John 1:19

The Testimony of John the Baptist

1:19 Now ¹  this was ²  John’s ³  testimony ⁴  when the Jewish leaders ⁵  sent ⁶  priests and Levites from Jerusalem ⁷  to ask him, “Who are you?” ⁸ 

John 1:42

1:42 Andrew brought Simon ⁹  to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John. ¹⁰  You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). ¹¹ 

John 3:4

3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” ¹² 

John 4:35

4:35 Don’t you say, ¹³  ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up ¹⁴  and see that the fields are already white ¹⁵  for harvest!

John 4:47

4:47 When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him ¹⁶  to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.

John 6:35

6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty. ¹⁷ 

John 7:3

7:3 So Jesus’ brothers ¹⁸  advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. ¹⁹ 

John 7:35

7:35 Then the Jewish leaders ²⁰  said to one another, “Where is he ²¹  going to go that we cannot find him? ²²  He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed ²³  among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? ²⁴ 

John 7:37

Teaching About the Spirit

7:37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, ²⁵  Jesus stood up and shouted out, ²⁶  “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and

John 11:4

11:4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, ²⁷  but to God’s glory, ²⁸  so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ²⁹ 

John 11:32

11:32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

John 14:12

14:12 I tell you the solemn truth, ³⁰  the person who believes in me will perform ³¹  the miraculous deeds ³²  that I am doing, ³³  and will perform ³⁴  greater deeds ³⁵  than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:23

14:23 Jesus replied, ³⁶  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ³⁷  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ³⁸ 

John 17:11

17:11 I ³⁹  am no longer in the world, but ⁴⁰  they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe ⁴¹  in your name ⁴²  that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ⁴³ 

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, ⁴⁴  and brought Peter inside.

John 18:38

18:38 Pilate asked, ⁴⁵  “What is truth?” ⁴⁶ 

When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders ⁴⁷  and announced, ⁴⁸  “I find no basis for an accusation ⁴⁹  against him.

[1:19]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[1:19]  ² tn Grk “is.”

[1:19]  ³ sn John’s refers to John the Baptist.

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Or “witness.”

[1:19]  ⁵ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Iουδαῖοι (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. Here the author refers to the authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.)

[1:19]  ⁶ tc ‡ Several important witnesses have πρὸς αὐτόν (pro" auton, “to him”) either here (B C* 33 892^c al it) or after “Levites” (Ì^{66c vid} A Θ Ψ Ë¹³ 579 al lat), while the earliest mss as well as the majority of mss (Ì^66*,75 א C³ L W^s ˹ Ï) lack the phrase. On the one hand, πρὸς αὐτόν could be perceived as redundant since αὐτόν is used again later in the verse, thus prompting scribes to omit the phrase. On the other hand, both the variation in placement of πρὸς αὐτόν and the fact that this phrase rather than the latter αὐτόν is lacking in certain witnesses (cf. John 11:44; 14:7; 18:31), suggests that scribes felt that the sentence needed the phrase to make the sense clearer. Although a decision is difficult, the shorter reading is slightly preferred. NA²⁷ has πρὸς αὐτόν in brackets, indicating doubt as to the phrase’s authenticity.

[1:19]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:19]  ⁸ sn “Who are you?” No uniform Jewish expectation of a single eschatological figure existed in the 1st century. A majority expected the Messiah. But some pseudepigraphic books describe God’s intervention without mentioning the anointed Davidic king; in parts of 1 Enoch, for example, the figure of the Son of Man, not the Messiah, embodies the expectations of the author. Essenes at Qumran seem to have expected three figures: a prophet, a priestly messiah, and a royal messiah. In baptizing, John the Baptist was performing an eschatological action. It also seems to have been part of his proclamation (John 1:23, 26-27). Crowds were beginning to follow him. He was operating in an area not too far from the Essene center on the Dead Sea. No wonder the authorities were curious about who he was.

[1:42]  ⁹ tn Grk “He brought him”; both referents (Andrew, Simon) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:42]  ¹⁰ tc The reading “Simon, son of John” is well attested in Ì^66,75,106 א B* L 33 pc it co. The majority of mss (A B² Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï) read “Simon, the son of Jonah” here instead, but that is perhaps an assimilation to Matt 16:17.

[1:42]  ¹¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The change of name from Simon to Cephas is indicative of the future role he will play. Only John among the gospel writers gives the Greek transliteration (Κηφᾶς, Khfas) of Simon’s new name, Qéphâ (which is Galilean Aramaic). Neither Πέτρος (Petros) in Greek nor Qéphâ in Aramaic is a normal proper name; it is more like a nickname.

[3:4]  ¹⁷ tn The grammatical structure of the question in Greek presupposes a negative reply.

[4:35]  ²⁵ tn The recitative ὅτι (Joti) after λέγετε (legete) has not been translated.

[4:35]  ²⁶ tn Grk “lift up your eyes” (an idiom). BDAG 357 s.v. ἐπαίρω 1 has “look up” here.

[4:35]  ²⁷ tn That is, “ripe.”

[4:47]  ³³ tn The direct object of ἠρώτα (hrwta) is supplied from context. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[6:35]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “the one who believes in me will not possibly thirst, ever.”

[7:3]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “his brothers.”

[7:3]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “your deeds that you are doing.”

[7:35]  ⁵⁷ 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).

[7:35]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:35]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “will not find him.”

[7:35]  ⁶⁰ 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.

[7:35]  ⁶¹ 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?”).

[7:37]  ⁶⁵ sn There is a problem with the identification of this reference to the last day of the feast, the greatest day: It appears from Deut 16:13 that the feast went for seven days. Lev 23:36, however, makes it plain that there was an eighth day, though it was mentioned separately from the seven. It is not completely clear whether the seventh or eighth day was the climax of the feast, called here by the author the “last great day of the feast.” Since according to the Mishnah (m. Sukkah 4.1) the ceremonies with water and lights did not continue after the seventh day, it seems more probable that this is the day the author mentions.

[7:37]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “Jesus stood up and cried out, saying.”

[11:4]  ⁷³ tn Grk “This sickness is not to death.”

[11:4]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “to God’s praise.”

[11:4]  ⁷⁵ sn So that the Son of God may be glorified through it. These statements are highly ironic: For Lazarus, the sickness did not end in his death, because he was restored to life. But for Jesus himself, the miraculous sign he performed led to his own death, because it confirmed the authorities in their plan to kill Jesus (11:47-53). In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ death is consistently portrayed as his ‘glorification’ through which he accomplishes his return to the Father.

[14:12]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[14:12]  ⁸² tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ⁸³ tn Grk “the works.”

[14:12]  ⁸⁴ tn Or “that I do.”

[14:12]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “greater works.”

[14:23]  ⁸⁹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[14:23]  ⁹⁰ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:23]  ⁹¹ tn Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23. It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.

[17:11]  ⁹⁷ 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.

[17:11]  ⁹⁸ tn The context indicates that this should be translated as an adversative or contrastive conjunction.

[17:11]  ⁹⁹ tn Or “protect them”; Grk “keep them.”

[17:11]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:11]  ¹⁰¹ tn The second repetition of “one” is implied, and is supplied here for clarity.

[18:16]  ¹⁰⁵ 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.

[18:38]  ¹¹³ tn Grk “Pilate said.”

[18:38]  ¹¹⁴ 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).

[18:38]  ¹¹⁵ 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.

[18:38]  ¹¹⁶ tn Grk “said to them.”

[18:38]  ¹¹⁷ tn Grk “find no cause.”