30:10 They 1 say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”
and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! 2
Tell us nice things,
relate deceptive messages. 3
30:11 Turn aside from the way,
stray off the path. 4
Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.” 5
2:6 ‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. 6
‘These prophets should not preach of such things;
we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’ 7
2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, 8
‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ 9
he would be just the right preacher for these people! 10
4:4 But he had 29 to pass through Samaria. 30
1 tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”
3 tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”
4 sn The imagery refers to the way or path of truth, as revealed by God to the prophet.
5 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
6 tn Heb “‘Do not foam at the mouth,’ they foam at the mouth.” The verb נָטַף (nataf) means “to drip.” When used of speech it probably has the nuance “to drivel, to foam at the mouth” (HALOT 694 s.v. נטף). The sinful people tell the
7 tc If one follows the MT as it stands, it would appear that the
8 tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”
9 tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”
10 tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”
11 tn Or “this is the reason for God judging,” or “this is how judgment works.”
12 tn Grk “and men,” but in a generic sense, referring to people of both genders (as “everyone” in v. 20 makes clear).
13 sn John 3:16-21 provides an introduction to the (so-called) “realized” eschatology of the Fourth Gospel: Judgment has come; eternal life may be possessed now, in the present life, as well as in the future. The terminology “realized eschatology” was originally coined by E. Haenchen and used by J. Jeremias in discussion with C. H. Dodd, but is now characteristically used to describe Dodd’s own formulation. See L. Goppelt, Theology of the New Testament, 1:54, note 10, and R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:cxvii-cxviii) for further discussion. Especially important to note is the element of choice portrayed in John’s Gospel. If there is a twofold reaction to Jesus in John’s Gospel, it should be emphasized that that reaction is very much dependent on a person’s choice, a choice that is influenced by his way of life, whether his deeds are wicked or are done in God (John 3:20-21). For John there is virtually no trace of determinism at the surface. Only when one looks beneath the surface does one find statements like “no one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).
14 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Or “during the night.”
16 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.
17 tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.
18 tn Grk “and he did not know where it came from.”
19 tn Grk “the head steward”; here the repetition of the phrase is somewhat redundant in English and the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.
20 tn Grk “every man” (in a generic sense).
21 tn Or “poorer.”
22 tn Grk “when they”; the referent (the guests) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 tn This sentence in Greek involves an object-complement construction. The force can be either “Jesus did this as,” or possibly “Jesus made this to be.” The latter translation accents not only Jesus’ power but his sovereignty too. Cf. also 4:54 where the same construction occurs.
24 map For location see Map1-C3; Map2-D2; Map3-C5.
25 tn Grk “in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed.”
26 tn Or “his disciples trusted in him,” or “his disciples put their faith in him.”
27 sn There is no clue to the identity of the bride and groom, but in all probability either relatives or friends of Jesus’ family were involved, since Jesus’ mother and both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the celebration. The attitude of Mary in approaching Jesus and asking him to do something when the wine ran out also suggests that familial obligations were involved.
28 sn The author doesn’t tell why Jesus chose to set out once more for Galilee. Some have suggested that the Pharisees turned their attention to Jesus because John the Baptist had now been thrown into prison. But the text gives no hint of this. In any case, perhaps Jesus simply did not want to provoke a confrontation at this time (knowing that his “hour” had not yet come).
29 sn Travel through Samaria was not geographically necessary; the normal route for Jews ran up the east side of the Jordan River (Transjordan). Although some take the impersonal verb had to (δεῖ, dei) here to indicate logical necessity only, normally in John’s Gospel its use involves God’s will or plan (3:7, 3:14, 3:30, 4:4, 4:20, 4:24, 9:4, 10:16, 12:34, 20:9).
30 sn Samaria. The Samaritans were descendants of 2 groups: (1) The remnant of native Israelites who were not deported after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722