As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me.
Parallel Translations
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As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me.
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As the lyvinge father hath sent me even so lyve I by my father: and he that eateth me shall live by me.
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As that liuing Father hath sent me, so liue I by the Father, and he that eateth me, euen he shall liue by me.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to John 6:57 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself.
- 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.
- John 17:21 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.
- Psalms 18:46 Yahweh lives! Blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation,
- Jeremiah 10:10 But Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren’t able to withstand his indignation.
- John 3:17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
- Colossians 3:3-4 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
- Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
- John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
- John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- John 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.
- 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
- 2 Corinthians 13:4 For he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with him through the power of God toward you.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
- 1 John 4:9 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
- Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 57. As the living Father hath sent me. Hitherto…
57. As the living Father hath sent me. Hitherto Christ has explained the manner in which we must become partakers of life. He now comes to speak of the principal cause, for the first source of life is in the Father. But he meets an objection, for it might be thought that he took away from God what belonged to him, when he made himself the cause of life. He makes himself, therefore, to be the Author of life, in such a manner, as to acknowledge that there was another who gave him what he administers to others.
Let us observe, that this discourse also is accommodated to the capacity of those to whom Christ was speaking; for it is only with respect to his flesh that he compares himself to the Father. For though the Father is the beginning of life, yet the eternal Word himself is strictly life But the eternal Divinity of Christ is not the present subject; for he exhibits himself such as he was manifested to the world, clothed with our flesh.
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I also live on account of the Father. This does not apply to his Divinity simply, nor does it apply to his human nature simply and by itself, but it is a description of the Son of God manifested in the flesh. Besides, we know that it is not unusual with Christ to ascribe to the Father every thing Divine which he had in himself. It must be observed, however, that he points out here three degrees of life. In the first rank is the living Father, who is the source, but remote and hidden. Next follows the Son, who is exhibited to us as an open fountain, and by whom life flows to us. The third is, the life which we draw from him. We now perceive what is stated to amount to this, that God the Father, in whom life dwells, is at a great distance from us, and that Christ, placed between us, is the second cause of life, in order that what would otherwise be concealed in God may proceed from him to us.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In that that Christ is man, he receiveth that…
In that that Christ is man, he receiveth that power which quickeneth and giveth life to them that are his, of his Father: and he addeth this word (That) to make a difference between him and all other fathers.
Christ his meaning is, that though he be man, yet his flesh can give life, not of the own nature, but because that flesh of his liveth by the Father, that is to say, death suck and draw out of the Father, that power which it hath to give life.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and…
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Ver. 57. So he that eateth me, liveth by me] All out of Christ then, though they seem to have the only life of it (as Nabal, 1Sa 30:6; "Thus shall ye say to him that liveth"), yet in true account they are no better than living carcases, walking sepulchres, of themselves. Christ is the only principle and Prince of life; and his people only are heirs together of the grace of life, 1Pe 3:7.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain God is often in holy writ called the living…
God is often in holy writ called the living God, not only because he hath life in himself, but because he is the fountain of life to all his creatures. Christ here declareth his Father to be the living Father upon the latter account, as he is the author and fountain of all life.
And I live by the Father, saith he. Some translate it for the Father; as indeed the preposition δια, joined with an accusative case, (as it is here), doth most ordinarily signify; but not always, either in profane authors, or in the dialect of Scripture, as Mar 2:4; Mar 12:24; Joh 4:41,42. It seemeth here (as in those texts) to denote not so much the final as the efficient cause; and so better translated by, than for the Father: for Christ in this text seems to be giving his hearers an account how he came to be living bread; and to be in a capacity of giving life to the world. Saith he, I live by the Father, who by an eternal generation hath communicated to me all that life which is in him; and hath also communicated to me a quickening power, as I am Mediator, and sent by the Father into the world, to give life unto the world. Now look, as I have life in myself from him who is the fountain of life, so, according to the Father’s ordination, he that eateth me, that is, by a true faith receives and closes with me, as Mediator, he shall live by me both spiritually and eternally.
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 These things said he in the synagogue,.... Openly and…
These things said he in the synagogue,.... Openly and publicly, in the place of divine worship, where the Jews resorted for that purpose:
as he taught in Capernaum; his own city, and where there was a synagogue, into which he often went and taught his doctrines, and wrought miracles; see Mat 3:13.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I live by the Father - Being one with…
I live by the Father - Being one with him. He shall live by me -Being one with me. Amazing union!
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 57. So he that eateth me, even he…
Verse 57. So he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.] From which we learn that the union between Christ and his followers shall be similar to that which subsists between God and Christ.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I live by the Father - See the notes…
I live by the Father - See the notes at Joh 5:26.
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 As the living Father hath sent me--to communicate His…
As the living Father hath sent me--to communicate His own life.
and I live by the Father--literally, "because of the Father"; My life and His being one, but Mine that of a Son, whose it is to be "of the Father." (See Joh 1:18; Joh 5:26).
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he that eateth me, . . . shall live by me--literally, "because of Me." So that though one spiritual life with Him, "the Head of every man is Christ, as the head of Christ is God" (Co1 11:3; Co1 3:23).
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 57. Not a mere repetition of the previous statement…
57. Not a mere repetition of the previous statement but an enlargement of it. The result of this close union is perfect life, proceeding as from the Father to the Son, so in like manner from the Son to all believers.
the living Father] The absolutely Living One, the Fount of all life, in whom is no element of death. The expression occurs nowhere else. Comp. Mat_16:16; 2Co_6:16; Heb_7:25. For ‘hath sent’ read sent.
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By the Father] Better because of the Father, i.e. because the Father is the Living One. Similarly, ‘by Me’ should be because of Me, i.e. because he thus derives life from Me.
he that eateth me] Instead of the Flesh and Blood we have Christ Himself; the two modes of partaking are merged in one, the more appropriate of the two being retained.
even he] Or, he also.
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 (57) I live by the Father . . .…
(57) I live by the Father . . . he shall live by me.—The preposition “by” here is ambiguous, and it is better, therefore, to render the words, I live by reason of the Father . . . he shall live by reason of Me. For the thought of the Father as the original source of life, and as giving this principle of life to the Son, comp. Note on Joh_5:26. He that taketh the Son into his own being, in like manner receives this principle of life from Him.
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 Here is the grandest assertion of all. Christ began…
Here is the grandest assertion of all. Christ began by speaking of himself as the Bread of God, as the life-giving Bread, as the living Bread of human souls. He made it then clear that he was this by reason of his Divine humanity given for the life of the world. He added to this that he was specially to be appropriated and accepted as a sacrifice, as the death sacrifice, involved in his giving his flesh for the life of the world. The power conferred by his death in life and life in death for man, enabled him to institute eternal life-giving relations between himself and those who entirely accept and make their own this central reality. And now, to meet the nascent objection as to the unique grandeur of his position, he adds: As the living Father sent me. The phrase, "living Father," occurs nowhere else. (cf. "righteous Father," Joh_17:25; "holy Father," Joh_17:11; "the living God," Mat_16:16 2Co_6:16 Heb_10:31; and above all, Joh_5:26, "As the Father hath life in himself, so he gave also to the Son to have life in himself Christ is speaking of the human position he assumed before them as sent by the Father who has life in himself, who is more than all his laws or all his works. Not merely as the Word, but as the Word of the living Father made flesh, he stands before them. And I live because of the Father. "Because he lives, I live; my life is guaranteed by his." This is the premise, the platform on which he now stands (dia tora must not be confounded with per Patrem, or dia tou Patrov , as M"Leod Campbell, who, in his interesting discussion on "Christ the Bread of Life," made this expression equivalent to the means and condition of the Saviour"s life). From this premiss the Lord argues a corresponding relation of the believer to himself: So he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me. The points of comparison are:
(1) The Father"s life-imparting relation to Christ, and Christ"s life-imparting relation to the believer. In both cases the life of one is the guarantee of the life of the other.
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(2) The sending of Christ by the Father, correlated with the eating of Christ by the believer.
(3) The peculiar relation of the believer to Christ. "He that eateth me" gathers up and really comprehends all that has gone before. It is, then, possible for the believer not only to share in the Divine humanity by his faith, and also in the fulness and significance of iris (blood) death, but to have full possession of his Divine personality. "He that eateth me shall live because of me". (cf. "Because I live, ye shall live also," Joh_14:19) This is the vindication of the previous verse, and the climax of the argument.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 57. The living Father. Who is the fountain of…
57. The living Father. Who is the fountain of all life.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 so he who eats me
so he who eats me
"the one who trusts in me"
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living Father
Possible meanings are 1) "the Father who gives life" or 2) "the Father who is alive."
Father
This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)
This is the bread that has come down from heaven
The "bread" is a metaphor for Jesus, who has come from heaven. AT: "I am like bread that has come from heaven" (See: Metaphor)
He who eats this bread
This is a metaphor. Those who trust in Jesus for their spiritual life are like those who rely on physical bread or food for their physical lives. AT: "Whoever trusts in me" (See: Metaphor)
the fathers
"the forefathers" or "the ancestors"
Jesus said these things in the synagogue ... in Capernaum
Here John gives background information about when this event happened. (See: Background Information)
translationWords
God the Father
heaven
ancestor
synagogue
Capernaum
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.