John 6:15-21 - Jesus Brings Peace To Troubled Hearts
The most conclusive proof that our Lord was no weak fanatic or enthusiast is afforded by the calm temper which refused the eager impulse of the crowds to make Him king. Here the temptation of the wilderness was repeated; and only one who was filled with the unwavering determination to do God's will, could have refused this short cut to Messianic empire. Notice these withdrawals of our Lord to the calm of nature's stillness and the bosom of God. If he needed such spaces of undisturbed meditation and communion, surely we do.
He knew when he pressed the disciples into the boat, that the night would be full of storm, but He did not hesitate to expose them to its peril; he was conscious of His ability to turn that storm to the highest use by coming to their help. His advent is often delayed, but he always comes. Delays are not denials. He is as near in the storm as though already in the boat. The storm-waves are His pathway. Be not afraid! The people hurried across the Lake in the early morning, conveyed in the boats which had come to take them off; but as Jesus sorrowfully perceived, their object was to receive His gifts and not Himself. [source]
Chapter Summary: John 6
1Jesus feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes 15Thereupon the people would have made him king; 16but withdrawing himself, he walks on the sea to his disciples; 26reproves the people flocking after him, and all the fleshly hearers of his word; 32declares himself to be the bread of life to believers 66Many disciples depart from him 68Peter confesses him 70Judas is a devil
Greek Commentary for John 6:18
And the sea was rising [η τε ταλασσα διεγειρετο] Imperfect (without augment) passive of διεγειρω diegeirō late compound to wake up thoroughly, to arouse. By reason of a great wind that blew Genitive absolute with present active participle of πνεω pneō to blow, “a great wind blowing.” [source]
Arose [διηγείρετο] It is lamentable how the A.V. misses the graphic force of these imperfects. Rev., rightly, was rising. Literally, was being awakened. The imperfects convey the sense of gathering danger, and throw into stronger relief the fact of Jesus' appearance. They were going; the darkness had already fallen, the sea was rising, and Jesus had not yet come. [source]
That blew [πνέοντος] Literally, blowing. That was blowing would be better. John's narrative at this point is more detailed and graphic than the others. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 6:18
Mark 6:48About the fourth watch of the night [περι τεταρτην πυλακην της νυκτος] That is, between three and six a.m.The wind was contrary to them (εναντιος αυτοις enantios autois), that is in their faces and rowing was difficult, “a great wind” (John 6:18), and as a result the disciples had made little progress. They should have been over long before this.And he would have passed by them Only in Mark. He wished to pass by them, praeterire eos (Vulgate). Imperfect tense ητελεν ēthelen thought A natural conclusion.And cried out (ανεκραχαν anekraxan). Cried up, literally, a shriek of terror, or scream. [source]
Mark 6:48contrary to them [εναντιος αυτοις] (εναντιος αυτοις enantios autois), that is in their faces and rowing was difficult, “a great wind” (John 6:18), and as a result the disciples had made little progress. They should have been over long before this. [source]
John 3:8The wind [τὸ πνεῦμα] Some hold by the translation spirit, as Wyc., the spirit breatheth where it will. In Hebrew the words spirit and wind are identical. Πνεῦμα is from πνέω tobreathe or blow, the verb used in this verse (bloweth ), and everywhere in the New Testament of the blowing of the wind (Matthew 7:25,Matthew 7:27; Luke 12:55; John 6:18). It frequently occurs in the classics in the sense of wind. Thus Aristophanes, τὸ πνεῦμ ' ἔλαττον γίγνεται , the wind is dying away (“Knights,” 441), also in the New Testament, Hebrews 1:7, where the proper translation is, “who maketh His angels winds,” quoted from 1Kings href="/desk/?q=1ki+18:45&sr=1">1 Kings 18:45; 1 Kings 19:11; 2 Kings 3:17; Job 1:19. In the New Testament, in the sense of breath, 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 11:11. The usual rendering, wind, is confirmed here by the use of the kindred verb πνεῖ , bloweth, and by φωνὴν , sound, voice. Tholuck thinks that the figure may have been suggested to Jesus by the sound of the night-wind sweeping through the narrow street. [source]
John 3:8The wind [το πνευμα] In Greek πνευμα pneuma means either wind or spirit as spiritus does in Latin (so also in Hebrew and Syriac). Wycliff follows the Latin and keeps spirit here and Marcus Dods argues for it. The word πνευμα pneuma occurs 370 times in the N.T. and never means wind elsewhere except in a quotation from the O.T. (Hebrews 1:7 from Psalm 104:4), though common in the lxx. On the other hand πνεω pneō (bloweth, πνει pnei) occurs five times elsewhere in the N.T. and always of the wind (like John 6:18). So πωνη phōnē can be either sound (as of wind) or voice (as of the Spirit). In simple truth either sense of πνευμα pneuma can be taken here as one wills. Tholuck thinks that the night-wind swept through the narrow street as Jesus spoke. In either case the etymology of πνευμα pneuma is “wind” from πνεω pneō to blow. The Spirit is the use of πνευμα pneuma as metaphor. Certainly the conclusion “of the Spirit” is a direct reference to the Holy Spirit who works his own way beyond our comprehension even as men even yet do not know the law of the wind. [source]
Greek Commentary for John 6:18
Imperfect (without augment) passive of διεγειρω diegeirō late compound to wake up thoroughly, to arouse. By reason of a great wind that blew Genitive absolute with present active participle of πνεω pneō to blow, “a great wind blowing.” [source]
It is lamentable how the A.V. misses the graphic force of these imperfects. Rev., rightly, was rising. Literally, was being awakened. The imperfects convey the sense of gathering danger, and throw into stronger relief the fact of Jesus' appearance. They were going; the darkness had already fallen, the sea was rising, and Jesus had not yet come. [source]
Literally, blowing. That was blowing would be better. John's narrative at this point is more detailed and graphic than the others. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 6:18
That is, between three and six a.m.The wind was contrary to them (εναντιος αυτοις enantios autois), that is in their faces and rowing was difficult, “a great wind” (John 6:18), and as a result the disciples had made little progress. They should have been over long before this.And he would have passed by them Only in Mark. He wished to pass by them, praeterire eos (Vulgate). Imperfect tense ητελεν ēthelen thought A natural conclusion.And cried out (ανεκραχαν anekraxan). Cried up, literally, a shriek of terror, or scream. [source]
(εναντιος αυτοις enantios autois), that is in their faces and rowing was difficult, “a great wind” (John 6:18), and as a result the disciples had made little progress. They should have been over long before this. [source]
Some hold by the translation spirit, as Wyc., the spirit breatheth where it will. In Hebrew the words spirit and wind are identical. Πνεῦμα is from πνέω tobreathe or blow, the verb used in this verse (bloweth ), and everywhere in the New Testament of the blowing of the wind (Matthew 7:25, Matthew 7:27; Luke 12:55; John 6:18). It frequently occurs in the classics in the sense of wind. Thus Aristophanes, τὸ πνεῦμ ' ἔλαττον γίγνεται , the wind is dying away (“Knights,” 441), also in the New Testament, Hebrews 1:7, where the proper translation is, “who maketh His angels winds,” quoted from 1Kings href="/desk/?q=1ki+18:45&sr=1">1 Kings 18:45; 1 Kings 19:11; 2 Kings 3:17; Job 1:19. In the New Testament, in the sense of breath, 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 11:11. The usual rendering, wind, is confirmed here by the use of the kindred verb πνεῖ , bloweth, and by φωνὴν , sound, voice. Tholuck thinks that the figure may have been suggested to Jesus by the sound of the night-wind sweeping through the narrow street. [source]
In Greek πνευμα pneuma means either wind or spirit as spiritus does in Latin (so also in Hebrew and Syriac). Wycliff follows the Latin and keeps spirit here and Marcus Dods argues for it. The word πνευμα pneuma occurs 370 times in the N.T. and never means wind elsewhere except in a quotation from the O.T. (Hebrews 1:7 from Psalm 104:4), though common in the lxx. On the other hand πνεω pneō (bloweth, πνει pnei) occurs five times elsewhere in the N.T. and always of the wind (like John 6:18). So πωνη phōnē can be either sound (as of wind) or voice (as of the Spirit). In simple truth either sense of πνευμα pneuma can be taken here as one wills. Tholuck thinks that the night-wind swept through the narrow street as Jesus spoke. In either case the etymology of πνευμα pneuma is “wind” from πνεω pneō to blow. The Spirit is the use of πνευμα pneuma as metaphor. Certainly the conclusion “of the Spirit” is a direct reference to the Holy Spirit who works his own way beyond our comprehension even as men even yet do not know the law of the wind. [source]