John 18:6 BSB — MannaFest

John 18:6

When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

When therefore he said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

KJV

As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

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Commentary

3 voices

Gregory the Dialogist

Catena Aurea by Aquinas (604)

(Ezech. Hom. ix.) Why is this, that the Elect fall on their faces, the reprobate backward? Because every one who falls back, sees not where he falls, whereas he who falls forward, sees where he falls. The wicked when they suffer loss in invisible things, are said to fall backward, because they do not see what is behind them: but the righteous, who of their own accord cast themselves down in temporal things, in order that they may rise in spiritual, fall as it were upon their faces, when with fear and repentance they humble themselves with their eyes open.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

They went backward, and fell to the ground - None of the other evangelists mentions this very important circumstance. Our Lord chose to give them this proof of his infinite power, that they might know that their power could not prevail against him if he chose to exert his might, seeing that the very breath of his mouth confounded, drove back, and struck them down to the earth. Thus by the blast of God they might have perished, and by the breath of his nostrils they might have been consumed: Job 4:9.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

It was the glorious effulgence of the majesty of Christ which overpowered them. "This, occurring before His surrender, would show His power over His enemies, and so the freedom with which He gave Himself up" [MEYER].

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὡς	hōs	When	G5613 →
οὖν	oun	therefore	G3767 →
εἶπεν	eipen	He said	G2036 →
αὐτοῖς	autois	to them	G846 →
ἐγώ	egō	I myself	G1473 →
εἰμι,	eimi	am [He],	G1510 →
ἀπῆλθον	apēlthon	they drew	G565 →
εἰς	eis	toward	G1519 →
τὰ	ta	the	G3588 →
ὀπίσω	opisō	back	G3694 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἔπεσαν	epesan	fell	G4098 →
χαμαί.¶	chamai	to [the] ground.	G5476 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 27:2
When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
leads to
- Psalms 118:12
  They swarmed around me like bees, but they were extinguished like burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- Psalms 3:7
  Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
- Isaiah 8:15
  Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.”
- Psalms 9:3
  When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.
- Psalms 22:16
  For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.

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On John 18:6

The Passion & Resurrection, John 18–21 | MannaFest

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On John 18:6

Names of God

God reveals himself by name. Each name given in a specific historical moment, in response to a specific situation. Twenty-eight names along a revelation timeline — from Elohim at creation to YHWH-Shammah at the restored city — closing with Jesus' "I AM."

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