27-37.
753
ὑμῖν τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὸν " ἀληθινόν. 33. ὁ γὰρ ἄρτος τοῦ hi. 9, etc. Θεοῦ ἐστιν 16 καταβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ ! iii. 13. κόσμω.”. 34. Εἶπον οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν, “ Κύριε, πάντοτε δὸς ἡμῖν τὸν
” a 35 αρτον τουτογ.
35. Εἶπε δὲ αὐτοῖς 6 ᾿Ιησοῦς, ““᾿Εγώ εἰμι 6 ἄρτος
τῆς ζωῆς: ὅ ἐρχόμενος πρός µε οὐ μὴ πεινάσῃ΄ καὶ 6 πιστεύων εἰς
ἐμὲ J οὗ μὴ διψήσῃ | πώποτε. µε, καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε.
37. "πᾶν ὃ δίδωσί por 6 πατὴρ, πρὸς ἐμὲ
36. GAN εἶπον ὑμῖν ὅτι καὶ ἑωράκατέ j iv. 14.
« k ver. 39; Xvii. 2.
1 διψησει in T.Tr.W.H.R. following SAB*D.
heaven’? see Exod. xiv. 4 and Ps. Ixxviii. 23, 24.) To this challenge to fulfil Messianic expectation by showing Him- self greater than Moses Jesus replies (ver. 32), οὐ Μωσῆς . . - ἀληθινόν. A double denial; not Moses, but “my Father” s the giver, and although the manna was in a sense ‘bread from heaven” it was not “the true bread from heaven,” τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὸν ἀληθινόν. This my Father is now giving to you; 6 γὰρ ἄρτος .. . τῷ κόσμῳ.---Ψετ. 33. Moses therefore could not give this bread, since it comes down out of heaven. It is characterised by two attributes: (1) it is 6 καταβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, that which cometh down out of heaven—not, as Godet renders, «ες who cometh down from heaven”; at least the request of ver. 34 shows that those who heard the words did not take them in this sense; (2) the other charac- teristic of the bread of God is that it giveth life to the world; a fuller life- giving power than that of the manna is implied; and it is of universal application and not merely to their fathers. Hearing this description of ‘‘ the bread of God”’ the crowd exclaim (ver. 34) Κύριε, πάν- τοτε δὸς ἡμῖν τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον, precisely as the woman of Samaria had exclaimed Κύριε δός pot τοῦτο τὸ ὕδωρ, when Jesus had disclosed to her the properties of the living water. And as in her case the direct request brought the conversation to a crisis, so here it elicits the central declaration of all His exposition of the bearing of the miracle: ᾿Εγὼ εἰμι 6 ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς. [It is not impossible that some of them may have had a glimmering of what He meant and uttered their re- quest with some tincture of spiritual desire; for among the Rabbis there was a saying, “ In seculo venturo neque edunt neque bibunt, sed justi sedent cum coronis suis in capitibus et aluntur splendore majestatis divinae”.] ‘‘I am the bread of life,’ “I am the living bread” (ver. 51, in a somewhat different sense), “1
am the bread which came down from heaven” (ver. 41), or, “the true bread from heaven”—all these designations our Lord uses, and that the people may quite understand what is meant, He adds 6 ἐρχόμενος . . . πώποτε. The repetition of the required action 6 ἐρχό- µενος, and 6 πιστεύων, and of the result οὐ μὴ πεινάσῃ, and οὐ μὴ διψήσῃ, is for clearness and emphasis, not for addition to the meaning. The “believing”’ εχ- plains the ‘‘ coming” ; and the ‘‘ quench- ing of thirst” more explicitly conveys the meaning of “never hungering,” that all innocent and righteous cravings and aspirations shall be gratified. The ‘‘com- ing” was not that physical approach which they had adopted in pursuing Him
to Capernaum, but such a coming as © might equally well be called ‘“‘believing,” | a spiritual approach, implying the con- viction that He was what He claimed to be, the medium through which God comes to man, and man to God.—Ver. 36. But although God and this perfect satisfaction were brought so near them, they did not believe: ἀλλ” εἶπον . .
πιστεύετε. Beza, Grotius, Bengel, Godet, Weiss, etc., understand that εἶπον refers to ver. 26. Euthymius,