What Does John 6:43 Mean?
Jesus answered and said to them, Do not murmur among yourselves.
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
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.THE KEY
The murmuring Jesus names is complaint passed between people until it becomes a shared voice.
THE MEANING
Jesus addresses the moment complaint moves among people: this is not one person’s silent confusion but a shared muttering. The verse shows how repeated complaint can become a group’s common voice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a complaint stays private when it is shared only within one’s own circle; the circle itself is where the murmuring circulates.
THE ROOT
γογγύζετε
gongýzete
GROWS FROM
γογγυζ-
Mutter or grumble in a low, subdued way.
The Greek verb γογγύζετε (gongýzete, “murmur”) belongs to the γογγυζ-/γογγυσ- (gongyz-/gongys-) word family for muttering and grumbling. Its related words name both the murmuring itself and the person who murmurs, revealing complaint as speech that can circulate and mark a group.
ALSO GROWS
gongysmos: Murmuring, grumbling
γογγυσμός
This related noun names the complaint as an utterance; it belongs to the same word family, with a ζ/σ stem variation.
gongystēs: Murmurer, grumbler
γογγυστής
This related noun names a person by the murmuring; its γογγυσ- form belongs to the same consonantal family.
THE PATTERN
When discontent is voiced and repeated, it becomes a communal speech pattern rather than a private feeling.
And in the morning, then you shall see the weight of the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings against the LORD. And what are we, that you murmur against us?Do all things without murmurings and back and forth arguments.These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own cravings; their mouth speaks swollen words beyond measure, admiring faces for the sake of gain.THE THREAD
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.The same Greek verb appears here and in the next verse: the murmuring rises in response to Jesus’ words about bread from heaven, then he addresses it as speech shared among them. The repeated root links the complaint itself to the way it circulates.
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