Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
Parallel Translations
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Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
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And ester a feast of the Iewes was nye.
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Now the Passeouer, a feast of the Iewes, was neere.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to John 6:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
- John 11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
- Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
- John 5:1 After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
- Exodus 12:6-14 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.
- Leviticus 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover.
- Leviticus 23:7 In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
- John 12:1 Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
- John 13:1 Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews,…
4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
Ver. 4. And the passover] The third passover (likely) after his baptism. And this might occasion him to speak of the spiritual eating of himself, the true Paschal Lamb: for even "Christ our passover was sacrificed for us," 1Co 5:7.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was…
And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. This was the third passover, since our Lord's baptism, and entrance on his public ministry; see Joh 2:13. Whether Christ went up to this feast is not certain; some think he did not; but from what is said in Joh 7:1, it looks as if he did: how nigh it was to the feast, cannot well be said. Thirty days before the feast, they began to talk about it; and especially in the last fifteen days, they made preparations for it, as being at hand (b); and if there was now so long time to it, there was time enough for Jesus to go to it.
(b) T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 6. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Shekalim, c. 3. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. And the passover - was nigh.] This…
Verse 4. And the passover - was nigh.] This happened about ten or twelve days before the third passover which Christ celebrated after his baptism. Calmet. For a particular account of our Lord's four passovers See Clarke on Joh 2:13.
For thirty days before the Passover there were great preparations made by the Jews, but especially in the last nineteen days, in order to celebrate the feast with due solemnity. Lightfoot supposes that what is here related happened within the last fifteen days. See Calmet's opinion above.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The passover - See the notes at Mat 26:2,…
The passover - See the notes at Mat 26:2, Mat 26:17.
A feast of the Jews - This is one of the circumstances of explanation thrown in by John which show that he wrote for those who were unacquainted with Jewish customs.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain From the circumstances of the passover, the number that…
From the circumstances of the passover, the number that followed Jesus was greatly increased. (Bible de Vence)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain passover . . . was nigh--but for the reason…
passover . . . was nigh--but for the reason mentioned (Joh 7:1), Jesus kept away from it, remaining in Galilee.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. The passover—A caravan on its way to the…
4. The passover—A caravan on its way to the Passover may have furnished a large part of the concourse. These may have been specially taken with the idea of crowning Jesus as King Messiah, and bearing him in triumph to Jerusalem.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. And the Passover] Better, Now the Passover.
4. And the Passover] Better, Now the Passover.
a feast of the Jews] Rather, the feast of the Jews. Possibly this near approach of the Passover is given merely as a date to mark the time. As already noticed (see on Joh_2:13), S. John groups his narrative round the Jewish festivals. But the statement may also be made as a further explanation of the multitude. Just before the Passover large bands of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem would be passing along the east shore of the lake. But we find that the multitude in this case are quite ready (Joh_6:24) to cross over to Capernaum, as if they had no intention of going to Jerusalem; so that this interpretation of the verse is uncertain. Still more doubtful is the theory that this verse gives a key of interpretation to the discourse which follows, the eating of Christ’s flesh and blood being the antitype of the Passover. Of this there is no indication whatever. It is safest to regard the verse as a mere note to time. In any case the addition of ‘the feast of the Jews’ again indicates that the author is writing away from Palestine. From Joh_7:1 it would seem that Jesus did not go up to Jerusalem for this Passover
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) A feast.—Better, the feast. Comp. Joh_5:1. This is…
(4) A feast.—Better, the feast. Comp. Joh_5:1. This is added by St. John only, and is not simply a note of time, but gives a key of interpretation to the sign itself, and to the discourse which followed.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was…
Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. The ordinary meaning of egguv need not be departed from. (cf. Joh_2:13 Joh 7:2Jn_1:11:55) This valuable note of time is confirmed by another hint incidentally dropped. A month later than the Passover it could not be said that "much grass" was in the place. In the late spring such a phrase would most inadequately represent the scene that was indelibly impressed on the fourfold tradition. Whatever the unnamed feast was, (Joh_5:1) whether Trumpets, Purim, or Passover, we have reached the month Abib, when the crowds of pilgrims were gathering for their southern journey. If the Purim were the unnamed feast, then the suggestion arises that Christ"s reception at Jerusalem had prevented his remaining until the Passover of that year. If the Passover be meant, (Joh_5:1) then a year has passed between ch. 5 and 6. Nor is this a day too long for the crowd of events and teachings recorded by the synoptists as having taken place before the death of John. The note of time may be recorded as implying the dominant sentiment in the minds of the people. The great deliverance from Egyptian bondage was burned into the national conscience, and the fanatic desire for a second Moses to lead them out of Roman servitude was at such seasons fanned into a flame. The Lord had his own thought about the Paschal lamb, and knew that God was preparing a Lamb for sacrifice. In mystic, parabolic sense he foreknew that men would and must consume the flesh of this sacrifice. He was ready, moreover, to show them that he could supply all their need. The great Prophet who had said of himself, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" had just fallen beneath the executioner"s axe. The people were bereft of a great prophet and leader, and to Christ"s eye they were "as sheep without a shepherd." Verily he was preparing to lay down his life as a good Shepherd for these sheep to provide for them in the future a feast of living bread. All this may rationally be admitted, without for a moment conceding that second-century ideas like these were the formative causes of the narrative. The miracle that follows stands on an entirely distinct basis, and is more powerfully attested than any ether miracle, except the resurrection of Christ. If it stood in John"s record alone, there might be some colour for the supposition that we have merely a parable of great beauty. But the threefold tradition long anterior to John"s Gospel deprives even the pseudo-John of the possibility of inventing it. On the other hand, the appearance of the narrative in John"s Gospel deprives it of the mythical character which some have attributed to the authors of the synoptic Gospels. Thoma, in the spirit of Strauss, here imagines that the synoptists were busy in fashioning a miracle of sustenance and a portent upon the waters a sign on land and sea to correspond with the manna and Red Sea marvels of the Book of Exodus. "The mountain" (to orov) is, as he thinks, a similitude of the Mount Sinai, and, as the latter represented the giving of the Law, this was associated with the mountain of Beatitudes. He goes further, and sees in the Johannine narrative the Christian (agapae) feasts, and the deliverance of the Apostle Paul from shipwreck! He is even more ingenious still, and suggests that the "five thousand" fed at the first miraculous meal, with twelve baskets of fragments, correspond with the results of the first preaching of the twelve apostles, and that the seven loaves among the four thousand reflect "the many hundreds who were benefited by the seven evangelists. He endeavours by a most elaborate process to make it appear that John has here combined into one tableau minute traces derived from the five several accounts of the two miracles. The old rationalistic theory was that the miracle was only an exaggerated poetical statement of the fact; that a good example of charity on the part of the apostles was followed by others, and so food was found for the entire multitude. This hypothesis breaks on the rock that the authors of these Gospels intended to convey a perfectly different idea. The effect of such cheap philanthropy and pragmatic travesty of a royal act would not have been that the multitudes would have rushed to the conclusion that he had done a kingly deed, or one in the least way calculated to suggest the notion that he could feed armies at his will. All efforts to extirpate by such theories the supernatural character of the occurrence fail, and force the reader back upon the plain statements of the fourfold narrative.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The action in the story begins in verse 5.
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Now the Passover, the Jewish festival, was near
John briefly stops telling about the events in the story in order to give background information about when the events happened. (See: Background Information)
But Jesus said this to test Philip, for he himself knew what he was going to do
John briefly stops telling about the events in the story in order to explain why Jesus asked Philip where to buy bread. (See: Background Information)
for he himself knew
The reflexive pronoun "himself" makes it clear that the word "he" refers to Jesus. Jesus knew what he would do. (See: Reflexive Pronouns)
translationWords
Passover
feast
Jew
Philip, the apostle
bread
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.