John 17:12-13

17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe ¹  and watched over them ²  in your name ³  that you have given me. Not one ⁴  of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, ⁵  so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ⁶  17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience ⁷  my joy completed ⁸  in themselves.

Matthew 9:15

9:15 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests ⁹  cannot mourn while the bridegroom ¹⁰  is with them, can they? But the days ¹¹  are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, ¹²  and then they will fast.

Mark 2:19

2:19 Jesus ¹³  said to them, “The wedding guests ¹⁴  cannot fast while the bridegroom ¹⁵  is with them, can they? ¹⁶  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast.

¹ tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

² tn Grk “and guarded them.”

³ tn Or “by your name.”

⁴ tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

⁵ tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

⁶ sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.

⁷ tn Grk “they may have.”

⁸ tn Or “fulfilled.”

⁹ tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).

¹⁰ sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5; 4 Ezra 2:15, 38).

¹¹ tn Grk “days.”

¹² sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 16:13ff.

¹³ tn Grk “And Jesus.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically, friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).

¹⁵ sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5; 4 Ezra 2:15, 38).

¹⁶ 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 “can they?”).