John now identified the historical context in which Jesus gave this teaching. Jesus gave this discourse in the synagogue in the town that He had adopted as the headquarters of His ministry (cf. John 2:12). This verse evidently marks the conclusion of the discussion that took place within the synagogue. [source][source][source]
Archaeologists have uncovered what they believe may be the foundations of this synagogue. Visitors to the site of Capernaum may now view a reconstructed edifice that dates from three or four hundred years later. [source][source][source]
The Apostle Paul went to the Jewish synagogues in the towns that he evangelized because they were the places where pious Jews normally congregated to listen to God"s Word. We should probably view Jesus" teaching ministry here as similar to Paul"s later practice. Both men announced God"s revelations to lost religious Jews and appealed to them to believe the gospel. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
John 6:52-59 - Eat And Live
In John 6:57 our Lord gives the secret of His inner life. At the beginning of His ministry He told the tempter that man did not live by bread alone, but by God's Word. Here He goes further and says that He lived not only by the words of God, but by God Himself. There is also this other truth, that each of us is called to exercise toward Christ the same attitude and dependence that He exercised toward the Father. It is impossible by one illustration to set forth the eternal facts of the spiritual world. Metaphor has to be heaped on metaphor. Already our Lord had dealt with the symbol of manna and bread; He now goes further in order to emphasize the truth that the power to communicate life can only be acquired through death. Our Lord, therefore, describes the bread of the soul-life as His flesh, which he would give for the life of the world. Obviously flesh is that which has passed through death. But it should always be borne in mind that the Christian soul does not dwell exclusively on the death of Jesus, but on the life of Him who died. It is the risen and ascended Christ, who died for our sins but whom God exalted to His right hand, that should fill our thoughts. [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 6:59
In the synagogue [εν συναγωγηι] Definite like our in church, though article absent. Only use of the word in John except John 18:20. “Among the ruins at Tell Hum, the probable site of Capernaum, have been found among the remains of a synagogue a block of stone perhaps the lintel, carved with a pot of manna, and with a pattern of vine leaves and clusters of grapes” (Vincent). [source]
In the synagogue [ἐν συναγωγῇ] But the definite article is wanting; so that we must either understand in a synagogue, or in an assembly. See on James 2:2. Among the ruins at Tell Hum, the probable site of Capernaum, have been found among the remains of a synagogue a block of stone, perhaps the lintel, carved with the pot of manna, and with a pattern of vine leaves and clusters of grapes. See a full account of these ruins in Thomson's “Land and Book, Central Palestine and Phoenicia,” pp. 417-419. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 6:59
John 18:20Openly [παρρησιαι] As already shown (John 7:4; John 8:26; John 10:24,John 10:39; John 16:25,John 16:29. See John 7:4 for same contrast between εν παρρησιαι en parrēsiāi and εν κρυπτωι en kruptōi I ever taught Constative aorist active indicative. For the temple teaching see John 2:19; John 7:14,John 7:28; John 8:20,John 19:23; Mark 14:49 and John 6:59 for the synagogue teaching (often in the Synoptics). Examples of private teaching are Nicodemus (John 3) and the woman of Samaria (John 4). Jesus ignores the sneer at his disciples, but challenges the inquiry about his teaching as needless. [source]
John 6:25When they found him [ευροντες αυτον] Second aorist active participle of ευρισκω heuriskō Found him after search and in the synagogue as John explains (John 6:59) in Capernaum, perhaps that very synagogue built by a centurion (Luke 7:5). Rabbi See note on John 1:38 for this courteous title. When camest thou hither? Second perfect active indicative of γινομαι ginomai “When hast thou come?” We sought you anxiously on the other side of the lake and could not see how you came across (John 6:22-24). [source]
What do the individual words in John 6:59 mean?
These thingsHe saidin[the] synagogueteachingCapernaum
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: Καπερναούμ
Sense: a flourishing city of Galilee situated on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesaret, near the place where the Jordan flows into the lake.
Greek Commentary for John 6:59
Definite like our in church, though article absent. Only use of the word in John except John 18:20. “Among the ruins at Tell Hum, the probable site of Capernaum, have been found among the remains of a synagogue a block of stone perhaps the lintel, carved with a pot of manna, and with a pattern of vine leaves and clusters of grapes” (Vincent). [source]
But the definite article is wanting; so that we must either understand in a synagogue, or in an assembly. See on James 2:2. Among the ruins at Tell Hum, the probable site of Capernaum, have been found among the remains of a synagogue a block of stone, perhaps the lintel, carved with the pot of manna, and with a pattern of vine leaves and clusters of grapes. See a full account of these ruins in Thomson's “Land and Book, Central Palestine and Phoenicia,” pp. 417-419. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 6:59
As already shown (John 7:4; John 8:26; John 10:24, John 10:39; John 16:25, John 16:29. See John 7:4 for same contrast between εν παρρησιαι en parrēsiāi and εν κρυπτωι en kruptōi I ever taught Constative aorist active indicative. For the temple teaching see John 2:19; John 7:14, John 7:28; John 8:20, John 19:23; Mark 14:49 and John 6:59 for the synagogue teaching (often in the Synoptics). Examples of private teaching are Nicodemus (John 3) and the woman of Samaria (John 4). Jesus ignores the sneer at his disciples, but challenges the inquiry about his teaching as needless. [source]
Second aorist active participle of ευρισκω heuriskō Found him after search and in the synagogue as John explains (John 6:59) in Capernaum, perhaps that very synagogue built by a centurion (Luke 7:5). Rabbi See note on John 1:38 for this courteous title. When camest thou hither? Second perfect active indicative of γινομαι ginomai “When hast thou come?” We sought you anxiously on the other side of the lake and could not see how you came across (John 6:22-24). [source]