1 John 2:20-21

2:20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. ¹  2:21 I have not written to you that ²  you do not know the truth, but that ³  you do know it, and that ⁴  no lie is of the truth.

Jeremiah 31:33-34

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ⁵  after I plant them back in the land,” ⁶  says the Lord. ⁷  “I will ⁸  put my law within them ⁹  and write it on their hearts and minds. ¹⁰  I will be their God and they will be my people. ¹¹ 

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ¹²  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ¹³  says the Lord. “For ¹⁴  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

John 14:26

14:26 But the Advocate, ¹⁵  the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you ¹⁶  everything, ¹⁷  and will cause you to remember everything ¹⁸  I said to you.

John 16:13

16:13 But when he, ¹⁹  the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide ²⁰  you into all truth. ²¹  For he will not speak on his own authority, ²²  but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you ²³  what is to come. ²⁴ 

Hebrews 8:10-11

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ²⁵  my laws in their minds ²⁶  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ²⁷ 

8:11 “And there will be no need at all ²⁸  for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. ²⁹ 

[2:20]  ¹ tc πάντες (pantes, nominative plural in “you all know”) is read by א B P Ψ sa. A C 049 33 1739 Ï latt sy bo have the accusative πάντα (panta, “you know all things”). The evidence favors the nominative reading, but it is not overwhelming. At the same time, the internal evidence supports the nominative for a variety of reasons. A scribe would naturally tend to give the transitive verb a direct object, especially because of the parallel in the first half of the verse. And intrinsically, the argument seems to be in balance with v. 19: The “all” who have gone out and are not “in the know” with the “all” who have an anointing and know that they are true believers. Further, as R. E. Brown points out, “the fact of their knowledge (pantes), not the extent of its object (panta), seems best to fit the reassurance” (Epistles of John [AB], 349). Brown further points out the connection with the new covenant in Jer 31 with this section of 1 John, esp. Jer 31:34 – “they all [pantes] shall know me.” Since 1 John alludes to Jer 31, without directly quoting it, this is all the more reason to see the nominative as original: Allusions are often overlooked by scribes (transcriptional evidence), but support the intrinsic evidence. Thus, the evidence is solidly (though not overwhelmingly) behind the nominative reading.

[2:21]  ² tn The interpretation of the three ὅτι clauses in v. 21 is very difficult: (1) All three instances of ὅτι (Joti) may be causal (so NASB, NIV, NEB). (2) The first two may be causal while the third indicates content (declarative or recitative ὅτι, so KJV, RSV, TEV, NRSV). (3) However, it is best to take all three instances as indicating content because this allows all three to be subordinate to the verb ἔγραψα (egraya) as compound direct objects. The author writes to reassure his readers (a) that they do indeed know the truth (first two uses of ὅτι) and (b) that no lie is of the truth (third use).

[2:21]  ³ tn See the note on the first occurrence of “that” in v. 21.

[2:21]  ⁴ tn See the note on the first occurrence of “that” in v. 21.

[31:33]  ³ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

[31:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

[31:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

[31:33]  ⁸ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

[31:33]  ⁹ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[31:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

[31:34]  ⁵ sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

[31:34]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[14:26]  ⁵ 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.

[14:26]  ⁶ tn Grk “that one will teach you.” The words “that one” have been omitted from the translation since they are redundant in English.

[14:26]  ⁷ tn Grk “all things.”

[14:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “all things.”

[16:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “that one.”

[16:13]  ⁷ tn Or “will lead.”

[16:13]  ⁸ sn Three important points must be noted here. (1) When the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide the disciples into all truth. What Jesus had said in 8:31-32, “If you continue to follow my teaching you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” will ultimately be realized in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit to the disciples after Jesus’ departure. (2) The things the Holy Spirit speaks to them will not be things which originate from himself (he will not speak on his own authority), but things he has heard. This could be taken to mean that no new revelation is involved, as R. E. Brown does (John [AB], 2:714-15). This is a possible but not a necessary inference. The point here concerns the source of the things the Spirit will say to the disciples and does not specifically exclude originality of content. (3) Part at least of what the Holy Spirit will reveal to the disciples will concern what is to come, not just fuller implications of previous sayings of Jesus and the like. This does seem to indicate that at least some new revelation is involved. But the Spirit is not the source or originator of these things – Jesus is the source, and he will continue to speak to his disciples through the Spirit who has come to indwell them. This does not answer the question, however, whether these words are addressed to all followers of Jesus, or only to his apostles. Different modern commentators will answer this question differently. Since in the context of the Farewell Discourse Jesus is preparing the twelve to carry on his ministry after his departure, it is probably best to take these statements as specifically related only to the twelve. Some of this the Holy Spirit does directly for all believers today; other parts of this statement are fulfilled through the apostles (e.g., in giving the Book of Revelation the Spirit speaks through the apostles to the church today of things to come). One of the implications of this is that a doctrine does not have to be traced back to an explicit teaching of Jesus to be authentic; all that is required is apostolic authority.

[16:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “speak from himself.”

[16:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or will announce to you.”

[16:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “will tell you the things to come.”

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[8:10]  ⁸ tn Grk “mind.”

[8:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.

[8:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”

[8:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “from the small to the great.”