Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:32
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
32. Moses gave you not ] Christ shews them that He quite understands their insinuation: they are comparing Him unfavourably with Moses. He denies both their points; (1) that Moses gave the manna; (2) that the manna was in the truest sense bread from heaven.
giveth you the true bread, &c.] Literally, giveth you the bread out of heaven ( which is) the true bread; ‘true’ in the sense of ‘real’ and ‘perfect’ (see on Joh 1:9); the manna was but the type, and therefore imperfect. Note the change of tense from ‘gave’ to ‘giveth:’ God is continually giving the true bread; it is not a thing granted at one time and then no more, like the manna.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven – This might be translated, Moses gave you not the bread of heaven. The word that, which makes some difference in the sense, is not necessary to express the meaning of the original. It does not appear that Jesus intended to call in question the fact that their fathers were fed by the instrumentality of Moses, but to state that he did not give them the true bread that was adapted to the wants of the soul. He fed the Body, although his food did not keep the body alive Joh 6:49 but he did not give that which would preserve the soul from death. God gave, in his Son Jesus, the true bread from heaven which was fitted to man, and of far more value than any supply of their temporal wants. He tells them, therefore, that they are not to seek from him any such supply of their temporal wants as they had supposed. A better gift had been furnished in his being given for the life of the world.
My father giveth you – In the gospel; in the gift of his Son.
The true bread – The trite or real support which is needed to keep the soul from death. It is not false, deceitful, or perishing. Christ is called bread, because, as bread supports life, so his doctrine supports, preserves, and saves the soul from death. He is the true support, not only in opposition to the mere supply of temporal wants such as Moses furnished, but also in opposition to all false religion which deceives and destroys the soul.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 32. Moses gave you not that bread from heaven] Our Lord refutes the argument of the Jews, by proving:
1. That it was not Moses, but God, who gave the manna.
2. That this bread was not the true bread, but was merely a type of it.
3. That God had given them now a bread infinitely more excellent.
4. That himself is that heavenly nourishment of which he spake, and who was typified by the manna in the desert.
To show that himself was the true bread from heaven, he proves two things:
1. That his doctrine was the true nourishment of the soul, and that those who were to be put in possession of the blessings promised in it must come to God by faith.
2. That he would give his body for the life of the world: that as bread is the staff that supports the natural life of man, so the salvation procured by his death should be that by which the bodies and souls of believers should be preserved unto life eternal.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
You are mistaken in your opinion of that manna, which indeed was bread from heaven, spiritual meat, ( as the apostle calleth it, 1Co 10:3), but it was not given you by any power or virtue in or from Moses. Moses said otherwise; when it was first rained down, he told them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat, Exo 16:15. It was the Lord, not Moses, that gave you that bread. Nor was that true spiritual bread; it was only spiritual (as the apostle calleth it) because it was typical, and prefigurative of me.
My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven; it was he that gave your fathers manna, not Moses; and it is he who giveth you me, who am the true bread of which that bread was but typical, a shadow, and a figure.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
32, 33. Moses gave you not,c.”It was not Moses that gave you the manna, and even it wasbut from the lower heavens ‘but My Father giveth you thetrue bread,‘ and that ‘from heaven.‘”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you,…. It is truth, and may be depended on, whether it will be believed or not:
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; in which Christ denies that that bread, or manna, did come from heaven; that is, from the highest heavens, only from the air, and was not such celestial bread he after speaks of, and which came down from the heaven of heavens: and moreover, he denies that Moses gave them that bread; it was the Lord that gave them it, as is expressly said in the passage referred to, in the above citation. Moses had no hand in it; he did not so much as pray for it, much less procure it, or prepare it: it was promised and prepared by God, and rained by him, and who directed to the gathering and use of it. This stands opposed to a notion of the Jews, that the manna was given by means of Moses, for his sake, and on account of his merits: for they say g,
“there arose up three good providers, or pastors for Israel, and they are these, Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam; and three good gifts were given by their means, and they are these, the well, the cloud, and the manna; the well by the merits of Miriam; the pillar of cloud by the merits of Aaron; , “the manna, by the merits of Moses”.”
This our Lord denies; and affirms,
but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven: he not only gave the manna to the Jewish fathers, and not Moses; but he also gives that bread which the manna was typical of, by which he means himself; who may be compared to bread, because of the original of it, or the matter of it, of which it is made, wheat, he is called a corn of wheat, Joh 12:24; and from its preparation for food, being threshed, and winnowed, and ground, and kneaded, and baked; all which may express the sufferings and death of Christ, by which he becomes fit food for faith; and from its being the main part of human sustenance, and from its nourishing and strengthening nature, and from its being a means of maintaining and supporting life: and he may be called the “true” bread, because he is the truth and substance of the types of him; the unleavened bread, eaten at the passover, was typical of him, as he was free from sin in nature and life; and from all error in doctrine; and so was the showbread a type of his intercession, and set forth the continuance of it, its efficacy and acceptance, of which the priests only shared; and so were the meat offerings in the sacrifices, which were offered up day by day: and particularly the manna, the bread from heaven, the Jews were now speaking of: Christ was the truth of that type; that was but shadowy bread, Christ is the true bread, or the antitype of it in its name; whether it be derived from “manah”, to prepare, Christ being the bread of life, and salvation of God, prepared in the council and covenant of grace, and by his sufferings and death before the face of all people; or from the words “man hu”, what is it? Christ being as little known by carnal men, as the manna was at first to the Israelites: and in its nature, kind, form, and quality; it was round in form, which might be expressive of the perfections of Christ, and particularly his eternity, being without beginning or end; it was white in colour, which may denote the purity and innocence of him; it was sweet in taste, as he, his fruits, his word, and ordinances, are to them that are born again; it was small in quantity, which may set forth the meanness of Christ in his state of humiliation: it was also typical of Christ in its usefulness; it was sufficient to supply a, great multitude, and that for many years, as the fulness of grace in Christ is sufficient for the whole family in heaven, and in earth, in time, and to all eternity; the Israelites all shared in it, and had all an equal portion of it; so all the people of God have an interest in Christ, and equally participate of the blessings of his grace, and shall enjoy the same eternal life and glory by him: one has neither more nor less than another; Christ is all in all, and made alike all things to them: and he may be called the bread “from heaven”; because he came from thence, not by change of place, but by assumption of nature, even from the highest heavens, the third heaven, from whence the manna came not: he is the Lord from heaven, and is such bread as has a virtue and tendency in it to nourish men for heaven, and is truly of a heavenly nature: and this is Christ’s Father’s gift, and is of pure grace, without any consideration of works and merits in men. Philo the Jew says h, the heavenly food of the soul, which is called “manna”, the divine word distributes alike to all that ask.
g T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 9. 1. Seder Olam Rabba, p. 28. h Quis rer. divin. haeres. p. 507.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It was not Moses that gave you ( ). “Not Moses gave you.” Blunt and pointed denial (aorist active indicative of ) that Moses was the giver of the bread from heaven (the manna). Moses was not superior to Christ on this score.
But my Father ( ). Not “our Father,” but same claim as in 5:17f. Which caused so much anger in Jerusalem.
Gives (). Present active indicative, not aorist (). Continual process.
The true bread out of heaven ( ). “The bread out of heaven” as the manna and more “the genuine bread” of which that was merely a type. On see John 1:9; John 4:23.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Moses gave you not [ ] . The antithesis is between Moses and my Father. So Rev., rightly, “it was not Moses that gave you,” etc. – “but my Father giveth,” etc. Some editors change the perfect tense, dedwken, hath given, to the aorist, edwken, gave.
The true bread from heaven [ ] . The translation would gain by following the Greek order, “the bread out of heaven, the real bread.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then Jesus said unto them,” (eipon oun autois ho lesous) “Therefore Jesus said to them,” in patience, in spite of their folly and fickleness, of “sign requirements,” 1Co 1:22.
2) “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” (amen amen lego humin) “Truly, truly, I tell you all directly,” plainly, distinctly, explicitly, to render them without excuse, Rom 2:1.
3) “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; (ou Mouses dedoken humin ton arton ek tou ouranou) “Moses has not given you all the bread (true bread) out of heaven;” What your fathers got, was similar to what I gave you, though it came as dew from heaven, and had to be cooked, mine was given miraculously like that bread, to meet physical hunger, for a brief time.
4) “But my Father giveth you,” (all’ ho pater mou didosin humin) “But my Father gives to you all,” at this time, progressively doles out to you all, in His Son, as the bread of life who satisfies the longing soul forever, Joh 1:13; Joh 1:16; Joh 6:48-51; Joh 6:57-58.
5) “The true bread from heaven.” (ton arton ek tou ouranou ton alethinon) “The true bread out of heaven,” and originating from out of heaven, sent down to satisfy your souls, as the manna and the bread I miraculously gave you all a short while ago, satisfied your hunger pains physically for a temporary period, see? Isa 55:2; Psa 107:9 reads, “He satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness,” Mat 5:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
32. Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses gave you not bread from heaven. Christ appears to contradict what was quoted from the psalm, but he speaks only by comparison. The manna מן is called the bread of heaven, but it is for the nourishment of the body; but the bread which ought truly and properly to be reckoned heavenly, is that which gives spiritual nourishment to the soul. Christ therefore makes a contrast here between the world and heaven, because we ought not to seek the incorruptible life but in the kingdom of heaven. In this passage, truth is not contrasted with shadows, as is often done elsewhere; but Christ considers what is the true life of man, or, in other words, what it is that makes him different from brute beasts, and excellent among the creatures.
My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. When he adds these words, the meaning is,” The manna which Moses gave to your fathers did not bring heavenly life, but now heavenly life is truly exhibited to you.” True, it is the Father whom he calls the giver of this bread, but he means that it is given by his own hand. Thus the contrast relates, not to Moses and God, but to Moses and Christ. Now, Christ represents his Father rather than himself as the Author of this gift, in order to procure for himself deeper reverence; as if he had said, “Acknowledge me to be the minister of God, by whose hands he wishes to feed you to eternal life.” But, again, this appears to be inconsistent with the doctrine of Paul, who calls the manna — spiritual food, (1Co 10:3.) I reply, Christ speaks according to the capacity of those with whom he has to deal, and this is not uncommon in Scripture. We see how variously Paul speaks about circumcision. When he writes about the ordinance, he calls it the seal of faith, (Rom 4:11😉 but when he has to contend with false apostles, he calls it rather a seal of cursing, and that by taking it with the qualities which they ascribed to it, and according to their opinion. (143) Let us consider what was the objection made against Christ, namely, that he did not prove himself to be the Messiah, if he did not supply his followers with bodily food. Accordingly, he does not inquire what it was that was prefigured by the manna, but maintains that the bread with which Moses fed their bellies was not true bread.
(143) “ Et ce en la prenant avec les qualitez qu’ils luy attribuoyent, et selon leur sens.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(32) Moses gave you not that bread.Again His solemn words bring to their thoughts the deeper reality which they are passing over. They had implied a contrast between their fathers and themselves, between Moses and Jesus. They expressed the glory of the Mosaic sign in the language of the Psalm; but there the gift is ascribed to God, and it is named to mark the darkness of their unbelief. The gift of God was ever the same. He it was who gave then; He it is who ever giveth. You think of Moses; but Moses was the messenger of My Father. You speak of bread from heaven; but heaven is My home, from which I am come to give the true bread to the world, which in very truth is its sustenance. (Comp., for the full sense of true, the Note on Joh. 1:9.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
32. Verily These men have fallen below the level possible for Jesus, or for the full sweep of divine mercy to reach. He now simply states, in terms they can comprehend, that his is a gift greater than Moses conferred; a bread of which that manna was but a type, imparting a life infinitely higher than the bread of the wilderness could nourish.
The true bread The real bread of which the heaven-descended manna was an emblem.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Jesus therefore said to them, “In very truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven. But my Father is giving you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world”.’
Jesus’ reply appears to contain two elements. Firstly it informed them that it was God and not Moses who gave them the ‘bread from heaven’. And secondly it pointed out that what was given was not really bread from Heaven at all. While what was given did come from God, it was not heavenly bread, it was earthly nourishment. (Indeed, as He will remind them later, they ate of it and later died). But what He wanted them to recognise was that He had now brought something far, far better. God had now given them in Himself ‘true bread from Heaven’, for ‘the Bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world’. And those who partook of that would never die.
‘That which comes down’. Note the present tense. ‘That which is coming down’. Day by day He is among them as bread coming down from Heaven.
So they must take their minds off earthly food and satisfaction and concentrate on what God has now sent. They must remember that ‘man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Mat 4:4; Deu 8:3). They should recognise that He has sent Someone Who has come down from Heaven in His manhood, and is coming down from Heaven in His divine life, and is offering eternal life to the world. And as He has said before, He Himself was that One Who had come down from Heaven, so He was the true bread. But this is something that they were missing altogether.
We too need to stop and give ourselves the onceover. We too should ask, what is of most importance to us. Is our greatest desire to know Christ and to know God? Is our greatest longing food for our souls? Or do we see both as simply a means of advancing in this life, forgetting that our aim should be to ‘lay up treasure in Heaven’? (Mat 6:19).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 6:32-33 . Jesus does not mean to deny the miraculous and heavenly origin of the manna in itself (Paulus), nor to argue polemically concerning the O. T. manna (Schenkel), but He denies its origin as heavenly in the higher ideal sense (comp. ). The antithesis is not between the and the (Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus, Grotius, and most others), but between the type and the antitype in its full realization.
] your nation .
] here and in the second half of the verse to be joined to (and ): “It is not Moses who dispensed to you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who dispenseth to you from heaven that bread which is the true bread.” In Joh 6:31 , too, is to be joined with ; and observe also, that in Exo 16:4 belongs not to , but to . The expression . is taken from Exo 16:4 ; for, if we follow Psa 78:24 ; Psa 105:40 (where is an attribute of bread), we should have . Comp. Targ. Jonath. Deu 34:6 : “Deus fecit descendere filiis Israel panem de coelo.”
] continuously; for Jesus means Himself and His work.
] corresponding in reality to the idea. See on Joh 1:9 . , , , , Euthymius Zigabenus. This defining word, placed emphatically at the end, explains at the same time the negative statement at the beginning of the verse.
Joh 6:33 . Proof that it is the Father who gives, etc. (Joh 6:32 ); for it is none other than the bread which is being bestowed by God, that comes down from heaven and giveth life to the world. The argument proceeds ab effectu ( . ) ad causam ( ).
, . . .] refers to , and states its specific property, both as to its origin and working, both being essentially connected; it does not refer to Jesus (“He who cometh down,” etc.), though, in the personal application of the general affirmation, Jesus, by the bread, represents, and must represent, Himself; and hence the expression “cometh down” (against Grotius, Dav. Schulz, Olshausen, Fritzsche in his Novis opusc. p. 221, Godet, and others). The direct reference to Jesus would anticipate the subsequent advance of the discourse (Joh 6:35 ), and would require (Joh 6:41 ; comp. Joh 6:48 ). See on Joh 6:50 .
] life. Without this bread, humanity ( ) is dead in the view of Jesus dead spiritually (Joh 6:35 ) and eternally (Joh 6:39-40 ).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Ver. 32. I am the true bread ] Whereof manna was but a type. Manna is said to have all sorts of good tastes in it: Christ hath so to his. Manna descended in the dew; so doth Christ in his word preached. SeeExo 16:14-21Exo 16:14-21 Num 11:7-9 . See Trapp on “ Num 11:7 “ See Trapp on “ Num 11:8 “ See Trapp on “ Num 11:9 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
32. ] Our Lord lays open the course of their argument. They have not mentioned Moses, nor was the giving of the manna a miracle performed by Moses; but He knew that the comparison between Moses and Himself was in their minds, and answers by exposing the error which represented Moses as the giver of the manna. Neither again was that the true bread from heaven. It was, in one sense, bread from heaven; but not in this sense. It was a type and shadow of the true bread from heaven, which My Father is giving ( , or perhaps the abstract present, giveth ) to you . Our Lord does not here deny , but asserts the miraculous character of the manna.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Moses. The fifth of seven references to Moses. See note on Joh 1:17. The Gemarists affirm that “manna was given for ‘ the merits of Moses'”.
that bread = the [true] bread.
My Father. See note on Joh 2:16.
true. Greek. alethinos. See note on Joh 1:9, and App-175.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
32.] Our Lord lays open the course of their argument. They have not mentioned Moses,-nor was the giving of the manna a miracle performed by Moses;-but He knew that the comparison between Moses and Himself was in their minds, and answers by exposing the error which represented Moses as the giver of the manna. Neither again was that the true bread from heaven. It was, in one sense, bread from heaven;-but not in this sense. It was a type and shadow of the true bread from heaven, which My Father is giving (,-or perhaps the abstract present,-giveth) to you. Our Lord does not here deny, but asserts the miraculous character of the manna.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 6:32. , verily, verily, I say unto you) This assertion has, especially in this passage, great force, when the Jews had objected to Him, that it was written, Joh 6:31.- , Moses gave you not the bread from heaven) Understand here also , the true. It was not Moses who gave you or your fathers the manna; and the manna was not that true bread from heaven, which is incapable of corruption. Exo 16:20, Some left of the manna until the morning, and it bred worms and stank.-, giveth) In antithesis to , gave. Now the bread was present: comp. Joh 6:33, The bread of God is He, which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.- , true) which, whosoever tastes, he will no longer seek any-other sign: for the taste in the bread is of itself a sufficient criterion; and the truth of it shall hereafter be made manifest: Joh 6:39, This is the Fathers will, that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. The truth and the life are often here mentioned.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 6:32
Joh 6:32
Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven.-Jesus seizes this reference to the manna to show that this manna was not real spiritual bread sent down from God. He again emphasizes the truth he tells them. It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven. The bread Moses gave you came not from heaven. It was material (earthly) bread for the support of the body. My Father giveth you the true bread. The true bread that God gave from heaven was spiritual, and will bring spiritual life. In verse 49 he tells them, Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. Hence, it could not be the spiritual bread that comes from heaven. Verse 50: This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. In verse 51 he says: I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. The manna that Moses gave the fathers was an earthly (perishable) food-a type of the true bread that comes from heaven in the person of Jesus Christ that brought eternal life to man.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Moses: Exo 16:4, Exo 16:8, Psa 78:23
the true: Joh 6:33, Joh 6:35, Joh 6:41, Joh 6:50, Joh 6:55, Joh 6:58, Joh 1:9, Joh 15:1, Gal 4:4, 1Jo 5:20
Reciprocal: Exo 16:15 – It is manna Lev 6:14 – the meat offering Hos 11:4 – and I laid Mat 5:18 – verily Mar 8:8 – and were Mar 14:18 – Verily Joh 1:51 – Verily Rom 6:23 – but the Heb 6:4 – and have
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
In this verse Jesus distinguishes between the two kinds of bread. He does so by terming that from the Father as the true bread.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
[Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.] The Gemarists affirm that manna was given for the merits of Moses. “There were three good shepherds of Israel, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: and there were three good things given us by their hands, a well, a cloud, and manna: the well, for the merits of Miriam; the pillar of the cloud, for the merits of Aaron; manna, for the merits of Moses.”
Contrary, therefore, to this opinion of theirs, it may well be said, Moses did not give you this bread; i.e. it was by no means for any merits of his. But what further he might intend by these words, you may learn from the several expositors.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 6:32. Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you. The gravity of the truth declared in this verse is indicated by the solemn Verily, verily, which now occurs for the second time in this discourse.
Moses gave you not the bread out of heaven; but my Father giveth you the bread out of heaven, the true bread. If we compare these words with Joh 6:26, in which the formula Verily, verily is first used, we easily trace the advance in the thought. There, in general terms, the people are enjoined not to set their thought on the perishable food; here Jesus declares that the true bread given out of heaven is not the manna, but that which His Father is at this moment offering them. In the words of Joh 6:31, he gave them bread, the multitude may have had Moses in their thoughts; but that is not the meaning of the psalmist, the context having the clearest reference to God. It is probable that our Lord here mentions Moses only to point out more distinctly the past and inferior gift of the manna by the servant of God, in contrast with the true bread now offered to them by the Father. It was not Moses who gave the manna; still less had their fathers received from him the true bread of heaven. The Father, who gave to their fathers the symbol, offers the reality now. My Father, Jesus says, because He is leading His hearers onwards to the truth declared in the next two verses, that the true bread given out of heaven is Himself, the Son.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Upon the Jews mentioning manna to our blessed Saviour, he takes occasion to make a comparison betwixt himself, the bread of life, and manna, the bread of Moses, and that in three particulars.
1. It was not Moses that gave the Israelites that manna, it was God at the prayer of Moses; but it was God that now offered them the bread of life, were they willing to accept it.
2. The manna was not given from heaven, that is, from the celestial heaven, but only from the air and clouds, which frequently in the scripture is called heaven; but Christ the bread of life was given, and sent by, the Father from the highest heaven, even the heaven of glory.
3. Manna was not true spiritual food effectively and of itself, but bodily food only: but Christ is real and spiritual bread, which gives life to lost and dead men; which manna did not, could not do. And whereas manna was peculiar to Israel only, Christ gives life to all sorts of persons, Gentiles as well as Jews, The bread of God giveth life unto the world.
Learn hence, That as Christ is the truth and substance of all types in the Old Testament, so particularly, the manna was an illustrious type of Christ. In many things they agree; and in some they differ.
They agree in their original: manna came down from above, so did Christ: manna was freely given, so is Jesus Christ the free gift of God: manna was not fit to be eaten as it lay in the field, but must be ground in a mill, or beaten in a mortar, and baked in an oven before it was fit for food: Christ was ground by his sufferings, bruised on the cross, scorched in the fiery oven of his Father’s wrath, that he might become a fit Saviour for us.
Again, as the manna was gathered by the Israelites daily and equally: it was ruined down about their tents, and every man had his omer: thus is Christ in the ministry of the word daily offered to a lost world, and all that believe in him, shall share alike in the benefit of the justification, sanctification, and glorification from him; but now the manna and Christ differ in this: and the truth excels the type thus: there is a quickening, enlivening virtue, a life giving, and a life upholding power in Christ the bread of life, which was never found in manna, the bread of Israel; and whereas manna only fed the body of an Israelite, and this only for a little time in the wilderness: Christ nourisheth the soul, the souls of all believers, be they Jew or Gentile, bond or free, and this not for a time, but for eternity; The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Joh 6:32-33. Jesus said, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven It was not Moses who in ancient times gave the manna to your fathers, neither was the manna bread from heaven, though it be so called by the psalmist, on account of the thing which it typified: for it dropped from the air only; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven It was my Father that gave to your ancestors the manna, and he now giveth you the true spiritual, heavenly bread, of which the manna was only a symbolical representation, and which is sufficient to sustain, not a single nation only, but the whole world. For the bread of God The bread only worthy of that name; is he Or rather, is that which cometh down, as should here be rendered, being a participle, referring to , the bread, which is of the masculine gender: for it appears, from what follows, that our Lord did not intend at once to lay aside the veil, wherein he had wrapped his meaning: for the request made to him in the very next verse, Give us always this bread, shows that he was not yet understood as speaking of a person, which he must have been if his expression had been as explicit as that of our translation. From heaven Not from the aerial, but from the highest heavens; and giveth life unto the world Not that which preserveth a mere temporal life to one people only, but imparteth spiritual and eternal life to as many of the whole world as will be persuaded to partake of it; and that from generation to generation.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 32, 33. Jesus therefore said to them: Verily, verily, I say unto you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; 33 for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.
Until this point, the thought of the auditors seemed to move in accord with that of Jesus, but this was due to an ambiguity: Jesus made announcement of a bread of a higher nature, and the Jews accepted the offer willingly, but on the condition that this food should be not only miraculous in its origin, but also of a material nature, like the manna, an ambrosia falling from heaven. Jesus now gives an explanation which brings to light the opposition between His thought and theirs.
The formula amen, amen foreshadows this contrast in the two points of view. The perfect must be preferred to the aorist, which seems to have been introduced from Joh 6:31. The sense of the perfect is this: The gift of the heavenly bread is not a thing which Moses accomplished for your fathers and yourselves. The predominant contrast is not that of the two objects (Keil), but that of the two subjects. If they are in possession of the true bread from heaven, it is not by the act of Moses, it is by the gift of the Father who sends it to them at this very moment. This is what is indicated by the present , gives, which already affords a suggestion of what Jesus is about to say, namely, that it is God who makes this gift in His person. The word , the true, is added at the end of the sentence in order to place the spiritual, divine essence of this bread in contrast with such a gift as that of the manna, which, although miraculous in its origin, was material in its nature. The limiting words from heaven belong here and in the following verse, not to the verb has given (in opposition to Meyer)but as in Psa 78:24, to the substantive bread. The position of this limiting word in the Greek indicates this, and it is on the idea of bread from heaven that the discussion turns.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 32
Moses gave you not. The meaning is, that the true bread from heaven was not the manna of Moses, but the spiritual food bestowed upon the believer through Christ.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
6:32 {7} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not {h} that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
(7) Christ, who is the true and only author and giver of eternal life, was represented unto those in the Old Testament by the manna.
(h) He denies that manna was the true heavenly bread, and says that he himself is the true bread, because he feeds the true and everlasting life. And as for 1Co 10:1-5 , where Paul calls manna spiritual food, it does not contradict what is said here, for Paul joins the thing signified with the sign: but in this whole disputation, Christ deals with the Jews after their own opinion and conceit of the matter, who thought of the manna only in terms of physical food.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The people were viewing Moses as the source of their blessing in the past. They believed that the manna was given through his merits, and ended with his death. [Note: Edersheim, 2:30.] There is also some evidence that they believed Moses was interceding for them in the present as well. [Note: See Beasley-Murray, p. 79.] Jesus pointed them beyond Moses to the true source, namely, God. He wanted them to look to God for their needs, not to a human channel of God’s blessing.
Jesus also turned the conversation away from the request for a physical sign back to the subject of the bread that satisfies. God had given manna in the past, but He was giving a new type of bread now. Jesus described it as coming down from heaven and providing life for the entire world, not just Israel. With this response Jesus effectively took Moses and his sign, which the people had put in a superior place over Himself, and placed them in an inferior position under Himself. The true (Gr. alethinos, genuine or original, cf. Joh 1:9) bread is the bread that satisfies ultimately. In this discourse Jesus mentioned seven times that He had come down out of heaven, stressing the fact that He was God’s divine gift (Joh 6:33; Joh 6:38; Joh 6:41-42; Joh 6:50-51; Joh 6:58).