Text -- John 16:29-33 (NET)

16:29 His disciples said, “Look, now you are speaking plainly and not in obscure figures of speech! 16:30 Now we know that you know everything and do not need need anyone to ask you anything. Because of this we believe that you have come from God.” 16:31 Jesus replied, “Do you now believe? 16:32 Look, a time is coming– and has come– when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, and I will be left alone. Yet I am not alone, because my Father is with me. 16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage– I have conquered the world.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Joh 16:29

¹ tn Or “openly.”

² tn Or “not in parables.” or “not in metaphors.”

sn How is the disciples’ reply to Jesus now you are speaking plainly and not in obscure figures of speech to be understood? Their claim to understand seems a bit impulsive. It is difficult to believe that the disciples have really understood the full implications of Jesus’ words, although it is true that he spoke to them plainly and not figuratively in 16:26-28. The disciples will not fully understand all that Jesus has said to them until after his resurrection, when the Holy Spirit will give them insight and understanding (16:13).

NET Notes: Joh 16:30

¹ tn Grk “all things.”

² tn Grk “and have no need of anyone.”

³ tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

⁴ tn Or “By this.”

NET Notes: Joh 16:31

¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”

NET Notes: Joh 16:32

¹ tn Grk “an hour.”

² tn Grk “each one to his own”; the word “home” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The phrase “each one to his own” may be completed in a number of different ways: “each one to his own property”; “each one to his own family”; or “each one to his own home.” The last option seems to fit most easily into the context and so is used in the translation.

³ sn The proof of Jesus’ negative evaluation of the disciples’ faith is now given: Jesus foretells their abandonment of him at his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (I will be left alone). This parallels the synoptic accounts in Matt 26:31 and Mark 14:27 when Jesus, after the last supper and on the way to Gethsemane, foretold the desertion of the disciples as a fulfillment of Zech 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Yet although the disciples would abandon Jesus, he reaffirmed that he was not alone, because the Father was still with him.

⁴ tn Grk “And” (but with some contrastive force).

⁵ tn Grk “the Father.”

NET Notes: Joh 16:33

¹ tn The one Greek term θλῖψις (qliyis) has been translated by an English hendiadys (two terms that combine for one meaning) “trouble and suffering.” For modern English readers “tribulation” is no longer clearly understandable.

² tn Or “but be courageous.”

³ tn Or “I am victorious over the world,” or “I have overcome the world.”

sn The Farewell Discourse proper closes on the triumphant note I have conquered the world, which recalls 1:5 (in the prologue): “the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.” Jesus’ words which follow in chap. 17 are addressed not to the disciples but to his Father, as he prays for the consecration of the disciples.