Devine Scripture

John 6:4

What does John 6:4 mean?

A plain-English look at John 6:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What John 6:4 means

John notes that Passover is near, quietly shaping how we interpret the coming sign and discourse. Passover recalls Israel’s deliverance from bondage and the Lord’s provision of manna in the wilderness. By placing the feeding and the “Bread of Life” teaching in this season, John invites us to see Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s saving acts. The setting primes the audience to expect God’s provision and rescue. When Jesus feeds the crowd and later speaks of bread from heaven, He situates Himself in the story of Exodus—not as another Moses, but as the One through whom God gives true, life-giving bread.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Now the passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Now the passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and the passover was nigh, the feast of the Jews.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

but the passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.

Context

This time marker stands between Jesus’s quiet gathering with His disciples and the sudden appearance of a massive need for food. The mention of Passover prepares the reader to hear later claims about bread from heaven and to understand the crowd’s reference to manna. It also explains the large numbers present in Galilee and the people’s heightened messianic expectations. The liturgical backdrop will intensify both the excitement over the sign and the controversy that follows Jesus’s teaching.

v.3And Jesus went up into the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

v.4This passage

v.5Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude cometh unto him, saith unto Philip, Whence are we to buy bread, that these may eat?

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • John 5:1

    After these things there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

  • Leviticus 23:5

    In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, is Jehovah’s passover.

  • John 2:13

    And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

  • Deuteronomy 16:1

    Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto Jehovah thy God; for in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

  • John 13:1

    Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

  • John 11:55

    Now the passover of the Jews was at hand: and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the passover, to purify themselves.

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