John 1:13

1:13 – children not born ¹  by human parents ²  or by human desire ³  or a husband’s ⁴  decision, ⁵  but by God.

John 6:38

6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

John 5:30

5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. ⁶  Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, ⁷  because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. ⁸ 

John 4:34

4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me ⁹  and to complete ¹⁰  his work. ¹¹ 

John 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ¹²  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ¹³ 

John 9:31

9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to ¹⁴  sinners, but if anyone is devout ¹⁵  and does his will, God ¹⁶  listens to ¹⁷  him. ¹⁸ 

John 6:39-40

6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ¹⁹  at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up ²⁰  at the last day.” ²¹ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn The Greek term translated “born” here also involves conception.

[1:13]  ² tn Grk “of blood(s).” The plural αἱμάτων (Jaimatwn) has seemed a problem to many interpreters. At least some sources in antiquity imply that blood was thought of as being important in the development of the fetus during its time in the womb: thus Wis 7:1: “in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, within the period of 10 months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.” In John 1:13, the plural αἱμάτων may imply the action of both parents. It may also refer to the “genetic” contribution of both parents, and so be equivalent to “human descent” (see BDAG 26 s.v. αἷμα 1.a). E. C. Hoskyns thinks John could not have used the singular here because Christians are in fact ‘begotten’ by the blood of Christ (The Fourth Gospel, 143), although the context would seem to make it clear that the blood in question is something other than the blood of Christ.

[1:13]  ³ tn Or “of the will of the flesh.” The phrase οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός (oude ek qelhmato" sarko") is more clearly a reference to sexual desire, but it should be noted that σάρξ (sarx) in John does not convey the evil sense common in Pauline usage. For John it refers to the physical nature in its weakness rather than in its sinfulness. There is no clearer confirmation of this than the immediately following verse, where the λόγος (logos) became σάρξ.

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Or “man’s.”

[1:13]  ⁵ tn The third phrase, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός (oude ek qelhmato" andros), means much the same as the second one. The word here (ἀνηρ, anhr) is often used for a husband, resulting in the translation “or a husband’s decision,” or more generally, “or of any human volition whatsoever.” L. Morris may be right when he sees here an emphasis directed at the Jewish pride in race and patriarchal ancestry, although such a specific reference is difficult to prove (John [NICNT], 101).

[5:30]  ⁶ tn Grk “nothing from myself.”

[5:30]  ⁷ tn Or “righteous,” or “proper.”

[5:30]  ⁸ tn That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”

[4:34]  ¹¹ sn The one who sent me refers to the Father.

[4:34]  ¹² tn Or “to accomplish.”

[4:34]  ¹³ tn The substantival ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as an English infinitive clause.

[7:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[9:31]  ²¹ tn Grk “God does not hear.”

[9:31]  ²² tn Or “godly.”

[9:31]  ²³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:31]  ²⁴ tn Or “hears.”

[9:31]  ²⁵ tn Grk “this one.”

[6:39]  ²⁶ tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[6:40]  ³¹ tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

[6:40]  ³² sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).