles que moi je vous ai dites sont esprit et sont vie;
German Elberfelder 1871	Der Geist ist es, der lebendig macht; das Fleisch nützt nichts. Die Worte, welche ich zu euch geredet habe, sind Geist und sind Leben;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	si ergo videritis Filium hominis ascendentem ubi erat prius?