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 3:5

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹  unless a person is born of water and spirit, ¹⁰  he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 4:12

4:12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor ¹¹  Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.” ¹² 

John 6:39

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 ¹³  at the last day.

John 6:58

6:58 This ¹⁴  is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ¹⁵  ate, but then later died. ¹⁶  The one who eats ¹⁷  this bread will live forever.”

John 16:4

16:4 But I have told you these things ¹⁸  so that when their time ¹⁹  comes, you will remember that I told you about them. ²⁰ 

“I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you. ²¹ 

John 17:12

17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe ²²  and watched over them ²³  in your name ²⁴  that you have given me. Not one ²⁵  of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, ²⁶  so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ²⁷ 

[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.

[3:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).

[4:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “our forefather”; Grk “our father.”

[4:12]  ¹⁸ 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 this instance all of v. 12 is one question. It has been broken into two sentences for the sake of English style (instead of “for he” the Greek reads “who”).

[6:39]  ²⁵ 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.

[6:58]  ³³ tn Or “This one.”

[6:58]  ³⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:58]  ³⁵ tn Grk “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not just like your ancestors ate and died.” The cryptic Greek expression has been filled out in the translation for clarity.

[6:58]  ³⁶ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[16:4]  ⁴¹ tn The first half of v. 4 resumes the statement of 16:1, ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν (tauta lelalhka Jumin), in a somewhat more positive fashion, omitting the reference to the disciples being caused to stumble.

[16:4]  ⁴² tn Grk “their hour.”

[16:4]  ⁴³ tn The words “about them” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[16:4]  ⁴⁴ sn This verse serves as a transition between the preceding discussion of the persecutions the disciples will face in the world after the departure of Jesus, and the following discussion concerning the departure of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit-Paraclete. Jesus had not told the disciples these things from the beginning because he was with them.

[17:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

[17:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “and guarded them.”

[17:12]  ⁵¹ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:12]  ⁵² tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:12]  ⁵³ tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

[17:12]  ⁵⁴ sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.