John 6:22-24

The Sequel of the two Signs

22 24. We have here a complicated sentence very unusual in S. John (but comp. John 13:1-4); it betrays "a certain literary awkwardness, but great historical accuracy … The structure of the sentence is no argument against the truth of the statements which it contains. On the contrary, if these had been fictitious, we may be sure that they would have been much simpler. Indeed a forger would never have thought of relating how the crowd got across the sea at all. We see the natural partiality with which the Evangelist dwells upon scenes with which he is familiar. He had been a fisherman on the sea of Galilee himself. He knew the boats of Tiberias from those of Capernaum and the other cities, and had probably friends or relations in that very crowd." S. pp. 126, 127.