John 1:25

1:25 So they asked John, ¹  “Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, ²  nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

John 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ³  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ⁴  for forty-six years, ⁵  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

John 4:52

4:52 So he asked them the time ⁶  when his condition began to improve, ⁷  and ⁸  they told him, “Yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon ⁹  the fever left him.”

John 6:60

6:60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, ¹⁰  said, “This is a difficult ¹¹  saying! ¹²  Who can understand it?” ¹³ 

John 7:52

7:52 They replied, ¹⁴  “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? ¹⁵  Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet ¹⁶  comes from Galilee!”

John 8:41

8:41 You people ¹⁷  are doing the deeds of your father.”

Then ¹⁸  they said to Jesus, ¹⁹  “We were not born as a result of immorality! ²⁰  We have only one Father, God himself.”

John 8:48

8:48 The Judeans ²¹  replied, ²²  “Aren’t we correct in saying ²³  that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” ²⁴ 

John 9:20

9:20 So his parents replied, ²⁵  “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.

John 9:34

9:34 They replied, ²⁶  “You were born completely in sinfulness, ²⁷  and yet you presume to teach us?” ²⁸  So they threw him out.

John 11:37

11:37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! ²⁹  Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus ³⁰  from dying?”

John 12:19

12:19 Thus the Pharisees ³¹  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

[1:25]  ¹ tn Grk “And they asked him, and said to him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the phrase has been simplified in the translation to “So they asked John.”

[1:25]  ² tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[2:20]  ³ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ⁴ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ⁵ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.

[4:52]  ⁵ tn Grk “the hour.”

[4:52]  ⁶ tn BDAG 558 s.v. κομψότερον translates the idiom κομψότερον ἔχειν (komyoteron ecein) as “begin to improve.”

[4:52]  ⁷ tn The second οὖν (oun) in 4:52 has been translated as “and” to improve English style by avoiding redundancy.

[4:52]  ⁸ tn Grk “at the seventh hour.”

[6:60]  ⁷ tn The words “these things” are not present in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the English reader.

[6:60]  ⁸ tn Or “hard,” “demanding.”

[6:60]  ⁹ tn Or “teaching”; Grk “word.”

[6:60]  ¹⁰ tn Or “obey it”; Grk “hear it.” The Greek word ἀκούω (akouw) could imply hearing with obedience here, in the sense of “obey.” It could also point to the acceptance of what Jesus had just said, (i.e., “who can accept what he said?” However, since the context contains several replies by those in the crowd of hearers that suggest uncertainty or confusion over the meaning of what Jesus had said (6:42; 6:52), the meaning “understand” is preferred here.

[7:52]  ⁹ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[7:52]  ¹⁰ 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?”).

[7:52]  ¹¹ tc At least one early and important ms (Ì^66*) places the article before “prophet” (ὁ προφήτης, Jo profhths), making this a reference to the “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Deut 18:15.

[8:41]  ¹¹ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[8:41]  ¹² tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sy^s,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì^66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 ˹³ 33 Ï). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 52). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁷ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:41]  ¹³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:41]  ¹⁴ sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.

[8:48]  ¹³ tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31). They had become increasingly hostile as Jesus continued to teach. Now they were ready to say that Jesus was demon-possessed.

[8:48]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[8:48]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Do we not say rightly.”

[8:48]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and have a demon.” It is not clear what is meant by the charge Σαμαρίτης εἶ σὺ καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις (Samarith" ei su kai daimonion ecei"). The meaning could be “you are a heretic and are possessed by a demon.” Note that the dual charge gets one reply (John 8:49). Perhaps the phrases were interchangeable: Simon Magus (Acts 8:14-24) and in later traditions Dositheus, the two Samaritans who claimed to be sons of God, were regarded as mad, that is, possessed by demons.

[9:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “So his parents answered and said.”

[9:34]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”

[9:34]  ¹⁸ tn Or “From birth you have been evil.” The implication of this insult, in the context of John 9, is that the man whom Jesus caused to see had not previously adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Thus he had no right to instruct them about who Jesus was.

[9:34]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”

[11:37]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “who opened the eyes of the blind man” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[11:37]  ²⁰ tn Grk “this one”; the second half of 11:37 reads Grk “Could not this one who opened the eyes of the blind have done something to keep this one from dying?” In the Greek text the repetition of “this one” in 11:37b referring to two different persons (first Jesus, second Lazarus) could confuse a modern reader. Thus the first reference, to Jesus, has been translated as “he” to refer back to the beginning of v. 37, where the reference to “the man who caused the blind man to see” is clearly a reference to Jesus. The second reference, to Lazarus, has been specified (“Lazarus”) in the translation for clarity.

[12:19]  ²¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.