What Does John 6:27 Mean?
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that remains unto the life of the ages, which the Son of Man will give to you, for God the Father has sealed him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.THE KEY
The verb behind food that “perisheth” also means “lose,” so the Son’s gift of life that remains stands against both decay and loss.
THE MEANING
Your labor meets the limits of food that perishes, while the life that remains comes as the Son’s gift. The Father has sealed him, marking him as the one who gives this enduring food. “Everlasting life” carries the sense of life of the ages.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that effort spent on perishable things can itself secure lasting life; the enduring food is given by the Son, whom the Father has sealed.
THE ROOT
ἀπολλυμένην
apollymenēn
GROWS FROM
ἀπόλλυμι
apollymi
To perish, destroy, or lose.
“perishes” in this verse is apollymenēn. The verb translated “perisheth” also means “lose,” as it does in John 6:39. That shared root brings decay and loss into view together, against the Son’s gift of life that remains.
ALSO GROWS
apollymenos: One who is perishing or being lost.
ἀπολλύμενος
This form shows that the root can describe a person as well as something that perishes.
apōleia: Loss or destruction.
ἀπώλεια
The noun names the outcome carried by the same root behind the perishing food.
μένουσαν
menousan
GROWS FROM
μένω
menō
To remain, stay, or abide.
“remains” in this verse is menousan. The food is described as remaining, staying present, rather than merely lasting a long time. The same root forms the word for a dwelling, linking remaining with a place to abide.
ALSO GROWS
monē: A dwelling place or abode.
μονή
This branch gives “remain” the sense of staying in a place, illuminating the food that remains unto life.
diameno: To continue or remain.
διαμένω
This compound carries the same idea of staying through time.
αἰώνιον
aiōnion
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
An age or era.
“the life of the ages” in this verse is aiōnion. The word’s root keeps the sense of an age in view: the phrase speaks of life of the ages. The verse connects that life with food that remains and is given by the Son.
ALSO GROWS
aiōn: An age or era.
αἰών
This is the root word carried inside “everlasting.”
aiōnios: Of an age; age-lasting.
αἰώνιος
This form describes the life as belonging to the ages.
THE PATTERN
What perishes passes away, while what is joined to God’s life remains.
The grass dries, the flower withers, but the word of our God stands for the ages.But the word of the Lord remains for the ages. And this is the word that was brought to you as good news.And the world is passing away, and its craving with it, but the one who does the will of God remains for the ages.THE THREAD
And this is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he has given me I should let none perish, but should raise it up again at the last day.The Greek verb translated “perisheth” in verse 27 is the same verb translated “lose” here. The contrast sharpens: the food passes away, but what the Father gives the Son is not lost and is raised again.
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