John 1:15

1:15 John ¹  testified ²  about him and shouted out, ³  “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, ⁴  because he existed before me.’”

John 4:3

4:3 he left Judea and set out once more for Galilee. ⁵ 

John 9:22

9:22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. ⁶  For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus ⁷  to be the Christ ⁸  would be put out ⁹  of the synagogue. ¹⁰ 

John 11:44

11:44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, ¹¹  and a cloth wrapped around his face. ¹²  Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him ¹³  and let him go.”

John 12:42

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ¹⁴  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ¹⁵  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ¹⁶  so that they would not be put out of ¹⁷  the synagogue. ¹⁸ 

John 17:6

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

17:6 “I have revealed ¹⁹  your name to the men ²⁰  you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, ²¹  and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed ²²  your word.

John 18:16

18:16 But Simon Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door, ²³  and brought Peter inside.

John 19:12

19:12 From this point on, Pilate tried ²⁴  to release him. But the Jewish leaders ²⁵  shouted out, ²⁶  “If you release this man, ²⁷  you are no friend of Caesar! ²⁸  Everyone who claims to be a king ²⁹  opposes Caesar!”

[1:15]  ¹ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[1:15]  ² tn Or “bore witness.”

[1:15]  ³ tn Grk “and shouted out saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant is English and has not been translated.

[1:15]  ⁴ tn Or “has a higher rank than I.”

[4:3]  ⁵ sn The author doesn’t tell why Jesus chose to set out once more for Galilee. Some have suggested that the Pharisees turned their attention to Jesus because John the Baptist had now been thrown into prison. But the text gives no hint of this. In any case, perhaps Jesus simply did not want to provoke a confrontation at this time (knowing that his “hour” had not yet come).

[9:22]  ⁹ tn Or “the Jewish religious authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Twice in this verse the phrase refers to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. The second occurrence is shortened to “the Jewish leaders” for stylistic reasons. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish religious leaders” in v. 18.

[9:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “confessed him.”

[9:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[9:22]  ¹² tn Or “would be expelled from.”

[9:22]  ¹³ sn This reference to excommunication from the Jewish synagogue for those who had made some sort of confession about Jesus being the Messiah is dismissed as anachronistic by some (e.g., Barrett) and nonhistorical by others. In later Jewish practice there were at least two forms of excommunication: a temporary ban for thirty days, and a permanent ban. But whether these applied in NT times is far from certain. There is no substantial evidence for a formal ban on Christians until later than this Gospel could possibly have been written. This may be a reference to some form of excommunication adopted as a contingency to deal with those who were proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah. If so, there is no other record of the procedure than here. It was probably local, limited to the area around Jerusalem. See also the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[11:44]  ¹³ sn Many have wondered how Lazarus got out of the tomb if his hands and feet were still tied up with strips of cloth. The author does not tell, and with a miracle of this magnitude, this is not an important fact to know. If Lazarus’ decomposing body was brought back to life by the power of God, then it could certainly have been moved out of the tomb by that same power. Others have suggested that the legs were bound separately, which would remove the difficulty, but the account gives no indication of this. What may be of more significance for the author is the comparison which this picture naturally evokes with the resurrection of Jesus, where the graveclothes stayed in the tomb neatly folded (20:6-7). Jesus, unlike Lazarus, would never need graveclothes again.

[11:44]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and his face tied around with cloth.”

[11:44]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Loose him.”

[12:42]  ¹⁷ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ¹⁹ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  ²⁰ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ²¹ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[17:6]  ²¹ tn Or “made known,” “disclosed.”

[17:6]  ²² tn Here “men” is retained as a translation for ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") rather than the more generic “people” because in context it specifically refers to the eleven men Jesus had chosen as apostles (Judas had already departed, John 13:30). If one understands the referent here to be the broader group of Jesus’ followers that included both men and women, a translation like “to the people” should be used here instead.

[17:6]  ²³ tn Grk “Yours they were.”

[17:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “have kept.”

[18:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “spoke to the doorkeeper”; her description as a slave girl is taken from the following verse. The noun θυρωρός (qurwro") may be either masculine or feminine, but the article here indicates that it is feminine.

[19:12]  ²⁹ tn Grk “sought.”

[19:12]  ³⁰ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin, and their servants (mentioned specifically as “the chief priests and their servants” in John 19:6). See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.

[19:12]  ³¹ tn Grk “shouted out, saying.”

[19:12]  ³² tn Grk “this one.”

[19:12]  ³³ sn Is the author using the phrase Friend of Caesar in a technical sense, as a title bestowed on people for loyal service to the Emperor, or in a more general sense merely describing a person as loyal to the Emperor? L. Morris (John [NICNT], 798) thinks it is “unlikely” that the title is used in the technical sense, and J. H. Bernard (St. John [ICC], 2:621) argues that the technical sense of the phrase as an official title was not used before the time of Vespasian (a.d. 69-79). But there appears to be significant evidence for much earlier usage. Some of this is given in BDAG 498-99 s.v. Καῖσαρ. E. Bammel (“φίλος τοῦ καίσαρος (John 19:12),” TLZ 77 [1952]: 205-10) listed significant and convincing arguments that the official title was indeed in use at the time. Granting that the title was in use during this period, what is the likelihood that it had been bestowed on Pilate? Pilate was of the equestrian order, that is, of lower nobility as opposed to senatorial rank. As such he would have been eligible to receive such an honor. It also appears that the powerful Sejanus was his patron in Rome, and Sejanus held considerable influence with Tiberius. Tacitus (Annals 6.8) quotes Marcus Terentius in his defense before the Senate as saying that close friendship with Sejanus “was in every case a powerful recommendation to the Emperor’s friendship.” Thus it is possible that Pilate held this honor. Therefore it appears that the Jewish authorities were putting a good deal of psychological pressure on Pilate to convict Jesus. They had, in effect, finally specified the charge against Jesus as treason: “Everyone who makes himself to be king opposes Caesar.” If Pilate now failed to convict Jesus the Jewish authorities could complain to Rome that Pilate had released a traitor. This possibility carried more weight with Pilate than might at first be evident: (1) Pilate’s record as governor was not entirely above reproach; (2) Tiberius, who lived away from Rome as a virtual recluse on the island of Capri, was known for his suspicious nature, especially toward rivals or those who posed a political threat; and (3) worst of all, Pilate’s patron in Rome, Sejanus, had recently come under suspicion of plotting to seize the imperial succession for himself. Sejanus was deposed in October of a.d. 31. It may have been to Sejanus that Pilate owed his appointment in Judea. Pilate was now in a very delicate position. The Jewish authorities may have known something of this and deliberately used it as leverage against him. Whether or not they knew just how potent their veiled threat was, it had the desired effect. Pilate went directly to the judgment seat to pronounce his judgment.

[19:12]  ³⁴ tn Grk “who makes himself out to be a king.”