16:1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. 23
5:19 So Jesus answered them, 24 “I tell you the solemn truth, 25 the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, 26 but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father 27 does, the Son does likewise. 28
1 tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”
2 tn Grk “blood and flesh.”
3 tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.
4 tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.
5 sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.
6 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.
7 tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).
8 tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”
9 tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).
10 tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).
11 tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”
12 tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”
13 tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”
14 sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.
15 tn Or “will be thrown out.” This translation regards the future passive ἐκβληθήσεται (ekblhqhsetai) as referring to an event future to the time of speaking.
16 tn Grk “I will no longer speak many things with you.”
17 sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.
18 tn Grk “in me he has nothing.”
19 sn The world is proven wrong concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. Jesus’ righteousness before the Father, as proven by his return to the Father, his glorification, constitutes a judgment against Satan. This is parallel to the judgment of the world which Jesus provokes in 3:19-21: Jesus’ presence in the world as the Light of the world provokes the judgment of those in the world, because as they respond to the light (either coming to Jesus or rejecting him) so are they judged. That judgment is in a sense already realized. So it is here, where the judgment of Satan is already realized in Jesus’ glorification. This does not mean that Satan does not continue to be active in the world, and to exercise some power over it, just as in 3:19-21 the people in the world who have rejected Jesus and thus incurred judgment continue on in their opposition to Jesus for a time. In both cases the judgment is not immediately executed. But it is certain.
20 tn Or “that.”
21 sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.
22 tn Or “judged.”
23 tn Grk “so that you will not be caused to stumble.”
24 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
25 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
26 tn Grk “nothing from himself.”
27 tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does – and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.
29 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.
30 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.
32 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
33 tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.
34 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.