Text -- John 21:17 (NET)

21:17 Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Joh 21:17

¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

³ tn Or “was sad.”

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

⁵ tn Grk “said to.”

⁶ tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W ˹ 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”