John 6:22

The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) The people.—Better, the multitude. It is the same word which in John 6:5 is rendered “company.”

On the other side of the sea—i.e., on the eastern side. The writer’s starting-point is now Capernaum. In John 6:25 the same words mean the western side, the starting-point of the multitude being the scene of the miracle.

Save that one whereinto his disciples were entered.—Better, save one, with the best MSS. The addition has arisen from an explanatory gloss.

Benson Commentary

John 6:22-24. “In this and the two following verses,” says Dr. Campbell, “is contained a sentence more involved than any in this gospel. Indeed it is so unlike the composition of this evangelist, as to give ground to suspect that it has been injured in transcribing. He often indeed uses tautologies; but, except in this instance, they occasion no darkness or perplexity. I have adopted the reading of the Vulgate as preferable upon the whole, namely, On the morrow the people, who were on the sea-side, knowing that there had been but one boat there, and that Jesus went not into the boat with his disciples, who went alone, (other boats, however, arrived from Tiberias, nigh the place where they had eaten, after the Lord had given thanks,) knowing besides, that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, embarked, and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:22-27 Instead of answering the inquiry how he came there, Jesus blamed their asking. The utmost earnestness should be employed in seeking salvation, in the use of appointed means; yet it is to be sought only as the gift of the Son of man. Him the Father has sealed, proved to be God. He declared the Son of man to be the Son of God with power.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The people which stood on the other side of the sea - That is, on the east side, or on the same side with Jesus. The country was called the region beyond or on, the other side of the sea, because the writer and the people lived on the west side.

Jesus went not with his disciples - He had gone into a mountain to pray alone, John 6:15. Compare Mark 6:46.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Joh 6:22-71. Jesus Followed by the Multitudes to Capernaum, Discourses to Them in the Synagogue of the Bread of Life—Effect of This on Two Classes of the Disciples.

22-24. These verses are a little involved, from the Evangelist's desire to mention every circumstance, however minute, that might call up the scene as vividly to the reader as it stood before his own view.

The day following—the miracle of the loaves, and the stormy night; the day on which they landed at Capernaum.

the people which stood on the other side of the sea—not the whole multitude that had been fed, but only such of them as remained over night about the shore, that is, on the east side of the lake; for we are supposed to have come, with Jesus and His disciples in the ship, to the west side, to Capernaum.

saw that there was none other boat there, &c.—The meaning is, the people had observed that there had been only one boat on the east side where they were; namely, the one in which the disciples had crossed at night to the other, the west side, and they had also observed that Jesus had not gone on board that boat, but His disciples had put off without Him:

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "John 6:17"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The day following,.... The day after that, in which the miracle of feeding live thousand men with five loaves and two fishes was done: the morning after the disciples had had such a bad voyage:

when the people which stood on the other side of the sea; from that in which the disciples now were, being landed at Capernaum; that is, they stood on that side, or shore, where they took shipping, near Bethsaida and Tiberias: here, after they were dismissed by Christ, they stood all night, waiting for boats to carry them over; or rather, knowing that Christ was not gone with his disciples, they continued, hoping to meet with him in the morning, and enjoy some more advantage by him: for they

saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone; from whence they concluded, that since there was only that boat, and Jesus did not go into it, but that the disciples went off without him, that he must be therefore somewhere on shore, and not far off, and they hoped to find him in the morning; wherefore it was very surprising to them, when they found him at Capernaum, when, and how he got there.

Geneva Study Bible

The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

John 6:22-24. The complicated sentence (so seldom occurring in John; comp. John 13:1 ff., 1 John 1:1 ff.) here proceeds in such a manner that the ὁ ὄχλος which, without further government, stands at the head as the subject of the whole, is again taken up[230] in John 6:24 by ὅτι οὖν εἶδεν ὁ ὄχλος, while John 6:23 is a parenthesis, preparing the way for the passing over of the people in the following clause. The participial clause, ἸΔῺΝ ὍΤΙ … ἈΠῆΛΘΟΝ, is subordinate to the ἙΣΤΗΚῺς ΠΈΡΑΝ Τ. ΘΑΛ., and gives the explanation why the people expected Jesus on the next day still on the east side of the lake. John’s narrative accordingly runs thus: “The next day, the people who were on the other side of the lake, because (on the previous evening, John 6:16 f.) they had seen that no other ship was there save only the one, and that Jesus did not get into the ship with His disciples, but that His disciples only sailed away, [but other ships came from Tiberias near to the place, etc.],—when now the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples,[231] finding themselves mistaken in their expectation of meeting with Him still on the eastern shore, they themselves embarked in the ships,” etc. As to details, observe further, (1) that πέραν τ. θαλ. in John 6:22 means the eastern side of the lake in John 6:1, but in John 6:25 the western; (2) that ἰδών is spoken with reference to the previous day, when the multitude had noticed the departure of the disciples in the evening, so that the conjecture of εἰδώς (Ewald) is unnecessary; that, on the contrary, ὅτι οὖν εἶδεν, John 6:24, indicates that they became aware to-day,—a difference which is the point in the cumbrously constructed sentence that most easily misleads the reader; (3) that the transit of the ships from Tiberias, John 6:23, occurred while the people were still on the eastern shore, and gave them an appropriate opportunity, when they were undeceived in their expectation, of looking for Jesus on the western shore; (4) that αὐτοί, ipsi, indicates that, instead of waiting longer for Jesus to come to them, they themselves set out, and availed themselves of the opportunity presented of looking for Jesus on the other side, by embarking in the ships that had arrived, and sailing across to Capernaum, the well-known place of our Lord’s abode; (5) that the circumstantial character of the description of things throughout indicates the vivid communication of an eye-witness, which John had received, and does not permit of our taking the transit of the people (which, however, must not be pressed as including the whole 5000) as invented to confirm the story of the walking on the sea (Strauss).

[230] On the usual resumptive οὖν, see Winer, p. 414; Baeumlein, Partik. p. 177.

[231] Jesus was not there, because, though they did not think of His going away, He did not show Himself anywhere; the disciples were not, because they could not have remained unobserved if they had come back again from the other side; and such a return could not have taken place in the ἄλλοις πλοιαρίοις, for these latter came not from Capernaum, but from Tiberias.

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 6:22-24 form one sentence, in which John describes the observations made by the crowd the following morning and their consequent action. The observations they made are described under ἰδών, which never finds its verb, but is resumed in ὅτε οὖν εἴδεν of John 6:24; and their consequent action is described in the main verbs of the sentence ἐμέβησαν (John 6:24) καὶ ᾖλθον. With the unconscious but accurate observation of a fishing population in such matters, the crowd had noticed that there was only one boat lying on the beach at that point, and further that the disciples had gone away in it and had not taken Jesus with them. But in the morning, having presumably passed the night in the open air, and having gathered at the lake-side below the scene of the miracle, they found that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there. Apparently they expected that the disciples would have returned for Jesus, and that they might find both Him and them on the shore. Disappointed in this expectation, and concluding that Jesus had returned by land as He had come, or had left in one of the Tiberias boats, they themselves entered the boats from Tiberias, which had been driven ashore by the gale of the previous night, and crossed to Capernaum. This account of the movements and motives of the crowd seems to give each expression its proper force. The fact parenthetically introduced, John 6:23, that boats from Tiberias had put in on the east shore, is an incidental confirmation of the truth that a gale had been blowing the night before. What portion of the belated crowd went back to Capernaum in these Tiberias boats we do not know.—εὑρόντες αὐτὸν πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης, having found Him on the other side of the lake, that is, on the Capernaum side, εἶπον … γέγονας, “they said to Him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?” “Quaestio de tempore includit quaestionem de modo” (Bengel). For this use of γέγονας cf. John 6:19; and Cebes, Tabula, πρὸς τὸν ἰατρὸν γινόμενος, and Lucian, Asinus, ἐπεὶ δὲ πλησίον τῆς πόλεως ἐγεγόνειμεν (Kypke). They came seeking Him, but were surprised to find Him. To their question Jesus makes no direct reply. He does not tell them of His walking on the water.

In John 6:26-65 we have the conversation arising out of the miracle. The first break in it is at John 6:41. From John 6:26-40 Jesus explains that He is the Bread of Life.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. the people] An instance of the caprice of our translators in creating differences. The same Greek word is translated ‘multitude’ in John 6:2, ‘company’ in John 6:5, and ‘people’ here, John 6:24, &c.; multitude would be best throughout.

on the other side of the sea] On the eastern side where the miracle took place.

save that one whereinto his disciples were entered] The only words of this sentence that are of certain authority are save one; the rest is probably an explanatory note.

were gone away] Better, went away.

22–25. The Sequel of the two Signs

22–24. We have here a complicated sentence very unusual in S. John (but comp. John 13:1-4); it betrays “a certain literary awkwardness, but great historical accuracy … The structure of the sentence is no argument against the truth of the statements which it contains. On the contrary, if these had been fictitious, we may be sure that they would have been much simpler. Indeed a forger would never have thought of relating how the crowd got across the sea at all. We see the natural partiality with which the Evangelist dwells upon scenes with which he is familiar. He had been a fisherman on the sea of Galilee himself. He knew the boats of Tiberias from those of Capernaum and the other cities, and had probably friends or relations in that very crowd.” S. pp. 126, 127.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 6:22. Ἰδών, having seen) This is repeated with some slight change of the words, after John 6:23 (which does not depend on ὅτι, but forms a parenthesis), at John 6:24, and is connected with the word ἐνέβησαν, they embarked in.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 22-59. -

(3) The sequel of the signs. The discussion which follows is closely linked with these two great miracles of power and love. It naturally arises out of them, and refers with great explicitness to the former of them and to its true meaning. The discussion does unquestionably alter its scope as it proceeds, and at vers. 41 and 52 "the Jews" take up a controversy which had previously been conducted by a portion of the crowd who witnessed his mighty works. Jesus declared

(1) that he is himself the Bread of God - the Bread of life for a starving world; then

(2) that his "flesh," i.e. his wondrous humanity - the veritable abode of the Word of God - will constitute the food of man;

(3) that the death of the Divine humanity, the separation of his blood and flesh, must be appropriated by men;

(4) that only by this acceptance and entire assimilation - not only of his mission, but of his incarnation; not only of his incarnation, but of his sacrificial death - will men receive him, or live because he lives. Before the evangelist proceeds to relate this great discourse, he portrays the historical platform, the audience to which it is addressed, and this in a sentence which is unusually involved and perplexed in its construction. The first clause with its verb, εϊδον, is not completed until two or three parenthetical ideas are introduced; and then in ver. 24 the sentence is taken up or recom-menced, after which the main affirmation follows, viz. ἐνέβησαν, etc. The whole sentence is intended to explain the regathering of the crowd on the seashore at Capernaum, and that excited state of baulked curiosity with which they encountered the Lord. Verses 22-24. - The next day, the crowd which stood on the other side of the sea, near the site of the great miracle, amazed at the departure of the disciples and the separation between them and Jesus, and saw that there was only one little boat there - or "none other little boat there save one," and this was too small for it to be the boat which brought Jesus and his disciples thither or took the latter away - and saw that Jesus did not enter with his disciples into the boat in which they were accustomed to move about the lake, but that his disciples departed alone (Howbeit there came boats from Tiberias, the principal station on the lake, the boatmen hoping to secure numerous ferry freights, near to the place where they did eat bread after that the Lord had given thanks, associating the marvellous gift with the holy thanksgiving of the wondrous Host). He does not say that Tiberias was near to the place where, etc., but that the boats from Tiberias came near to the place, etc. This parenthesis makes it clear that this one little boat was the only one belonging to the desert place, and could not have conveyed Jesus away. When then the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples - the latter had gone and not returned, and Jesus could not be found on the mountain side or summit or hollows (not until we reach this statement does the writer give the principal verb of the sentence) - they themselves embarked in the little boats, and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. This does not mean that the entire multitude took shipping. Such an exaggeration, contrary to the nature of even the most extravagant legend, some (Strauss) have tried to foist into the story for the sake of discrediting it. The geographical relation of the two places shows that there were other ways of passing from one spot to the other than by ship. That some should return by the head of the lake, and others should cross its northern are by boat to Capernaum, reveals a simple and interesting fact, which is incidentally conveyed by the synoptists, viz. that Capernaum was the customary dwelling place of our Lord during his Galilaean ministry (cf. John 2:12; Matthew 4:13; Matthew 8:5; and see also Matthew 9:1; Luke 4:24). John 6:22

Vincent's Word Studies

Which stood (ὁ ἑστηκὼς)

Having remained daring the night near the scene of the miracle, and being there still.

Boat (ποιάριον)

Diminutive: little boat.

That - whereinto His disciples were entered

Omit, and read as Rev., save one.