Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
John 6:22-71, The bread from heaven
In the synagogue at Capernaum the crowd asks for a sign like the manna. Jesus answers that he is the bread of life come down from heaven, and his hard words about eating his flesh drive many disciples away.
John 6:22-71, in every translation this tool compares.
The crowd finds Jesus at Capernaum, and he tells them to work for the food that lasts to eternal life. They ask for a sign, reminding him that their ancestors ate manna in the wilderness; he answers that it was not Moses but his Father who gives the true bread from heaven, and that he himself is the bread of life. When he says that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life, the Judeans argue, and many of his disciples find the teaching too hard and leave. Jesus asks the Twelve whether they will go too, and Peter answers that he has the words of eternal life.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/prophet-like-moses\/","n":"The prophet like Moses","s":"Moses promised that God would raise up a prophet like him. In Jesus' day people asked whether a new preacher was the Prophet, and some expected the manna and the wonders of the exodus to return with him.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/wilderness\/","n":"The wilderness","s":"The dry, empty country beyond the Jordan where John preached, Jesus was tested and a crowd was fed. It was hard ground, and it was where Israel's story with God began.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/synagogue\/","n":"The synagogue","s":"The local gathering place where Jews met on the Sabbath to pray and study Scripture. It was also a community center, run by people of standing.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/following-a-teacher\/","n":"Following a teacher","s":"A disciple walked behind his teacher, lived with him, learned his ways and carried his reputation. Jesus chose his own, which only radical teachers did.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/passover-pilgrims\/","n":"Passover and the pilgrim crowds","s":"The spring festival that retold God's rescue of Israel from Egypt. Jerusalem filled with pilgrims, and hopes of freedom ran high.","r":""}
Many Jews expected the manna to be restored in the world to come (Keener; the ESV and CSB Study Bibles). The discourse works like a Jewish homily on Exodus 16:15 and Psalm 78:24, using the method do not read this, but that: not Moses, but God gave the bread (Keener and his notes). Wright puts it simply: "Moses was only God's agent." Manna and water were already used as symbols of wisdom and the law, and Wisdom invited people to eat of her (Sirach 24) (Keener and his notes). Strict Jews avoided Tiberias, which Josephus says was built over graves, so Antipas had to settle it with the lowest classes of the land (the cultural backgrounds notes; the Zondervan Bible dictionary). Remains of an earlier synagogue lie beneath the later one at Capernaum, probably the building where Jesus taught (the cultural backgrounds notes; Price and House). Greeks and Romans abhorred cannibalism (Keener and his notes). Eating flesh and drinking blood is read several ways: against the Passover lamb, with the blood read as wine since drinking blood was forbidden (Keener); against Wisdom's banquet (Keener's notes); or as trusting his atoning death (the ESV Study Bible).
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on John 6:22-23, 6:30-59 (introduction), 6:30-31, 6:32-33, 6:35-40, 6:52, 6:53 and 6:66
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on John 6:23, 6:31, 6:32, 6:35, 6:52, 6:53, 6:59 and 6:61
- ESV Study Bible, study notes on John 6:31 and 6:53
- CSB Study Bible, note on John 6:31
- N. T. Wright, John for Everyone, Part One, comment on John 6:26-35
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.2.3, trans. William Whiston
- J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Tiberias
- J. Randall Price and H. Wayne House, Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology, ch. 12, Luke 7:5 The Capernaum Synagogue
