John 21:13
in John 21Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and He did the same with the fish.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jesus cometh, and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and the fish likewise.
KJV
Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
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This verse in John 21
Commentary
18 notes on this verseThis does not differ from this reading either, for he ate fish and bread. For he who could be roasted like a fish from his humanity, refreshes us with bread from his divinity, who says: "I am the living bread who came down from heaven." Therefore he ate roasted fish and bread, so that by his own food he might show us that he both endured suffering from our humanity, and provided our refreshment from his divinity. If we consider this carefully, we see how it is also fitting for us to imitate.
This site's exposition
Come, have breakfast
on John 21:12-14
Jesus keeps the fire, cooks the fish, and hands out the bread, the same giving that fed the five thousand at John 6:11. Every man there knows Him. John counts it the third time the risen Lord stood among His disciples.
This site's exposition
took the bread and gave it to them
Jesus serves the meal Himself. John Gill reads Him taking the bread as the host and head of the family, giving thanks as was His custom. Albert Barnes sees the whole meal as set to convince them that He had truly risen from the dead.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
(Tract. cxxiii. 2) Mystically, the fried fish is Christ Who suffered. And He is the bread that came down from heaven. To Him the Church is united to His body for participation of eternal bliss. Wherefore He says, Bring of the fishes which ye have now caught; to signify that all of us who have this hope, and are in that septenary number of disciples, which represents the universal Church here, partake of this great sacrament, and are admitted to this bliss.
"And Jesus cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise." We are likewise told here, you see, on what they dined; and of this dinner we also will say something that is sweet and salutary, if we, too, are made by Him to partake of the food. At the Lord's command they likewise brought of the fishes which they themselves had caught; and although their doing so might not be actually stated by the historian, yet there has been no silence in regard to the Lord's command. For He says, "Bring of the fishes which ye have now caught." The fish roasted is Christ having suffered; He Himself also is the bread that cometh down from heaven. With Him is incorporated the Church, in order to the participation in everlasting blessedness. For this reason is it said, "Bring of the fish which ye have now caught," that all of us who cherish this hope may know that we ourselves, through that septenary number of disciples whereby our universal community may in this passage be understood as symbolized, partake in this great sacrament, and are associated in the same blessedness. This is the Lord's dinner with His own disciples, and herewith John, although having much besides that he might say of Christ, brings his Gospel, with profound thought and an eye to important lessons, to a close. For here the Church, such as it will be hereafter among the good alone, is signified by the draught of an hundred and fifty-three fishes; and to those who so believe, and hope, and love, there is demonstrated by this dinner their participation in such super-eminent blessedness.
What then doth Jesus? "Come," He saith, "dine." "And none of them durst ask Him." For they no longer had the same boldness, nor were they so confident, nor did they now approach Him with speech, but with silence and great fear and reverence, sat down giving heed to Him. "For they knew that it was the Lord." And therefore they did not ask Him, "Who art Thou?" But seeing that His form was altered, and full of much awfulness, they were greatly amazed, and desired to ask somewhat concerning it; but fear, and their knowledge that He was not some other, but the Same, checked the enquiry, and they only ate what He created for them with a greater exertion of power than before. For here He no more looketh to heaven, nor performeth those human acts, showing that those also which He did were done by way of condescension.
And He biddeth them "to bring of the fish," to show that what they saw was no appearance. But here indeed it saith not that He ate with them, but Luke, in another place, saith that He did; for "He was eating together with them." But the, "how," it is not ours to say; for these things came to pass in too strange a manner, not as though His nature now needed food, but from an act of condescension, in proof of the Resurrection.
The Medieval Church1 voice
It is asked: what happened to that food? For since a glorified body would not be nourished, it seems that it would have the customary egress of nature. I respond: It must be said that just as water cast into fire is immediately absorbed by …
10 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
It is asked concerning this, that the Lord ate fish and bread, as is said in the last chapter of Luke: since this belongs only to an animal body, therefore either Christ had an animal body, or he ate phantastically. I respond: It must be …
And Jesus came. Here the fourth point is noted, namely the Lord's munificence in distributing food: whence he says: And he took bread and gave it to them, and fish likewise, he gave to them to eat. And similarly it is to be understood that …
Next, Jesus came and took bread and gave it to them, and we see the meal they had, with Jesus eating with them: "You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Ps 145:16). For he is the one who gives nourishment …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Jesus then cometh and taketh bread,.... After they had taken the fish out of the net, and all was prepared for the meal, and the disciples were set down to eat, Christ came and took his place as the master of the feast, and head of the family; and taking up the bread, as was his usual method, he asked a blessing over it, and gave thanks for it. Beza's ancient copy, and one of Stephens's read, "and having given thanks he gave", &c. which is agreeably to his usual practice at meals.
(1.) The entertainment here was but ordinary; it was only a fish-dinner, and coarsely dressed; here was nothing pompous, nothing curious; plentiful indeed, but plain and homely. Hunger is the best sauce. Christ, though he entered upon his exalted state, showed himself alive by eating, not showed himself a prince by feasting.
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread ... - It is not said that Jesus himself ate with them, but he gave them food. The design of this interview seems to have been to convince them that he had truly risen from the dead. Hence, he performed a miracle before they suspected that it was he, that there might be no room to say that they had ascribed to him the power of the miracle through friendship and collusion with him.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
none . . . durst ask him, Who art thou, knowing it was the Lord--implying that they would have liked Him just to say, "It is I"; but having such convincing evidence they were afraid of being "upbraided for their unbelief and hardness of heart" if they ventured to put the question.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
The appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection, described in these verses, is a deeply interesting portion of the Gospel history. The circumstances attending it have always been regarded as highly allegorical and figurative, in every age of the Church. It may, however, be justly doubted whether commentators and interpreters have not gone too far in this direction. It is quite possible to spiritualize and filter away the narratives of the Gospels, until we completely lose sight of the plain meaning of words.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
The appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection, described in these verses, is a deeply interesting portion of the Gospel history. The circumstances attending it have always been regarded as highly allegorical and figurative, in every age of the Church. It may, however, be justly doubted whether commentators and interpreters have not gone too far in this direction. It is quite possible to spiritualize and filter away the narratives of the Gospels, until we completely lose sight of the plain meaning of words. In the present case we shall find it wise to confine ourselves to the great, simple lessons, which the passage undoubtedly contains. We should observe, for one thing, in these verses, the poverty of the first disciples of Christ. We find them working with their own hands, in order to supply their temporal needs, and working at one of the humblest of callings—the calling of a fisherman. Silver and gold they had none, lands and revenues they had none, and therefore they were not ashamed to return to the business to which they had, most of them, been trained. Striking is the fact, that some of the seven here named were fishing, when our Lord first called them to be Apostles, and again fishing, when He appeared to them almost the last time. We need not doubt that to the minds of Peter, James, and John, the coincidence would come home with peculiar power. The poverty of the Apostles goes far to prove the divine origin of Christianity. These very men who toiled all night in a boat, dragging about a cold wet net, and taking nothing—these very men who found it necessary to work hard in order that they might eat—these very men were some of the first founders of the mighty Church of Christ, which has now overspread one-third of the globe. These were they who went forth from an obscure corner of the earth, and turned the world upside down.
And giveth them - Eating likewise with them, as Luke expressly says: Luk 24:43.
The words behind it
13 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἔρχεται | erchetai | Comes | G2064 → | 628 times |
| Ἰησοῦς | iesous | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| λαμβάνει | lambanei | takes | G2983 → | 257 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄρτον | arton | bread | G740 → | 97 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| δίδωσιν | didosin | gives [it] | G1325 → | 412 times |
| αὐτοῖς | autois | to them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὀψάριον | opsarion | fish | G3795 → | 5 times |
| ὁμοίως. | homoios | likewise. | G3668 → | 30 times |
ἜρχεταιComes
erchetaiG2064 →628 times
ἸησοῦςJesus
iesousG2424 →908 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
λαμβάνειtakes
lambaneiG2983 →257 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἄρτονbread
artonG740 →97 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
δίδωσινgives [it]
didosinG1325 →412 times
αὐτοῖςto them
autoisG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ὀψάριονfish
opsarionG3795 →5 times
ὁμοίως.likewise.
homoiosG3668 →30 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 10:41not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.
it leads to
- John 14:22
Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”
- Acts 10:39
We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree,
- Acts 1:2–3
until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.
- Acts 13:31
and for many days He was seen by those who had accompanied Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to our people.
- John 14:17
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.
- John 14:22
Through
John 21:9When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it, and some bread.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 19:5–6
Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
- John 21:10
Jesus told them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”
- John 18:18
Because it was cold, the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had made to keep warm. And Peter was also standing with them, warming himself.
- 1 Kings 19:5–6
Where this verse is studied
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Studies11
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About John
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 123; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 21; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 24; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel according to John; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 87; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.