He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him.
Parallel Translations
-
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him.
-
He that eateth my flesshe and drynketh my bloude dwelleth in me and I in him.
-
Hee that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to John 6:56 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 John 3:24 He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
- John 15:4-5 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
- Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.
- John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
- Psalms 91:9 Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,
- John 17:21-23 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.
- John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
- 1 John 4:15-16 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
- Lamentations 3:24 “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
- 1 John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
- Psalms 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Psalms 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.
- Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 56. He who eateth my flesh. This is another…
56. He who eateth my flesh. This is another confirmation; for while he alone has life in himself, he shows how we may enjoy it, that is, by eating his flesh; as if he had affirmed that there is no other way in which he can become ours, than by our faith being directed to his flesh. For no one will ever come to Christ as God, who despises him as man; and, therefore, if you wish to have any interest in Christ, you must take care, above all things, that you do not disdain his flesh.
Dwelleth in me, and I in him. When he says that he dwelleth in us, the meaning is the same as if he had said, that the only bond of union, and the way by which he becomes one with us, is, when our faith relies on his death. We may likewise infer from it, that he is not now speaking of the outward symbol, which many unbelievers receive equally with believers, and yet continue separated from Christ. It enables us also to refute the dream of those who say, that Judas received the body of Christ as well as the other apostles, when Christ gave the bread to all; for as it is a display of ignorance to limit this doctrine to the outward sign, so we ought to remember what I have formerly said, that the doctrine which is here taught is sealed in the Lord’s Supper. Now, it is certain, in the first place, that Judas never was a member of Christ; secondly, it is highly unreasonable to imagine the flesh of Christ to be dead and destitute of the Holy Spirit; and, lastly, it is a mockery to dream of any way of eating the flesh of Christ without faith, since faith alone is the mouth — so to speak — and the stomach of the soul.
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 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my…
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Ver. 56. He that eateth my flesh, &c.] That is, that partaketh of my person, merits, passions, privileges; he that receiveth me in all mine offices and efficacies.
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 He that acknowledgeth and receiveth me, though he seeth…
He that acknowledgeth and receiveth me, though he seeth me as a man, consisting of flesh and blood, and that particularly applies himself to me as dying for the sins of the world, and committeth his soul in all its concerns for life and salvation to me, is united to me, and I to him: he is united to me by faith and love, Eph 3:17; 1Jo 3:23,24; 4:16; and I am united to him by a mutual love, Joh 14:23, and by my Holy Spirit. As our bread and meat, which we are nourished by, doth not dwell in us, and nourish, unless we eat it; so neither doth Christ do good to any soul, unless such a soul as by faith receiveth him, and believeth in him. What is said in this verse maketh it evident that these verses cannot be understood of any sacramental eating, for it is not true that Christ dwelleth in every soul, or that every soul dwelleth and abideth in Christ, who doth sacramentally eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ. All unions are either natural or political unions. The strictest natural union is that of the head and members, the vine and the branches. The strictest political union is that of the husband and wife, Gen 2:24. The union betwixt Christ and a believing soul is set out by all these, Joh 15:1; Eph 5:30,31; Col 1:18. For the nature of this union, see divines who have wrote on this argument.
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 This is that bread which came down from heaven,....…
This is that bread which came down from heaven,.... That true bread, the bread of God, the bread of life, living bread; meaning himself, as in Joh 6:32;
not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: this is bread of a quite different nature from that; that was only typical bread, this true; that was the bread of angels, but this is the bread of God; that came but from the air, this from the third heaven; that men ate of, and died; but whoever eats of this, lives for ever; see Joh 6:49; as follows:
Read full note →
he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever; See Gill on Joh 6:51.
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 56. Dwelleth in me, and I in him.]…
Verse 56. Dwelleth in me, and I in him.] Of all connections and unions, none is so intimate and complete as that which is effected by the digestion of aliments, because they are changed into the very substance of him who eats them; and this our Lord makes the model of that union which subsists between himself and genuine believers. He lives in them, and they in him; for they are made partakers of the Divine nature: 2Pe 1:4. To this verse the following addition is made in the Codex Bezae, three copies of the Itala, and Victorinus. After these words-dwelleth in me, and I in him, they add, as the Father in me, and I in the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that unless ye receive the body of the Son of man as the bread of life, ye have not life in him. This is a very remarkable addition, and is between thirteen and fourteen hundred years old.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Dwelleth in me - Is truly and intimately connected…
Dwelleth in me - Is truly and intimately connected with me. To dwell or abide in him is to remain in the belief of his doctrine, and in the participation of the benefits of his death. Compare Joh 15:1-6; Joh 17:21-23.
I in him - Jesus dwells in believers by his Spirit and doctrine. When his Spirit is given them to sanctify them; when his temper, his meekness, his humility, and his love pervade their hearts; when his doctrine is received by them and influences their life, and when they are supported by the consolations of the gospel, it may be said that he abides or dwells in them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He that eateth . . . dwelleth in me…
He that eateth . . . dwelleth in me and I in him--As our food becomes incorporated with ourselves, so Christ and those who eat His flesh and drink His blood become spiritually one life, though personally distinct.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 56. dwelleth in me, and I in him] Or,…
56. dwelleth in me, and I in him] Or, abideth in Me and I in him. This is one of S. John’s very characteristic phrases to express the most intimate mutual fellowship and union. The word ‘abide’ is also characteristic, as we have seen. Comp. Joh_14:10; Joh_14:20, Joh_15:4-5, Joh_17:21; 1Jn_3:24; 1Jn_4:16. Christ is at once the centre and circumference of the life of the Christian; the source from which it springs, and the ocean into which it flows; its starting-point and its goal.
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 (56) Dwelleth in me, and I in him.—Abideth gives…
(56) Dwelleth in me, and I in him.—Abideth gives the sense more fully. (Comp. Joh_14:2-23; Joh_15:4 et seq.; Joh_17:23; 1Jn_3:24; 1Jn_4:16.) It is one of those deeper thoughts which meet us only in the words of the beloved disciple. The union which results from the communication of life is not temporary, but is one that remaineth. By virtue of it we abide in Christ, and He in us. It is our home life, that of every day, and will be the life of the eternal home (Joh_14:2). (Comp. Note on Joh_5:38, and the contrast in Joh_3:36.)
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 He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood,…
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I (dwell) in him. This mutual indwelling is illustrated elsewhere (Joh_15:1-5) by the image of the vine and its branches. The vine abides in the branch in the virtue of its life-giving forces. Cut away from the parent stem, it can do nothing. Fruitlessness condemns and fire consumes it. The branch abides in the vine, as deriving all its worth, its true place, its possibility of growth and fruit, from the vine. (cf. also Joh_17:23 1Jn_3:24 1Jn_4:16) The dwelling of the believer in Christ involves an utter self-surrender to him, a recognition of the supreme claims of the God-Man and his work, a complete trust in him as the Source of all life, a sound and abiding place of rest, a justification before God as one with Christ, as one identified with him in his well pleasing to the Father. The dwelling of Christ in the believer is the fulness and riches of the Divine life. Christ liveth in him, (Gal_2:20) thinks in his thoughts, moves through his will. This is sanctification. The believer is in Christ as the members are in the body. Christ is in the believer as God is in his temple. What is the condition of this mutual indwelling? Christ puts the condition of this Divine interpretation thus: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him."The verb is in the present tense, implying the continuous appropriation of the Divine sustenance.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.