4:27 Now at that very moment his disciples came back. 1 They were shocked 2 because he was speaking 3 with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you want?” 4 or “Why are you speaking with her?”
8:28 Then Jesus said, 10 “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, 11 and I do nothing on my own initiative, 12 but I speak just what the Father taught me. 13
15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains 22 in me – and I in him – bears 23 much fruit, 24 because apart from me you can accomplish 25 nothing.
18:31 Pilate told them, 47 “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him 48 according to your own law!” 49 The Jewish leaders 50 replied, 51 “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” 52
When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders 55 and announced, 56 “I find no basis for an accusation 57 against him.
1 tn Or “his disciples returned”; Grk “came” (“back” is supplied in keeping with English usage). Because of the length of the Greek sentence it is better to divide here and begin a new English sentence, leaving the καί (kai) before ἐθαύμαζον (eqaumazon) untranslated.
2 tn BDAG 444 s.v. θαυμάζω 1.a.γ has “be surprised that” followed by indirect discourse. The context calls for a slightly stronger wording.
3 tn The ὅτι (Joti) could also be translated as declarative (“that he had been speaking with a woman”) but since this would probably require translating the imperfect verb as a past perfect (which is normal after a declarative ὅτι), it is preferable to take this ὅτι as causal.
4 tn Grk “seek.” See John 4:23.
5 tn Grk “nothing from myself.”
6 tn Or “righteous,” or “proper.”
7 tn That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”
9 tn Grk “the flesh counts for nothing.”
10 tn Or “are spirit-giving and life-producing.”
13 tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them” (the words “to them” are not found in all
14 tn Grk “that I am.” See the note on this phrase in v. 24.
15 tn Grk “I do nothing from myself.”
16 tn Grk “but just as the Father taught me, these things I speak.”
17 tn Grk “Jesus answered.”
18 tn Grk “is nothing.”
19 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
21 tn Or “give it up.”
22 tn Or “of my own accord.” “Of my own free will” is given by BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμαυτοῦ c.
23 tn Or “I have the right.”
24 tn Or “I have the right.”
25 tn Or “order.”
25 tn Or “resides.”
26 tn Or “yields.”
27 tn Grk “in him, this one bears much fruit.” The pronoun “this one” has been omitted from the translation because it is redundant according to contemporary English style.
28 tn Or “do.”
29 tn Or “If I had not done.”
30 tn Grk “the works.”
31 tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).
32 tn The words “the deeds” are supplied to clarify from context what was seen. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
33 tn Or “But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.” It is possible to understand both the “seeing” and the “hating” to refer to both Jesus and the Father, but this has the world “seeing” the Father, which seems alien to the Johannine Jesus. (Some point out John 14:9 as an example, but this is addressed to the disciples, not to the world.) It is more likely that the “seeing” refers to the miraculous deeds mentioned in the first half of the verse. Such an understanding of the first “both – and” construction is apparently supported by BDF §444.3.
33 tn Or “distress.”
34 sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the
37 tn Grk “And in that day.”
38 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
39 sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.
41 tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”
42 tn Grk “and guarded them.”
43 tn Or “by your name.”
44 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.
45 tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).
46 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.
45 tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”
46 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.
47 tn Grk “in the temple.”
48 tn Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people generally, for whom the synagogues and the temple courts in Jerusalem were important public gathering places. See also the note on the phrase “Jewish religious leaders” in v. 12.
49 tn Grk “And I.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
49 tn Grk “Then Pilate said to them.”
50 tn Or “judge him.” For the translation “pass judgment on him” see R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:848).
51 sn Pilate, as the sole representative of Rome in a troubled area, was probably in Jerusalem for the Passover because of the danger of an uprising (the normal residence for the Roman governor was in Caesarea as mentioned in Acts 23:35). At this time on the eve of the feast he would have been a busy and perhaps even a worried man. It is not surprising that he offered to hand Jesus back over to the Jewish authorities to pass judgment on him. It may well be that Pilate realized when no specific charge was mentioned that he was dealing with an internal dispute over some religious matter. Pilate wanted nothing to do with such matters, as the statement “Pass judgment on him according to your own law!” indicates. As far as the author is concerned, this points out who was really responsible for Jesus’ death: The Roman governor Pilate would have had nothing to do with it if he had not been pressured by the Jewish religious authorities, upon whom the real responsibility rested.
52 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12.
53 tn Grk “said to him.”
54 tn Grk “It is not permitted to us to kill anyone.”
53 tn Grk “Pilate said.”
54 sn With his reply “What is truth?” Pilate dismissed the matter. It is not clear what Pilate’s attitude was at this point, as in 18:33. He may have been sarcastic, or perhaps somewhat reflective. The author has not given enough information in the narrative to be sure. Within the narrative, Pilate’s question serves to make the reader reflect on what truth is, and that answer (in the narrative) has already been given (14:6).
55 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12. The term also occurs in v. 31, where it is clear the Jewish leaders are in view, because they state that they cannot legally carry out an execution. Although it is likely (in view of the synoptic parallels) that the crowd here in 18:38 was made up not just of the Jewish leaders, but of ordinary residents of Jerusalem and pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Passover, nevertheless in John’s Gospel Pilate is primarily in dialogue with the leadership of the nation, who are expressly mentioned in 18:35 and 19:6.
56 tn Grk “said to them.”
57 tn Grk “find no cause.”
57 tn Or “power.”
58 tn Or “who delivered me over to you.”
59 tn Grk “has the greater sin” (an idiom).
61 tn Grk “they said to him.”
65 tn Grk “said to them.” The words “to them” are omitted because it is clear in context to whom Jesus was speaking, and the words are slightly redundant in English.