7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, 1 cried out, 2 “You both know me and know where I come from! 3 And I have not come on my own initiative, 4 but the one who sent me 5 is true. You do not know him, 6
6:59 Jesus 7 said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue 8 in Capernaum. 9
7:14 When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts 10 and began to teach. 11
7:35 Then the Jewish leaders 21 said to one another, “Where is he 22 going to go that we cannot find him? 23 He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed 24 among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? 25
8:28 Then Jesus said, 26 “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, 27 and I do nothing on my own initiative, 28 but I speak just what the Father taught me. 29
1 tn Grk “the temple.”
2 tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”
3 sn You both know me and know where I come from! Jesus’ response while teaching in the temple is difficult – it appears to concede too much understanding to his opponents. It is best to take the words as irony: “So you know me and know where I am from, do you?” On the physical, literal level, they did know where he was from: Nazareth of Galilee (at least they thought they knew). But on another deeper (spiritual) level, they did not: He came from heaven, from the Father. Jesus insisted that he has not come on his own initiative (cf. 5:37), but at the bidding of the Father who sent him.
4 tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”
5 tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.
6 tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”
7 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
8 sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).
9 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
13 tn Grk “to the temple.”
14 tn Or “started teaching.” An ingressive sense for the imperfect verb (“began to teach” or “started teaching”) fits well here, since the context implies that Jesus did not start his teaching at the beginning of the festival, but began when it was about half over.
19 tn An ingressive sense for the imperfect fits well here following the aorist participle.
25 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn The term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion) can be translated “treasury” or “treasure room” in this context. BDAG 186 s.v. 1 notes, “It can be taken in this sense J 8:20 (sing.) in (or at) the treasury.” BDAG 186 s.v. 2 argues that the occurrences of this word in the synoptic gospels also refer to the treasury: “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.
27 tn Grk “the temple.”
28 tn Grk “his hour.”
29 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
31 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”
32 tn Or “From birth you have been evil.” The implication of this insult, in the context of John 9, is that the man whom Jesus caused to see had not previously adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Thus he had no right to instruct them about who Jesus was.
33 tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”
37 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).
38 tn Grk “this one.”
39 tn Grk “will not find him.”
40 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.
41 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?”).
43 tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them” (the words “to them” are not found in all
44 tn Grk “that I am.” See the note on this phrase in v. 24.
45 tn Grk “I do nothing from myself.”
46 tn Grk “but just as the Father taught me, these things I speak.”
49 tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in v. 16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.
50 tn Grk “that one will teach you.” The words “that one” have been omitted from the translation since they are redundant in English.
51 tn Grk “all things.”
52 tn Grk “all things.”
55 tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”
56 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.
57 tn Grk “in the temple.”
58 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.
59 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.