7:35 Then the Jewish leaders 11 said to one another, “Where is he 12 going to go that we cannot find him? 13 He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed 14 among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? 15
8:9 Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, 16 until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
8:19 Then they began asking 17 him, “Who is your father?” Jesus answered, “You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too.” 18
12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers 22 many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees 23 they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, 24 so that they would not be put out of 25 the synagogue. 26
1 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Grk “said to them.”
3 tn Grk “about the tenth hour.”
4 sn Nathanael is traditionally identified with Bartholomew (although John never describes him as such). He appears here after Philip, while in all lists of the twelve except in Acts 1:13, Bartholomew follows Philip. Also, the Aramaic Bar-tolmai means “son of Tolmai,” the surname; the man almost certainly had another name.
5 tn “Also” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
7 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Or “during the night.”
9 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.
10 tn Or “this.” The Greek pronoun can mean either “this one” or “this” (BDAG 740 s.v. οὗτος 1).
11 sn There is irony in the Samaritans’ declaration that Jesus was really the Savior of the world, an irony foreshadowed in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (1:11): “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” Yet the Samaritans welcomed Jesus and proclaimed him to be not the Jewish Messiah only, but the Savior of the world.
13 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase is understood to refer to the Jewish authorities or leaders, since the Jewish leaders are mentioned in this context both before and after the present verse (7:32, 45).
14 tn Grk “this one.”
15 tn Grk “will not find him.”
16 sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.
17 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “is he?”).
16 tn Or “beginning from the eldest.”
19 tn Grk “Then they were saying to him.” The imperfect verb has been translated with ingressive force here because of the introduction of a new line of questioning by the Pharisees. Jesus had just claimed his Father as a second witness; now his opponents want to know who his father is.
20 sn If you knew me you would know my Father too. Jesus’ reply is based on his identity with the Father (see also John 1:18; 14:9).
22 tn Grk “Jesus answered.”
23 tn Grk “is nothing.”
24 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
25 sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.
26 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
27 tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”
28 tn Or “be expelled from.”
29 sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.
28 tn Grk “Remember the word that I said to you.”
29 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
30 sn A slave is not greater than his master. Jesus now recalled a statement he had made to the disciples before, in John 13:16. As the master has been treated, so will the slaves be treated also. If the world had persecuted Jesus, then it would also persecute the disciples. If the world had kept Jesus’ word, it would likewise keep the word of the disciples. In this statement there is the implication that the disciples would carry on the ministry of Jesus after his departure; they would in their preaching and teaching continue to spread the message which Jesus himself had taught while he was with them. And they would meet with the same response, by and large, that he encountered.
31 tn Or “if they kept.”
32 tn Or “they will keep.”