16:29 His disciples said, “Look, now you are speaking plainly 1 and not in obscure figures of speech! 2 16:30 Now we know that you know everything 3 and do not need anyone 4 to ask you anything. 5 Because of this 6 we believe that you have come from God.”
16:31 Jesus replied, 7 “Do you now believe? 16:32 Look, a time 8 is coming – and has come – when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, 9 and I will be left alone. 10 Yet 11 I am not alone, because my Father 12 is with me. 16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, 13 but take courage 14 – I have conquered the world.” 15
1 tn Or “openly.”
2 tn Or “not in parables.” or “not in metaphors.”
3 tn Grk “all things.”
4 tn Grk “and have no need of anyone.”
5 tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
6 tn Or “By this.”
7 tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”
8 tn Grk “an hour.”
9 tn Grk “each one to his own”; the word “home” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The phrase “each one to his own” may be completed in a number of different ways: “each one to his own property”; “each one to his own family”; or “each one to his own home.” The last option seems to fit most easily into the context and so is used in the translation.
10 sn The proof of Jesus’ negative evaluation of the disciples’ faith is now given: Jesus foretells their abandonment of him at his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (I will be left alone). This parallels the synoptic accounts in Matt 26:31 and Mark 14:27 when Jesus, after the last supper and on the way to Gethsemane, foretold the desertion of the disciples as a fulfillment of Zech 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Yet although the disciples would abandon Jesus, he reaffirmed that he was not alone, because the Father was still with him.
11 tn Grk “And” (but with some contrastive force).
12 tn Grk “the Father.”
13 tn The one Greek term θλῖψις (qliyis) has been translated by an English hendiadys (two terms that combine for one meaning) “trouble and suffering.” For modern English readers “tribulation” is no longer clearly understandable.
14 tn Or “but be courageous.”
15 tn Or “I am victorious over the world,” or “I have overcome the world.”