John 1:27

1:27 who is coming after me. I am not worthy ¹  to untie the strap ²  of his sandal!”

John 3:1

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ³  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ⁴ 

John 3:34

3:34 For the one whom God has sent ⁵  speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. ⁶ 

John 6:33

6:33 For the bread of God is the one who ⁷  comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 7:38

7:38 let the one who believes in me drink. ⁸  Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him ⁹  will flow rivers of living water.’” ¹⁰ 

John 8:46

8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty ¹¹  of any sin? ¹²  If I am telling you ¹³  the truth, why don’t you believe me?

John 9:9

9:9 Some people said, ¹⁴  “This is the man!” ¹⁵  while others said, “No, but he looks like him.” ¹⁶  The man himself ¹⁷  kept insisting, “I am the one!” ¹⁸ 

John 9:32

9:32 Never before ¹⁹  has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see. ²⁰ 

John 11:26

11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. ²¹  Do you believe this?”

John 12:46

12:46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.

John 17:3

17:3 Now this ²²  is eternal life ²³  – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, ²⁴  whom you sent.

John 19:32

19:32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified ²⁵  with Jesus, ²⁶  first the one and then the other. ²⁷ 

[1:27]  ¹ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[1:27]  ² tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[3:1]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[3:34]  ⁵ tn That is, Christ.

[3:34]  ⁶ tn Grk “for not by measure does he give the Spirit” (an idiom). Leviticus Rabbah 15:2 states: “The Holy Spirit rested on the prophets by measure.” Jesus is contrasted to this. The Spirit rests upon him without measure.

[6:33]  ⁷ tn Or “he who.”

[7:38]  ⁹ tn An alternate way of punctuating the Greek text of vv. 37-38 results in this translation: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Certainly Jesus picks up on the literal water used in the ceremony and uses it figuratively. But what does the figure mean? According to popular understanding, it refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believer. There is some difficulty in locating an OT text which speaks of rivers of water flowing from within such a person, but Isa 58:11 is often suggested: “The Lord will continually lead you, he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water.” Other passages which have been suggested are Prov 4:23 and 5:15; Isa 44:3 and 55:1; Ezek 47:1 ff.; Joel 3:18; and Zech 13:1 and 14:8. The meaning in this case is that when anyone comes to believe in Jesus the scriptures referring to the activity of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life are fulfilled. “When the believer comes to Christ and drinks he not only slakes his thirst but receives such an abundant supply that veritable rivers flow from him” (L. Morris, John [NICNT], 424-25). In other words, with this view, the believer himself becomes the source of the living water. This is the traditional understanding of the passage, often called the “Eastern interpretation” following Origen, Athanasius, and the Greek Fathers. It is supported by such modern scholars as Barrett, Behm, Bernard, Cadman, Carson, R. H. Lightfoot, Lindars, Michaelis, Morris, Odeberg, Schlatter, Schweizer, C. H. Turner, M. M. B. Turner, Westcott, and Zahn. In addition it is represented by the following Greek texts and translations: KJV, RSV, NASB, NA²⁷, and UBS⁴. D. A. Carson, John, 322-29, has a thorough discussion of the issues and evidence although he opts for the previous interpretation. There is another interpretation possible, however, called the “Western interpretation” because of patristic support by Justin, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Irenaeus. Modern scholars who favor this view are Abbott, Beasley-Murray, Bishop, Boismard, Braun, Brown, Bullinger, Bultmann, Burney, Dodd, Dunn, Guilding, R. Harris, Hoskyns, Jeremias, Loisy, D. M. Stanley, Thüsing, N. Turner, and Zerwick. This view is represented by the translation in the RSV margin and by the NEB. It is also sometimes called the “christological interpretation” because it makes Jesus himself the source of the living water in v. 38, by punctuating as follows: (37b) ἐάν τι διψᾷ ἐρχέσθω πρός με, καὶ πινέτω (38) ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ. Καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ γραφή, ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος. Three crucial questions are involved in the solution of this problem: (1) punctuation; (2) determining the antecedent of αὐτοῦ (autou); and (3) the source of the scripture quotation. With regard to (1) Ì⁶⁶ does place a full stop after πινέτω (pinetw), but this may be theologically motivated and could have been added later. Grammatical and stylistic arguments are inconclusive. More important is (2) the determination of the antecedent of αὐτοῦ. Can any other Johannine parallels be found which make the believer the source of the living water? John 4:14 is often mentioned in this regard, but unlike 4:14 the water here becomes a source for others also. Neither does 14:12 provide a parallel. Furthermore, such an interpretation becomes even more problematic in light of the explanation given in v. 39 that the water refers to the Holy Spirit, since it is extremely difficult to see the individual believer becoming the ‘source’ of the Spirit for others. On the other hand, the Gospel of John repeatedly places Jesus himself in this role as source of the living water: 4:10, of course, for the water itself; but according to 20:22 Jesus provides the Spirit (cf. 14:16). Furthermore, the symbolism of 19:34 is difficult to explain as anything other than a deliberate allusion to what is predicted here. This also explains why the Spirit cannot come to the disciples unless Jesus “departs” (16:7). As to (3) the source of the scripture quotation, M. E. Boismard has argued that John is using a targumic rendering of Ps 78:15-16 which describes the water brought forth from the rock in the wilderness by Moses (“Les citations targumiques dans le quatrième évangile,” RB 66 [1959]: 374-78). The frequency of Exodus motifs in the Fourth Gospel (paschal lamb, bronze serpent, manna from heaven) leads quite naturally to the supposition that the author is here drawing on the account of Moses striking the rock in the wilderness to bring forth water (Num 20:8 ff.). That such imagery was readily identified with Jesus in the early church is demonstrated by Paul’s understanding of the event in 1 Cor 10:4. Jesus is the Rock from which the living water – the Spirit – will flow. Carson (see note above) discusses this imagery although he favors the traditional or “Eastern” interpretation. In summary, the latter or “Western” interpretation is to be preferred.

[7:38]  ¹⁰ tn Or “out of the innermost part of his person”; Grk “out of his belly.”

[7:38]  ¹¹ sn An OT quotation whose source is difficult to determine; Isa 44:3, 55:1, 58:11, and Zech 14:8 have all been suggested.

[8:46]  ¹¹ tn Or “can convict me.”

[8:46]  ¹² tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”

[8:46]  ¹³ tn Or “if I tell you.”

[9:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “Others were saying.”

[9:9]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “This is the one.”

[9:9]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “No, but he is like him.”

[9:9]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “That one”; the referent (the man himself) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “I am he.”

[9:32]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Never from the beginning of time,” Grk “From eternity.”

[9:32]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “someone opening the eyes of a man born blind” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[11:26]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “will never die forever.”

[17:3]  ¹⁹ tn Using αὕτη δέ (Jauth de) to introduce an explanation is typical Johannine style; it was used before in John 1:19, 3:19, and 15:12.

[17:3]  ²⁰ sn This is eternal life. The author here defines eternal life for the readers, although it is worked into the prayer in such a way that many interpreters do not regard it as another of the author’s parenthetical comments. It is not just unending life in the sense of prolonged duration. Rather it is a quality of life, with its quality derived from a relationship with God. Having eternal life is here defined as being in relationship with the Father, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom the Father sent. Christ (Χριστός, Cristos) is not characteristically attached to Jesus’ name in John’s Gospel; it occurs elsewhere primarily as a title and is used with Jesus’ name only in 1:17. But that is connected to its use here: The statement here in 17:3 enables us to correlate the statement made in 1:18 of the prologue, that Jesus has fully revealed what God is like, with Jesus’ statement in 10:10 that he has come that people might have life, and have it abundantly. These two purposes are really one, according to 17:3, because (abundant) eternal life is defined as knowing (being in relationship with) the Father and the Son. The only way to gain this eternal life, that is, to obtain this knowledge of the Father, is through the Son (cf. 14:6). Although some have pointed to the use of know (γινώσκω, ginwskw) here as evidence of Gnostic influence in the Fourth Gospel, there is a crucial difference: For John this knowledge is not intellectual, but relational. It involves being in relationship.

[17:3]  ²¹ tn Or “and Jesus the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[19:32]  ²¹ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:32]  ²² tn Grk “with him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:32]  ²³ tn Grk “broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.”