John 1:23

1:23 John ¹  said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight ²  the way for the Lord,’ ³  as Isaiah the prophet said.”

John 11:50

11:50 You do not realize ⁴  that it is more to your advantage to have one man ⁵  die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” ⁶ 

John 18:17

18:17 The girl ⁷  who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” ⁸  He replied, ⁹  “I am not.”

John 18:22

18:22 When Jesus ¹⁰  had said this, one of the high priest’s officers who stood nearby struck him on the face and said, ¹¹  “Is that the way you answer the high priest?”

[1:23]  ¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:23]  ² sn This call to “make straight” is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[1:23]  ³ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[11:50]  ⁴ tn Or “you are not considering.”

[11:50]  ⁵ tn Although it is possible to argue that ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") should be translated “person” here since it is not necessarily masculinity that is in view in Caiaphas’ statement, “man” was retained in the translation because in 11:47 “this man” (οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, outo" Jo anqrwpo") has as its referent a specific individual, Jesus, and it was felt this connection should be maintained.

[11:50]  ⁶ sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45). Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the time.

[18:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “slave girl.” Since the descriptive term “slave girl” was introduced in the translation in the previous verse, it would be redundant to repeat the full expression here.

[18:17]  ⁸ 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 “are you?”).

[18:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “He said.”

[18:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “one of the high priest’s servants standing by gave Jesus a strike, saying.” For the translation of ῥάπισμα (rJapisma), see L&N 19.4.