The Meaning of John 6:27 Explained

John 6:27

KJV: Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

YLT: work not for the food that is perishing, but for the food that is remaining to life age-during, which the Son of Man will give to you, for him did the Father seal -- even God.'

Darby: Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto life eternal, which the Son of man shall give to you; for him has the Father sealed, even God.

ASV: Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him the Father, even God, hath sealed.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Labour  not  for the meat  which  perisheth,  but  for that meat  which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life,  which  the Son  of man  shall give  unto you:  for  him  hath  God  the Father  sealed. 

What does John 6:27 Mean?

Study Notes

Son of man
.
(See Scofield " Ezekiel 2:1 ") . Our Lord thus designates Himself about eighty times. It is His racial name as the representative Man, in the sense of 1 Corinthians 15:45-47 as Son of David is distinctly his Jewish name, and Son of God His divine name. Our Lord constantly uses this term as implying that his mission (e.g.); Matthew 11:19 ; Luke 19:10 . His death and resurrection (e.g.); Matthew 12:40 ; Matthew 20:18 ; Matthew 26:2 and His second coming (e.g.); Matthew 24:37-44 ; Luke 12:40 transcended in scope and result all merely Jewish imitations. When Nathanael confesses him as "King of Israel," our Lord's answer is, "Thou shalt see greater things.. . the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." When His messengers are cast out by the Jews, His thought leaps forward to the time when the Son of man shall come, not then to Israel only but to the race; Matthew 10:5 ; Matthew 10:6 ; Matthew 8:23 . It is in this name, also, that universal judgment is committed to Him John 5:22 ; John 5:27 . It is also a name indicating that in Him is fulfilled the O.T. foreview of blessing through a coming man. See Scofield " Genesis 1:26 "; Genesis 3:15 ; Genesis 12:3 ; Psalms 8:4 ; Psalms 80:17 ; Isaiah 7:14 ; Isaiah 9:6 ; Isaiah 9:7 ; Isaiah 32:2 ; Zechariah 13:7 ; Isaiah 32:2 ; Zechariah 13:7 .

Verse Meaning

Jesus had previously spoken to the Samaritan woman about living water ( John 4:10; John 4:14), and now He spoke to these Galileans about food that endures. He was, as previously, contrasting physical and spiritual nourishment. Consequently the descriptions that follow contain a mixture of literal and metaphorical language. Jesus wanted His hearers to view the spiritual aspects of His mission as more important than its physical aspects.
The people apparently understood His reference to bread that endures to eternal life as meaning physical bread that does not become stale and moldy. As the Son of Prayer of Manasseh , Jesus claimed to be able to give this food because God the Father had set His seal of approval on Jesus. The Father had authorized the Son to act for Him (cf. John 5:32-47). This was one of the functions of a seal in Jesus" culture, and God setting His seal on something or someone was a common expression for it being true. [1] Jesus was speaking of Himself as the food ( John 6:35; John 6:53). The Son would give this food and eternal life, but the people had a responsibility to work for it too.

Context Summary

John 6:22-29 - Insincere Seekers Of Truth
The mention in John 6:23 of Christ's giving thanks, recalls the vivid impression made by that solemn act, and the great importance which those who witnessed it attached to it. When the multitudes, disembarking on the other side of the Lake found Jesus there, though they knew that He had not accompanied His disciples in the one boat that left the farther shore on the previous night, His presence had the effect of an apparition. See John 6:25. Our Lord's answer to the question of the crowd deals with the motive that dictated it. He exposed the spurious and carnal impulses that actuated them, and contrasted the satisfaction of natural hunger, John 6:26, with that true and effectual seeking which leads to the nourishment of the spirit, John 6:27. What a difference between these people, with their gross aspirations and carnal desires, and the spiritual Israel, which could say with the psalmist, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God!" All the labor described in John 6:27 is to maintain a pure heart and exercise an appropriating faith. God sealed Christ by His declaration at the water of baptism and the miracles which were wrought through the Father's power, John 14:10. [source]

Chapter Summary: John 6

1  Jesus feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes
15  Thereupon the people would have made him king;
16  but withdrawing himself, he walks on the sea to his disciples;
26  reproves the people flocking after him, and all the fleshly hearers of his word;
32  declares himself to be the bread of life to believers
66  Many disciples depart from him
68  Peter confesses him
70  Judas is a devil

Greek Commentary for John 6:27

Work not for [μη εργαζεστε]
Prohibition with μη — mē and present middle imperative of εργαζομαι — ergazomai old verb from εργον — ergon work. The meat The act of eating (Romans 14:17), corrosion (Matthew 6:19), the thing eaten as here (2 Corinthians 9:10). See note on John 4:32. Which perisheth Present middle participle of apollumi They were already hungry again. Unto eternal life Mystical metaphor quite beyond this crowd hungry only for more loaves and fishes. Bernard thinks that John has here put together various sayings of Christ to make one discourse, a gratuitous interpretation. Will give Future active indicative of εις ζωην αιωνιον — didōmi The outcome is still future and will be decided by their attitude towards the Son of man (John 6:51). For him the Father, even God, hath sealed Literally, “For this one the Father sealed, God.” First aorist active indicative of διδωμι — sphragizō to seal. See elsewhere in John 3:33 (attestation by man). Sealing by God is rare in N.T. (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30). It is not clear to what item, if any single one, John refers when the Father set his seal of approval on the Son. It was done at his baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon him and the Father spoke to him. Cf. John 5:37. [source]
Meat [βρῶσιν]
See on John 4:32. In Matthew 6:19, Matthew 6:20, and there only, it is used in the sense of rust, that which eats or corrodes. Similarly, corrode is from rodo, to gnaw. [source]
Him hath God the Father sealed []
The Rev. makes the sentence culminate properly in God: “for Him the Father, even God, hath sealed.” According to the strict Greek order it is: for Him the Father sealed, even God. On sealed ( ἐσφράγισεν ) see on John 3:33. Wyc., betokened Him. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 6:27

Luke 9:25 Lose [ἀπολέσας]
“When he might have been saved” (Bengel). This word, in classical Greek, is used: 1. Of death in battle or elsewhere. 2. Of laying waste, as a city or heritage. 3. Of losing of life, property, or other objects. As an active verb, to kill or demolish. 4. Of being demoralized, morally abandoned or ruined, as children under bad influences. In New Testament of killing (Matthew 2:13; Matthew 12:14). 5. Of destroying and perishing, not only of human life, but of material and intellectual things (1 Corinthians 1:19; John 6:27; Mark 2:22; 1 Peter 1:7; James 1:11; Hebrews 1:11). 6. Of losing (Matthew 10:6, Matthew 10:42; Luke 15:4, Luke 15:6, Luke 15:8). Of moral abandonment (Luke 15:24, Luke 15:32). 7. Of the doom of the impenitent (Matthew 10:28; Luke 13:3; John 3:15; John 10:28; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 2:12. [source]
John 1:4 In Him was life [ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν]
He was the fountain of life - physical, moral, and eternal - its principle and source. Two words for life are employed in the New Testament: βίος and ζωὴ . The primary distinction is that ζωὴ means existence as contrasted with death, and βίος , the period, means, or manner of existence. Hence βίος is originally the higher word, being used of men, while ζωὴ is used of animals ( ζῶα ). We speak therefore of the discussion of the life and habits of animals as zoo logy; and of accounts of men's lives as bio graphy. Animals have the vital principle in common with men, but men lead lives controlled by intellect and will, and directed to moral and intellectual ends. In the New Testament, βίος means either living, i.e., means of subsistence (Mark 12:44; Luke 8:43), or course of life, life regarded as an economy (Luke 8:14; 1 Timothy 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:4). Ζωὴ occurs in the lower sense of life, considered principally or wholly as existence (1 Peter 3:10; Acts 8:33; Acts 17:25; Hebrews 7:3). There seems to be a significance in the use of the word in Luke 16:25: “Thou in thy lifetime ( ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου ) receivedst thy good things;” the intimation being that the rich man's life had been little better than mere existence, and not life at all in the true sense. But throughout the New Testament ζωὴ is the nobler word, seeming to have changed places with βίος . It expresses the sum of mortal and eternal blessedness (Matthew 25:46; Luke 18:30; John 11:25; Acts 2:28; Romans 5:17; Romans 6:4), and that not only in respect of men, but also of God and Christ. So here. Compare John 5:26; John 14:6; 1 John 1:2. This change is due to the gospel revelation of the essential connection of sin with death, and consequently, of life with holiness. “Whatever truly lives, does so because sin has never found place in it, or, having found place for a time, has since been overcome and expelled” (Trench). Ζωὴ is a favorite word with John. See John 11:25; John 14:6; John 8:12; 1 John 1:2; 1 John 5:20; John 6:35, John 6:48; John 6:63; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1, Revelation 22:17; Revelation 7:17; John 4:14; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2, Revelation 22:14, Revelation 22:19; John 12:50; John 17:3; John 20:31; John 5:26; John 6:53, John 6:54; John 5:40; John 3:15, John 3:16, John 3:36; John 10:10; John 5:24; John 12:25; John 6:27; John 4:36; 1 John 5:12, 1 John 5:16; John 6:51.Was the Light of men ( ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων )Passing from the thought of creation in general to that of mankind, who, in the whole range of created things, had a special capacity for receiving the divine. The Light - the peculiar mode of the divine operation upon men, conformably to their rational and moral nature which alone was fitted to receive the light of divine truth. It is not said that the Word was light, but that the life was the light. The Word becomes light through the medium of life, of spiritual life, just as sight is a function of physical life. Compare John 14:6, where Christ becomes the life through being the truth; and Matthew 5:8, where the pure heart is the medium through which God is beheld. In whatever mode of manifestation the Word is in the world, He is the light of the world; in His works, in the dawn of creation; in the happy conditions of Eden; in the Patriarchs, in the Law and the Prophets, in His incarnation, and in the subsequent history of the Church. Compare John 9:5. Of men, as a class, and not of individuals only. [source]
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life [καγω διδωμι αυτοις ζωην αιωνιον]
This is the gift of Jesus now to his sheep as stated in John 6:27, John 6:40 (cf. 1 John 2:25; 1 John 5:11). And they shall never perish Emphatic double negative with second aorist middle (intransitive) subjunctive of απολλυμι — apollumi to destroy. The sheep may feel secure (John 3:16; John 6:39; John 17:12; John 18:9). And no one shall snatch them out of my hand Jesus had promised this security in Galilee (John 6:37, John 6:39). No wolf, no thief, no bandit, no hireling, no demon, not even the devil can pluck the sheep out of my hand. Cf. Colossians 3:3 (Your life is hid together with Christ in God). [source]
John 3:33 Hath set his seal [εσπραγισεν]
First aorist active indicative of σπραγιζω — sphragizō for which verb see Matthew 27:66. The metaphor of sealing is a common one for giving attestation as in John 6:27. The one who accepts the witness of Jesus attests that Jesus speaks the message of God. [source]
John 4:32 Meat [βρωσιν]
Originally the act of eating (Romans 14:17) from βιβρωσκω — bibrōskō but soon and commonly as that which is eaten like βρωμα — brōma once in John (John 4:34). So here and John 6:27, John 6:55. Cf. vernacular English “good eating,” “good eats.” I … ye Emphatic contrast. Spiritual food Jesus had. [source]
John 5:22 He hath given all judgment unto the Son [την κρισιν πασαν δεδωκεν τωι υιωι]
Perfect active indicative of διδωμι — didōmi state of completion (as in John 3:35; John 6:27, John 6:29; John 10:29, etc.). See this prerogative claimed for Christ already in John 3:17. See the picture of Christ as Judge of men in Matt 25:31-46. [source]
John 6:31 Ate the manna [το μαννα επαγον]
The rabbis quoted Psalm 72:16 to prove that the Messiah, when he comes, will outdo Moses with manna from heaven. Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah and able to give bread for eternal life (John 6:27). Lightfoot (Biblical Essays, p. 152) says: “The key to the understanding of the whole situation is an acquaintance with the national expectation of the greater Moses.” They quote to Jesus Exodus 16:15 (of. Numbers 11:7; Numbers 21:5; Deuteronomy 8:3). Their plea is that Moses gave us bread “from heaven” Can Jesus equal that deed of Moses? [source]
Colossians 2:16 Meat - drink [βρώσει - πόσει]
Properly, eating, drinking, as 1 Corinthians 8:4; but the nouns are also used for that which is eaten or drunk, as John 4:32(see note); John 6:27, John 6:55; Romans 14:17. For the subject-matter compare Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 8:8; Hebrews 9:10, and note on Mark 7:19. The Mosaic law contained very few provisions concerning drinks. See Leviticus 10:9; Leviticus 11:34, Leviticus 11:36; Numbers 6:3. Hence it is probable that the false teachers had extended the prohibitions as to the use of wine to all Christians. The Essenes abjured both wine and animal food. [source]
Hebrews 12:16 For one morsel of meat [ἀντὶ βρώσεως μιᾶς]
Βρῶσις , lit. the act of eating, as 1 Corinthians 8:4, Romans 14:17: “one eating of meat.” Sometimes corrosion, as Matthew 6:19. Sometimes of that which is eaten, John 6:27, John 6:55. [source]
2 John 1:8 Which we have wrought [α ηργασαμετα]
This is also correct, first aorist middle indicative of εργαζομαι — ergazomai to work (John 6:27.). John does not wish his labour to be lost. See Romans 1:27 for this use of απολαμβανω — apolambanō for receiving. See John 4:36 for μιστος — misthos in the harvest. The “full reward” John is anxious that they shall hold on with him to the finish. [source]
2 John 1:8 That ye lose not [ινα μη απολεσητε]
Negative purpose with ινα μη — hina mē and first aorist active subjunctive of απολλυμι — apollumi This is the correct text (B), not απολεσωμεν — apolesōmen (we). Likewise απολαβητε — apolabēte (that ye receive), not απολαβωμεν — apolabōmen (we).Which we have wrought (α ηργασαμετα — ha ērgasametha). This is also correct, first aorist middle indicative of εργαζομαι — ergazomai to work (John 6:27.). John does not wish his labour to be lost. See Romans 1:27 for this use of απολαμβανω — apolambanō for receiving. See John 4:36 for μιστος — misthos in the harvest. The “full reward” (μιστον πληρη — misthon plērē) is the full day‘s wages which each worker will get (1 Corinthians 3:8). John is anxious that they shall hold on with him to the finish. [source]
3 John 1:5 Thou doest [ἐργάσῃ]
Or lit., according to the eymology, workest ( ἔργον work). See on James 2:9. The distinction between this verb and others signifying to do, such as ποιεῖν , πράσσειν , δρᾶν , which last does not occur in the New Testament, is not sharply maintained in Attic Greek. In certain connections the difference between them is great, in others, it is hardly perceptible. On ποιεῖν and πρα.σσειν , see on John 3:21. Ἐργάζομαι , like πράσσειν , contemplates the process rather than the end of action, carrying the ideas of continuity and repetition. It means to labor, to be active, to perform, with the idea of continued exertion, and therefore is used of servants, or of those who have an assigned business or office. See Matthew 21:28; Matthew 25:26; Luke 13:14; John 5:17; John 6:27; John 9:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:9. For the phrase ἐργάσῃ εἰς thoudoest toward (Rev.), see Matthew 26:10. [source]

What do the individual words in John 6:27 mean?

Work not [for] the food that is perishing but [for] - enduring unto life eternal which the Son - of Man to you will give Him for Father has sealed - God
ἐργάζεσθε μὴ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν ἀπολλυμένην ἀλλὰ τὴν μένουσαν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἣν Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑμῖν δώσει τοῦτον γὰρ Πατὴρ ἐσφράγισεν Θεός

ἐργάζεσθε  Work 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Middle or Passive, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἐργάζομαι  
Sense: to work, labour, do work.
μὴ  not  [for] 
Parse: Adverb
Root: μή 
Sense: no, not lest.
βρῶσιν  food 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: βρῶσις  
Sense: act of eating.
τὴν  that 
Parse: Article, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀπολλυμένην  is  perishing 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀπόλλυμι  
Sense: to destroy.
ἀλλὰ  but  [for] 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἀλλά  
Sense: but.
τὴν  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
μένουσαν  enduring 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: μένω  
Sense: to remain, abide.
εἰς  unto 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
ζωὴν  life 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ζωή  
Sense: life.
αἰώνιον  eternal 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: αἰώνιος  
Sense: without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be.
Υἱὸς  Son 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: υἱός  
Sense: a son.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀνθρώπου  of  Man 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: ἄνθρωπος  
Sense: a human being, whether male or female.
ὑμῖν  to  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
δώσει  will  give 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: διδῶ 
Sense: to give.
Πατὴρ  Father 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
ἐσφράγισεν  has  sealed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: σφραγίζω  
Sense: to set a seal upon, mark with a seal, to seal.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεός  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.