He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Parallel Translations
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He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
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Whosoever eateth my flesshe and drinketh my bloude hath eternall lyfe: and I will rayse him vp at the last daye.
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Whosoeuer eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternall life, and I will raise him vp at the last day.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to John 6:54 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 6:39-40 This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
- Philippians 3:7-10 However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ. Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death,
- John 6:27 Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
- Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
- Proverbs 9:4-6 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, “Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed! Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding.”
- Psalms 22:26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
- Isaiah 55:1-3 “Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness. Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
- John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
- John 6:47 Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.
- John 6:63 It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
- Isaiah 25:6-8 In this mountain, Yahweh of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of well refined choice wines. He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 54. He who eateth my flesh. This is a…
54. He who eateth my flesh. This is a repetition, but is not superfluous; for it confirms what was difficult to be believed, That souls feed on his flesh and blood, in precisely the same manner that the body is sustained by eating and drinking Accordingly, as he lately testified that nothing but death remains for all who seek life anywhere else than in his flesh, so now he excites all believers to cherish good hope, while he promises to them life in the same flesh.
And I will raise him up at the last day. It ought to be observed, that Christ so frequently connects the resurrection with eternal life, because our salvation will be hidden till that day. No man, therefore, can perceive what Christ bestows on us, unless, rising above the world, he places before his eyes the last resurrection From these words, it plainly appears that the whole of this passage is improperly explained, as applied to the Lord’s Supper. For if it were true that all who present themselves at the holy table of the Lord are made partakers of his flesh and blood, all will, in like manner, obtain life; but we know that there are many who partake of it to their condemnation. And indeed it would have been foolish and unreasonable to discourse about the Lord’s Supper, before he had instituted it. It is certain, then, that he now speaks of the perpetual and ordinary manner of eating the flesh of Christ, which is done by faith only. And yet, at the same time, I acknowledge that there is nothing said here that is not figuratively represented, and actually bestowed on believers, in the Lord’s Supper; and Christ even intended that the holy Supper should be, as it were, a seal and confirmation of this sermon. This is also the reason why the Evangelist John makes no mention of the Lord’s Supper; and therefore Augustine follows the natural order, when, in explaining this chapter, he does not touch on the Lord’s Supper till he comes to the conclusion; and then he shows that this mystery is symbolically represented, whenever the Churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper, in some places daily, and in other places only on the Lord’s day.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,…
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Ver. 54. Whoso eateth my flesh] Because this was a hard point to believe, therefore it is so often repeated and inculcated. Verba toties inculcata viva sunt, vera sunt, sana sunt, plana sunt.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Hath eternal life; he hath it in a sure…
Hath eternal life; he hath it in a sure and just right title, and he shall have it in a certain actual possession: and in order to it, he shall have a joyful resurrection unto it at the last day. This is no more than what our Saviour had often said, particularly Joh 3:18,36, admitting what was before said, that by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, is to be meant believing in him; only here is a clearer discovery than was there, of the true object of that faith which justifieth, viz. a Christ crucified, for that is signified by the flesh and blood mentioned.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,....…
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,.... In the sense above given; See Gill on Joh 6:53;
dwelleth in me, and I in him. There is a mutual indwelling of Christ, and believers; Christ is the habitation, or dwelling place of his people: there is a secret dwelling in Christ; so the elect of God dwelt in the heart, and in the hands, and arms of Christ from everlasting; and as members in their head in election grace; and representatively in him, as the Mediator of the covenant; and they secretly and safely dwelt in him, when all mankind fell in Adam; and when he was on the cross, in the grave, and now he is in heaven; all which is owing to his own love, his Father's gift, and to secret union to him. But there is an open dwelling in him in time, which is here meant: God's elect, as in their natural state, are without Christ, and lie open to the law and justice of God; the Spirit of God convinces them of this state, and directs them to flee to Christ, as a city of refuge; when they find him a stronghold, a place of defence, and a proper dwelling for them, where they resolve to abide, and do abide; and where they dwell safely, peaceably, comfortably, and pleasantly; and from which dwelling place they will never be turned out. Likewise, the saints are the habitation or dwelling place of Christ; he dwells not in their heads and to tongues, but in their hearts, and by faith; which is here expressed, by eating his flesh, and drinking his blood; and which, though it is not the cause of Christ's dwelling here, yet is the means or instrument by which men receive him into their hearts, and retain him, and have communion with him; for he dwells in believers, not in such sense as he dwells in the world, by his omnipresence, and power; or in the human nature, by hypostatical union to it; but by his Spirit, and by faith, which is an instance of wonderful condescending grace, and is owing to union to him, and is expressive of communion with him, and is what will continue for ever.
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 54. Hath eternal life] This can never be…
Verse 54. Hath eternal life] This can never be understood of the sacrament of the Lord's supper.
1. Because this was not instituted till a year after; at the last Passover.
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2. It cannot be said that those who do not receive that sacrament must perish everlastingly.
3. Nor can it be supposed that all those who do receive it are necessarily and eternally saved.
On the contrary, St. Paul intimates that many who received it at Corinth perished, because they received it unworthily, not discerning the Lord's body: not distinguishing between it and a common meal; and not properly considering that sacrifice for sin, of which the sacrament of the Lord's super was a type: see 1Co 11:30.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Joh 6:54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal…
Joh 6:54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life — Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. — My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him — By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father — The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father — Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me — That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me — A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread — This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven — For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. — This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever — He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Unless you eat ... and drink, &c. To receive…
Unless you eat ... and drink, &c. To receive both the body and blood of Christ, is a divine precept, insinuated in this text; which the faithful fulfil, though they receive but in one kind; because in one kind they receive both the body and blood, which cannot be separated from each other. Hence life eternal is here promised to the worthy receiving, though but in one kind: (ver. 52.) If any man eat of this bread he shall life for ever: and the bread which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world: (ver. 58.) He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me: (ver. 59.) He that eateth this bread shall live for ever. (Challoner)
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 Whoso eateth . . . hath, &c.--The former verse…
Whoso eateth . . . hath, &c.--The former verse said that unless they partook of Him they had no life; this adds, that whoever does so "hath eternal life."
and I will raise him up at the last day--For the fourth time this is repeated (see Joh 6:39-40, Joh 6:44) --showing most clearly that the "eternal life" which such a man "hath" cannot be the same with the future resurrection life from which it is carefully distinguished each time, but a life communicated here below immediately on believing (Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24-25); and giving to the resurrection of the body as that which consummates the redemption of the entire man, a prominence which in the current theology, it is to be feared, it has seldom had. (See Rom 8:23; 1Co. 15:1-58, throughout).
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 54. Eateth my flesh… drinketh my blood—The truth which…
54. Eateth my flesh… drinketh my blood—The truth which underlies these words lies as the basis of the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. Here is the thought clothed in symbolical words; there it is clothed in symbolical objects and actions. Christ, in order to live and die, must possess flesh and blood. His death must be by the breaking of his flesh; and its manifestation is by the shedding of blood, for the blood is the life. By faith in the merit of that death so presented, we appropriate its efficacy to the present salvation of our souls and the ultimate glorification of soul and body. Figure this in powerful emblematic words, and we have it that, by eating that flesh and drinking that blood, we eat and drink eternal life to our soul and body. The emblem of words prepares us for the emblem of action. We take for the flesh the fleshless bread, and for the blood the bloodless wine; and by eating one and drinking the other we set forth the truth, that by the propitiatory death of our blessed Lord Christ we have eternal life to our soul and body. There is, then, no support in this passage for the dismaying doctrine invented by the Romish Church that men actually devour the flesh of Christ’s real body.
Raise him up… last day—The glorification of the body is the last grand result to the believer of Christ’s atonement. The work begins in regeneration; it is continued in the bliss of the disembodied spirit in paradise; it terminates in the resurrection glory of the last day.
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 54. The gracious positive of the previous minatory negative.…
54. The gracious positive of the previous minatory negative. From the warning as to the disastrous consequences of not partaking He passes to a declaration of the blessed consequences of partaking, viz. eternal life, and that at once, with resurrection among the just hereafter.
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 (54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood.—The…
(54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood.—The thought advances from the negative to the positive. The previous verse stated the condition without which they could not have life. This verse declares that they who thus eat and drink possess that life now, and that it is eternal. (Comp. Note on Joh_6:47.) The thought advances, too, from the “ye” of those immediately addressed to the “whoso,” which has no limit but the fulfilment of the condition. The word for “eateth” is a stronger word than that before used, meaning literally the act of dividing the food by the teeth; but this meaning is not to be pressed. It is simply the present tense, which describes the process of eating, and is the same word which is used in Joh_6:56-58, and in Joh_13:18. The sense of the word in the only other place in the New Testament where it occurs (Mat_24:38) confirms this.
And I will raise him up at the last day.—The thought of the eternal life, which is the present possession of the spirit in communion with God, leads on once again to the fuller expansion of that life in the final victory over death. (Comp. Joh_6:40; Joh_6:44.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues speaking to all those listening to him.
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Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life
The phrases "eats my flesh" and "drinks my blood" are metaphors. Just as one requires food and drink in order to have physical life, those who trust in Jesus will have spiritual life. AT: "whoever trusts me for their spiritual food and drink will have eternal life" (See: Metaphor)
raise him up
Here to raise up is an idiom for causing someone who has died to become alive again. AT: "cause him to live again" (See: Idiom)
at the last day
"on the day when God judges everyone"
my flesh is true food ... my blood is true drink
The words "true food" and "true drink" are metaphors that mean Jesus provides spiritual food and drink to those who trust in him. Receiving Jesus in faith provides everlasting life the same way food and drink nourish the physical body. AT: "I am truly spiritual food and drink" (See: Metaphor)
remains in me, and I in him
"has a close relationship with me"
translationWords
flesh
blood
raise
last day
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.