Ἰωάννην 6:27

Greek Modern Translation

Εργαζεσθε μη δια την τροφην την φθειρομενην, αλλα δια την τροφην την μενουσαν εις ζωην αιωνιον, την οποιαν ο Υιος του ανθρωπου θελει σας δωσει· διοτι τουτον εσφραγισεν ο Πατηρ ο Θεος.

Parallel Translations

Byzantine/Majority Text
εργαζεσθε μη την βρωσιν την απολλυμενην αλλα την βρωσιν την μενουσαν εις ζωην αιωνιον ην ο υιος του ανθρωπου υμιν δωσει τουτον γας ο πατης εσφραγισεν ο θεος

SBL Greek New Testament (2010)
ἐργάζεσθε μὴ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν ἀπολλυμένην ἀλλὰ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν μένουσαν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, ἣν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑμῖν δώσει, τοῦτον γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἐσφράγισεν ὁ θεός.

Tischendorf 8th Edition
ἐργάζεσθε μὴ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν ἀπολλυμένην, ἀλλὰ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν μένουσαν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, ἣν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου δίδωσιν ὑμῖν· τοῦτον γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἐσφράγισεν, ὁ θεός.

Textus Receptus (1550/1894)
εργαζεσθε μη την βρωσιν την απολλυμενην αλλα την βρωσιν την μενουσαν εις ζωην αιωνιον ην ο υιος του ανθρωπου υμιν δωσει τουτον γας ο πατης εσφραγισεν ο θεος

Westcott/Hort UBS4 (1881)
εργαζεσθε μη την βρωσιν την απολλυμενην αλλα την βρωσιν την μενουσαν εις ζωην αιωνιον ην ο υιος του ανθρωπου υμιν δωσει τουτον γαρ ο πατηρ εσφραγισεν ο θεος

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Labour not: or, Work not, John 6:28, John 6:29, Galatians 5:6, Philippians 2:13, Colossians 1:29, 1 Thessalonians 1:3

the meat: John 4:13, John 4:14, Ecclesiastes 5:11-16, Ecclesiastes 6:7, Isaiah 55:2, Habakkuk 2:13, Matthew 6:19, Matthew 6:31-33, Luke 10:40-42, 1 Corinthians 6:13, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Colossians 2:22, Colossians 3:2, Hebrews 4:11, Hebrews 12:16, James 1:11, 1 Peter 1:24, 2 Peter 3:11-14

which endureth: John 6:40, John 6:51, John 6:54, John 6:58, John 6:68, John 4:14, Jeremiah 15:16

which the: John 10:28, John 11:25, John 11:26, John 14:6, John 17:2, Proverbs 2:2-6, Romans 6:23

for him: John 1:33, John 1:34, John 5:36, John 5:37, John 8:18, John 10:37, John 10:38, John 11:42, John 15:24, Psalms 2:7, Psalms 40:7, Isaiah 11:1-3, Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 61:1-3, Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, Mark 1:11, Mark 9:7, Luke 3:22, Luke 4:18-21, Luke 9:35, Acts 2:22, Acts 10:38, 2 Peter 1:17

Reciprocal: Genesis 34:23 - General Exodus 5:17 - General Numbers 11:8 - the people Deuteronomy 30:13 - go over the sea Joshua 18:3 - How long are Judges 18:9 - be not Proverbs 9:5 - General Proverbs 10:4 - becometh Proverbs 10:16 - labour Proverbs 13:4 - but Proverbs 14:23 - all Proverbs 23:4 - Labour Ecclesiastes 1:3 - profit Ecclesiastes 5:16 - for Jeremiah 32:10 - and sealed Haggai 2:23 - and will Zechariah 3:9 - I will engrave Matthew 5:6 - are Matthew 6:33 - seek Matthew 11:12 - from Matthew 19:16 - what Mark 8:8 - and were Mark 10:17 - eternal Luke 11:3 - Give Luke 12:31 - General Luke 13:24 - Strive Luke 14:15 - Blessed Luke 22:16 - until John 5:40 - that John 10:36 - whom John 17:3 - and Jesus Acts 16:30 - what Romans 9:32 - Because 2 Corinthians 1:22 - sealed 2 Corinthians 5:9 - we labour Galatians 6:8 - of the Spirit Ephesians 1:13 - ye were Ephesians 2:8 - through Philippians 2:12 - work 2 Thessalonians 1:11 - the work 2 Peter 1:5 - giving 1 John 2:1 - Father 1 John 2:25 - General Revelation 7:2 - having

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Labour not for the meat which perisheth,.... Meaning either food for the body, which is perishing; its virtue is perishing; man cannot live by it alone, nor does it last long; its substance is perishing; it is received into the stomach, and there digested; it goes into the belly, and is cast out into the draught; and that which it supports, for a while, is perishing; and both the one, and the other, shall be destroyed; even meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: now, though it becomes men to work for their bread, to provide it for themselves and families; yet they should not be anxiously solicitous about it, or labour only for that, and prefer it to spiritual food: or else food for the mind is meant, and that either in a sensual way, as sinful lust and pleasures, the honours of this world, and the riches of it; which are sweet morsels, though bread of deceit, to carnal minds, and which they labour hard for: or, in a religious way, as superstition, will worship, external works of righteousness, in order to please God, and obtain eternal life and salvation; which to labour for in such a way, is to spend money for that which is not bread, and labour for that which profiteth not; and in each of these ways were these Jews labouring for perishing food, from which Christ dissuades them:

but for that which endureth unto everlasting life; either the grace of Christ, which, as meat, is quickening and refreshing, strengthening and supporting, and which causes nourishment and growth, and by virtue of which work is done; and this springs up unto everlasting life, and is inseparably connected with it; and particularly the blessings of grace, such as sanctification, adoption, pardon, and justification: or the Gospel, and the ordinances of it, which are refreshing, and strengthening, and by which the saints are nourished up unto everlasting life; or rather the flesh of Christ eaten, in a spiritual sense, by faith, of which Christ so largely discourses in the following part of the chapter:

which the son of man shall give unto you; meaning either everlasting life, which is in Christ's gift, and is a free grace gift of his; or else the meat which endures unto it: for though it is to be laboured for, not so as to prepare it, or to purchase it, but by asking for it in prayer, and by attending on ordinances, and exercising faith on Christ; yet it is his gift, and he gives it freely; grace, and the blessings of it, are freely given by him, and so are the Gospel and its ordinances; and also his own flesh, which is first given by him, by way of sacrifice, in the room and stead of his people, and for the life of them, John 6:51; and then it is given unto them to feed upon spiritually by faith, and which is here designed:

for him hath God the Father sealed; designated and appointed to be the Saviour, and Redeemer of his people, and has sent, authorized, and commissioned him as such; and has made him known, and approved of him, by the descent of the Spirit on him, and by a voice from heaven, declaring him his beloved Son; and has confirmed him to be the Messiah by the miraculous works he gave him to finish; for all which several uses seals are, as to distinguish one thing from another, to render anything authentic, to point it out, or to confirm it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Labour not - This does not mean that we are to make no effort for the supply of our wants (compare 1 Timothy 5:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:10), but that we are not to manifest anxiety, we are not to make this the main or supreme object of our desire. See the notes at Matthew 6:25.

The meat that perisheth - The food for the supply of your natural needs. It perishes. The strength you derive from it is soon exhausted, and your wasted powers need to be reinvigorated.

That meat which endureth - The supply of your spiritual wants; that which supports, and nourishes, and strengthens the soul; the doctrines of the gospel, that are to a weak and guilty soul what needful food is to the weary and decaying body.

To everlasting life - The strength derived from the doctrines of the gospel is not exhausted. It endures without wasting away. It nourishes the soul to everlasting life. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint,” Isaiah 40:31.

Him hath God the Father sealed - To seal is to confirm or approve as ours. This is done when we set our seal to a compact, or deed, or testament, by which we ratify it as our act. So God the Father, by the miracles which had been performed by Jesus, had shown that he had sent him, that he approved his doctrines, and ratified his works. The miracles were to his doctrine what a seal is to a written instrument. See the notes at John 3:33.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 27. Labour not for the meat — That is, for that only, but also for the bread, c. Our Lord wills every man to be active and diligent in that employment in which providence has placed him but it is his will also that that employment, and all the concerns of life, should be subservient to the interest of his soul.

But for that meat, c.] He who labours not, in the work of his salvation, is never likely to enter into the kingdom of God. Though our labour cannot purchase it, either in whole or in part, yet it is the way in which God chooses to give salvation and he that will have heaven must strive for it. Every thing that can be possessed, except the salvation of God, is a perishing thing: this is its essential character: it can last to us no longer than the body lasts. But, when the earth and its produce are burnt up, this bread of Christ, his grace and salvation, will be found remaining unto eternal life. This is the portion after which an immortal spirit should seek.

Him hath God the Father sealed. — By this expression, our Lord points out the commission which, as the Messiah, he received from the Father, to be prophet and priest to an ignorant, sinful world. As a person who wishes to communicate his mind to another who is at a distance writes a letter, seals it with his own seal, and sends it directed to the person for whom it was written, so Christ, who lay in the bosom of the Father, came to interpret the Divine will to man, bearing the image, superscription, and seal of God, in the immaculate holiness of his nature, unsullied truth of his doctrine, and in the astonishing evidence of his miracles. But he came also as a priest, to make an atonement for sin; and the bread which nourishes unto eternal life, he tells us, John 6:51, is his body, which he gives for the life of the world; and to this sacrifice of himself, the words, him hath God the Father sealed, seem especially to relate. It certainly was a custom, among nations contiguous to Judea, to set a seal upon the victim which was deemed proper for sacrifice. The following account of the method of providing white bulls among the Egyptians, for sacrifices to their god Apis, taken from HERODOTUS, Euterpe, b. ii. p. 117, casts much light upon this place. "They sacrifice white bulls to Apis; and for that reason make the following trial. If they find one black hair upon him, they consider him as unclean: that they may know this with certainty, the priest appointed for this purpose views every part of the animal, both standing and lying on the ground. After this, he draws out his tongue, to see if he be clean by certain signs: in the last place, he looks upon the hairs of his tail, that he may be sure they are as by nature they should be. If, after this search, the bull is found unblemished, he signifies it by tying a label to his horns; then, having applied wax, he seals it with his ring, and they lead him away: for it is death to sacrifice one of these animals, unless he have been marked with such a seal.

The Jews could not be unacquainted with the rites and ceremonies of the Egyptian worship; and it is possible that such precautions as these were in use among themselves, especially as they were so strictly enjoined to have their sacrifices without SPOT, and without blemish. Infinite justice found Jesus Christ to be without spot or blemish, and therefore sealed, pointed out and accepted him, as a proper sacrifice and atonement for the sin of the whole world. Collate with this passage, Hebrews 7:26-28; Ephesians 5:27; 2 Peter 3:14; and especially Hebrews 9:13-14: For if the blood of BULLS and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth - how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself WITHOUT SPOT to God, purge your consciences from dead works! The rabbins talk much of the seal of God, which they suppose to be אמת emeth, or truth; and that this is a representation of the unoriginated and endless perfections of God. This doctrine is just; but their method of proving it is not so satisfactory. Aleph א, say they, is the first letter of the alphabet; mem מ the middle; and tau ת the last: these three letters make אמת emeth, TRUTH, because God is the first - there was none before him; he is the middle - none mingles with him; and he is the last-there can be none after him. Hieros. Sanhed. fol. 18. See also 1 Peter 1:18-19.