John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ¹  at night ²  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ³  that you do unless God is with him.”

John 6:14

6:14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus ⁴  performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet ⁵  who is to come into the world.” ⁶ 

John 7:31

7:31 Yet many of the crowd ⁷  believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ ⁸  comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?” ⁹ 

John 8:30-31

8:30 While he was saying these things, many people ¹⁰  believed in him.

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ¹¹  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ¹²  you are really ¹³  my disciples

John 12:42-43

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ¹⁴  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ¹⁵  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ¹⁶  so that they would not be put out of ¹⁷  the synagogue. ¹⁸  12:43 For they loved praise ¹⁹  from men more than praise ²⁰  from God.

Matthew 13:20-21

13:20 The ²¹  seed sown on rocky ground ²²  is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ²³  when ²⁴  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Mark 4:16-17

4:16 These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. 4:17 But ²⁵  they have no root in themselves and do not endure. ²⁶  Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.

Luke 8:13

8:13 Those ²⁷  on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, ²⁸  but ²⁹  in a time of testing ³⁰  fall away. ³¹ 

Galatians 5:6

5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight – the only thing that matters is faith working through love. ³² 

Ephesians 3:16-17

3:16 I pray that ³³  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,

James 2:19-20

2:19 You believe that God is one; well and good. ³⁴  Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. ³⁵ 

2:20 But would you like evidence, ³⁶  you empty fellow, ³⁷  that faith without works is useless? ³⁸ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ² tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  ³ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ⁵ sn The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief.

[6:14]  ⁶ sn An allusion to Deut 18:15.

[7:31]  ⁷ tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities).

[7:31]  ⁸ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:31]  ⁹ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “will he?”).

[8:30]  ¹⁰ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity and smoothness in the translation.

[8:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).

[8:31]  ¹² tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ¹³ tn Or “truly.”

[12:42]  ¹⁴ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ¹⁶ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  ¹⁷ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ¹⁸ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[12:43]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the glory.”

[12:43]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the glory.”

[13:20]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:20]  ²² tn Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.

[13:21]  ²³ tn Grk “is temporary.”

[13:21]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:17]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[4:17]  ²⁶ tn Grk “are temporary.”

[8:13]  ²⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:13]  ²⁸ sn This time of temporary faith represented by the description believe for a while is presented rather tragically in the passage. The seed does not get a chance to do all it can.

[8:13]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:13]  ³⁰ tn Traditionally, “temptation.” Such a translation puts the emphasis on temptation to sin rather than testing of faith, which is what the context seems to indicate.

[8:13]  ³¹ sn Fall away. On the idea of falling away and the warnings against it, see 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 3:12; Jer 3:14; Dan 9:9.

[5:6]  ³² tn Grk “but faith working through love.”

[3:16]  ³³ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[2:19]  ³⁴ tn Grk “you do well.”

[2:19]  ³⁵ tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.

[2:20]  ³⁶ tn Grk “do you want to know.”

[2:20]  ³⁷ tn Grk “O empty man.” Here the singular vocative ἄνθρωπε (anqrwpe, “man”) means “person” or even “fellow.” Cf. BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8 which views this as an instance of rhetorical address in a letter; the pejorative sense is also discussed under the previous heading (7).

[2:20]  ³⁸ tc Most witnesses, including several important ones (א A C² P Ψ 33 Ï sy bo), have νεκρά (nekra, “dead”) here, while Ì⁷⁴ reads κενή (kenh, “empty”). Both variants are most likely secondary, derived from ἀργή (argh, “useless”). The reading of the majority is probably an assimilation to the statements in vv. 17 and 26, while Ì⁷⁴’s reading picks up on κενέ (kene) earlier in the verse. The external evidence (B C* 323 945 1739 sa) for ἀργή is sufficient for authenticity; coupled with the strong internal evidence for the reading (if νεκρά were original, how would ἀργή have arisen here and not in vv. 17 or 26?), it is strongly preferred.