1:35 Again the next day John 1 was standing there 2 with two of his disciples. 1:36 Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 3 1:37 When John’s 4 two disciples heard him say this, 5 they followed Jesus. 6
1 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
2 tn “There” is not in the Greek text but is implied by current English idiom.
3 sn This section (1:35-51) is joined to the preceding by the literary expedient of repeating the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus being the Lamb of God (1:36, cf. 1:29). This repeated testimony (1:36) no longer has revelatory value in itself, since it has been given before; its purpose, instead, is to institute a chain reaction which will bring John the Baptist’s disciples to Jesus and make them Jesus’ own disciples.
4 tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Grk “And the two disciples heard him speaking.”
6 sn The expression followed Jesus pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.