Bible Strands
John 6:48
I am the bread of life.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to his disciples and the surrounding crowd in John 6, positioned immediately after declaring that believers possess eternal life and just before contrasting his claim with the wilderness manna.
The words — The Greek construction ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς (ho artos tēs zōēs) translates literally as "the bread of life." The phrasing identifies the speaker as the sustenance itself rather than a mere distributor.
The thread — The designation continues in John 6:51 as "living bread" that descended from heaven, and the imagery resurfaces in 1 Corinthians 10:16 as a participation in Christ's body and in 1 Corinthians 11:24 as his body given for remembrance.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to shift reliance from physical nourishment and ancestral precedent to direct belief in the speaker for eternal life.
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
I am that bread of life.
Cross-references
- John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
- John 6:41 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
- John 6:33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”