Bible Strands
John 6:42
They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The crowd questions Jesus immediately after He declares Himself the bread that came down from heaven. They address Him directly while affirming their knowledge of His earthly parents.
The words — ἔλεγον (elegon) translates as they were saying, and οὐχ (ouch) functions as a negative interrogative particle meaning is it not or surely not.
The thread — This challenge to Jesus’s earthly lineage runs in Luke 4:22, Matthew 13:55, and Mark 6:3, where observers similarly question His identity based on His family background.
Why it lands — The text records a crowd questioning how Jesus can claim a heavenly origin while their knowledge of His earthly parents is certain. It asks a reader to hold the tension between human familiarity and divine assertion without resolving it prematurely.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
Cross-references
- Luke 4:22 All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.
- Matthew 13:55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
- Mark 6:3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.
- John 7:27 But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
- John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- John 6:62 Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?
- Romans 1:3 regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,
- Galatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.