John 6:63

Syriac Peshitta (NT Only)

ܪܽܘܚܳܐ ܗ݈ܝ ܕ݁ܡܰܚܝܳܐ ܦ݁ܰܓ݂ܪܳܐ ܠܳܐ ܡܰܗܢܶܐ ܡܶܕ݁ܶܡ ܡܶܠܶܐ ܕ݁ܶܐܢܳܐ ܡܰܠܠܶܬ݂ ܥܰܡܟ݂ܽܘܢ ܪܽܘܚܳܐ ܐܶܢܶܝܢ ܘܚܰܝܶܐ ܐܶܢܶܝܢ ܀

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the spirit: Genesis 2:7, Romans 8:2, 1 Corinthians 15:45, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 5:25, 1 Peter 3:18

the flesh: Romans 2:25, Romans 3:1, Romans 3:2, 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, Galatians 5:6, Galatians 6:15, 1 Timothy 4:8, Hebrews 13:9, 1 Peter 3:21

the words: John 6:68, John 12:49, John 12:50, Deuteronomy 32:47, Psalms 19:7-10, Psalms 119:50, Psalms 119:93, Psalms 119:130, Romans 10:8-10, Romans 10:17, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14, 2 Corinthians 3:6-8, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Hebrews 4:12, James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:23

Reciprocal: Proverbs 16:22 - a wellspring Isaiah 55:11 - shall my Jeremiah 23:29 - like as Ezekiel 47:9 - shall live Matthew 4:4 - but Mark 2:11 - General Luke 4:32 - General Luke 24:32 - Did John 4:41 - because John 6:54 - eateth Acts 5:20 - all Acts 7:38 - lively Acts 10:22 - and to Acts 11:14 - words Romans 4:17 - who quickeneth 1 Corinthians 12:13 - to drink 1 Corinthians 13:3 - profiteth 2 Corinthians 3:17 - the Lord 2 Corinthians 5:16 - yet Ephesians 2:5 - quickened Philippians 2:16 - the word Colossians 2:13 - he James 1:21 - the engrafted

Gill's Notes on the Bible

It is the Spirit that quickeneth,.... It is the spirit of man that quickens him; or which being breathed into him, he becomes a living soul; for the body, without the spirit, is dead; it is a lifeless lump: and it is the Spirit of God that quickens dead sinners, by entering into them as the spirit of life, and causing them to live: and it is spiritual eating, or eating the flesh, and drinking the blood of Christ in a spiritual sense, which quickens, refreshes, and comforts the minds of believers; it is that by, and on which they live, and by which their spiritual strength is renewed: unless, by spirit, is meant the divine nature of Christ, by which he was quickened and raised from the dead, and ascended up into heaven, and was declared to be the Son of God with power:

the flesh profiteth nothing; the human nature of Christ, though profitable, as in union with the Son of God, to be given for the life of his people, and to be an offering, and a sacrifice for their sins, yet not as alone, or as abstracted from the divine nature; nor would his flesh and blood, corporeally eaten, could, or should it be done, be of any avail to eternal life; nor is any other flesh, literally understood, profitable of itself for life; for man lives not by bread, or meat, or flesh alone, but by the word and blessing of God upon it, and along with it; nor flesh, in a figurative sense, as creature acts and performances, self-righteousness, obedience to the ceremonial law, carnal descent, and birth privileges:

the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life; the doctrines which Christ had then been delivering concerning himself, his flesh and blood, being spiritually understood, are the means of quickening souls. The Gospel, and the truths of it, which are the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, are the means of conveying the Spirit of God, as a spirit of illumination and sanctification, into the hearts of men, and of quickening sinners dead in trespasses and sins: the Gospel is the Spirit that giveth life, and is the savour of life unto life, when it comes not in word only, or in the bare ministry of it, but with the energy of the Holy Ghost, and the power of divine grace.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It is the Spirit that quickeneth - These words have been understood in different ways. The word “Spirit,” here, evidently does not refer to the Holy Spirit, for he adds, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit.” He refers here, probably, to the doctrine which he had been teaching in opposition to their notions and desires. “My doctrine is spiritual; it is fitted to quicken and nourish the soul. It is from heaven. Your doctrine or your views are earthly, and may be called flesh, or fleshly, as pertaining only to the support of the body. You place a great value on the doctrine that Moses fed the body; yet that did not permanently profit, for your fathers are dead. You seek also food from me, but your views and desires are gross and earthly.”

Quickeneth - Gives life. See the notes at John 5:21.

The flesh - Your carnal views and desires, and the literal understanding of my doctrine. By this Jesus shows them that he did not intend that his words should be taken literally.

Profiteth nothing - Would not avail to the real needs of man. The bread that Moses gave, the food which you seek, would not be of real value to man’s highest wants.

They are spirit - They are spiritual. They are not to be understood literally, as if you were really to eat my flesh, but they are to be understood as denoting the need of that provision for the soul which God has made by my coming into the world.

Are life - Are fitted to produce or give life to the soul dead in sins.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth — It is the spiritual sense only of my words that is to be attended to, and through which life is to be attained, 2 Corinthians 3:6. Such only as eat and drink what I have mentioned, in a spiritual sense, are to expect eternal life.

The flesh profiteth nothing — If ye could even eat my flesh and drink my blood, this would not avail for your salvation. These words contain a caution that the hearers should not understand his words in the strict literal sense, as if his body were really BREAD, and as if his flesh and blood were really to be eaten and drank.

The words that I speak Or, I have spoken. Instead of λαλω, I speak, I read λελαληκα, I have spoken, on the authority of BCDKLT, thirteen others; the Syriac, all the Arabic, all the Persic, Coptic, AEthiopic, Gothic, Slavonic, Vulgate, all the Itala; Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, Chrysostom, Tertullian, Ambrosias, Augustin, Gaudentius, and Vigilius Taps. This is an important reading, and plainly shows that our Lord's words here do not refer to any new point of doctrine which he was then inculcating, but to what he had spoken concerning his being the living bread, and concerning the eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood, in the preceding verses.

Are spirit, and they are life. — As my words are to be spiritually understood, so the life they promise is of a spiritual nature: see Bishop Pearce.