Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:42

And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

42. Is not this ] Or, Is not this fellow; the expression is contemptuous.

whose father and mother we know ] ‘We know all about His parentage; there is nothing supernatural or mysterious about His origin.’ Nothing can be inferred from this as to Joseph’s being alive at this time: the probability is that he was not, as he nowhere appears in the Gospel narrative; but this cannot be proved.

how is it then, &c.] Better, How doth He now say, I am come down.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For Capernaum, where our Saviour now was, was not far from Nazareth, where he had been educated, and lived near thirty years with Joseph his reputed father. Understanding therefore nothing of our Saviours miraculous conception by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin, they were much offended at his discourse of his coming down from heaven.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And they said, is not this Jesus the son of Joseph?…. From murmuring they go to mocking and scoffing at his parentage and descent, and object this to his coming down from heaven; and intend by it to upbraid him with the meanness of his birth, being the son of Joseph, a poor carpenter; and suggest, that it was great arrogance in him to claim an heavenly original, and to ascribe such things to himself, that he was the bread of God, and the bread of life, and came from heaven:

whose father and mother we know? for Capernaum and Nazareth were not at a great distance from each other; so that Joseph and Mary might be personally known by the inhabitants of Capernaum, and they might be intimately acquainted with them.

How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? they could not tell how to reconcile these things, not knowing either his miraculous conception and incarnation, nor his divine sonship; otherwise his being made of a woman, or born of a virgin on earth, is consistent with his being the Lord from heaven.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

How doth he now say? ( ;). They knew Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary. They cannot comprehend his claim to be from heaven. This lofty claim puzzles sceptics today.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

We know. Not implying necessarily that Joseph was still alive, but merely the fact that Joseph was recognized as the father of Jesus.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And they said, Is not this Jesus,” (kai elegon ouch houtos estin lesous) “And they said, is not this man Jesus,” whose very name meant “Savior or deliverer,” Mat 1:21; Rom 1:16; Act 4:12.

2) “The son of Joseph,” (ho huios loseph) “The heir-son of Joseph,” of Nazareth, Mat 2:23; Mat 13:55; Joh 7:40-42. Yes, but He was more than the mere Son of Joseph, through begettal of the Holy Spirit, Joh 1:14; Joh 3:16; Gal 4:4-5.

3) “Whose father and mother we know?” (ou hemeis oidamen ton patora kai ten metera) “Whose mother and father we know?” though they were ignorant and blind to the fact that He was also the Son of God, by them, according to their own prophets, Gen 49:10; Isa 7:14; Mic 5:2; Mar 6:1-6; Luk 4:14-16; Luk 4:22.

4) “How is it then that he saith,” (pos nun legei) “How now does he continually or repeatedly say,” demonstrating that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit, 1Co 2:14; 2Co 4:3-4; Eph 4:18.

5) ”I came down from heaven?” (hoti ek tou ouranou katabebeka) “That I have come down out of and away from heaven?” As the express image of the Father, Heb 1:1-3; Eph 4:9-10; 2Co 8:9; Php_2:4-8; Joh 17:4-5. He did not attempt publicly to explain to this promiscuous mixed crowd of skeptics matters regarding His virgin birth, a thing that would have been hopeless, since they did not believe 1 ) Moses, 2) The prophets, 3) The miraculous works that He had done.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(42) Is not this Jesus?Here is something definite. He has spoken of being the Bread of Life, and of the Bread from Heaven. Putting together Joh. 6:33; Joh. 6:35; Joh. 6:38, they in effect quote His words. But His natural descent and birth was in its outer facts well known, though all its mysteries were still stored in the mothers heart, and waiting for the human lifes completion before they should be revealed. Jesus Bar-Joseph would be the name by which He was commonly called; Joseph and Mary had been known, probably, to many in the crowd; attention had now for more than a year been fixed on Him; and the genealogies would have been searched and local inquiries made. All these indications point to an ordinary life in a Galilean village. It is human, and therefore they think it cannot be divine. They can conceive a coming in the clouds of heaven: that would be a miracle and tell of God; but the birth of a child is no miracle! the existence of life itselfand such an existence, and such a lifeis no sign! All this they cannot read. How does He then say, I am come down from heaven? (Comp. Joh. 6:38 and Note on Joh. 7:27.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

42. Whose father and mother we know These Jews therefore were familiar with Nazareth. Their terms are not now, as before, Rabbi and Lord. They have discarded from their memory the miraculous feeding, and so, doubtless, they carefully forget the Davidic descent of his parents, and all reference to his miraculous birth. They scout the idea of his having come down from heaven.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments