John 6:15
What does John 6:15 mean?
A plain-English look at John 6:15 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What John 6:15 means
Perceiving the crowd’s intent to seize Him and make Him king, Jesus withdraws alone to the mountain. He refuses a crown on their terms. His kingdom is not advanced by coercion or popular acclaim; it is aligned with His Father’s will and the cross. The Lord who feeds the multitude will not be managed by them. By withdrawing, He protects His mission and the disciples from dangerous political fervor. He is the true King, but not the kind they imagine. This moment exposes the gap between human expectations of power and Jesus’s path of humble obedience and sacrificial love.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.
KJV
King James Version · 1611When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Now when Jesus saw that the people were about to come and take him by force to make him a king, he went away again up the mountain by himself.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Jesus, therefore, having known that they are about to come, and to take him by force that they may make him king, retired again to the mountain himself alone.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Jesus therefore, when he knew that they would come to take him by force and make him king, fled again into the mountains, himself alone.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Jesus therefore knowing that they were going to come and seize him, that they might make [him] king, departed again to the mountain himself alone.
Context
This decisive withdrawal follows the people’s declaration about “the prophet” and their attempt to enthrone Jesus. It ends the public feeding scene and shifts the storyline. The disciples soon head toward Capernaum without Jesus, and a storm rises. The contrast is sharp: from crowd adulation to dark waters, from attempted earthly kingship to a private display of divine authority as Jesus walks on the sea.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- John 18:36
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
- John 2:24
But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men,
- Matthew 14:22
And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, till he should send the multitudes away.
- Mark 11:9
And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
- John 5:41
I receive not glory from men.
- John 6:15
Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.
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