John 1:31

1:31 I did not recognize ¹  him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” ² 

John 2:18

2:18 So then the Jewish leaders ³  responded, ⁴  “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” ⁵ 

John 4:48

4:48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people ⁶  see signs and wonders you will never believe!” ⁷ 

John 5:17

5:17 So he ⁸  told ⁹  them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” ¹⁰ 

John 7:15

7:15 Then the Jewish leaders ¹¹  were astonished ¹²  and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?” ¹³ 

John 7:30

7:30 So then they tried to seize Jesus, ¹⁴  but no one laid a hand on him, because his time ¹⁵  had not yet come.

John 8:25

8:25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus replied, ¹⁶  “What I have told you from the beginning.

John 8:31

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ¹⁷  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ¹⁸  you are really ¹⁹  my disciples

John 9:34

9:34 They replied, ²⁰  “You were born completely in sinfulness, ²¹  and yet you presume to teach us?” ²²  So they threw him out.

John 10:17

10:17 This is why the Father loves me ²³  – because I lay down my life, ²⁴  so that I may take it back again.

John 11:17

Speaking with Martha and Mary

11:17 When ²⁵  Jesus arrived, ²⁶  he found that Lazarus ²⁷  had been in the tomb four days already. ²⁸ 

John 12:19

12:19 Thus the Pharisees ²⁹  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

John 14:5

14:5 Thomas said, ³⁰  “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John 17:22

17:22 The glory ³¹  you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one –

John 18:33

Pilate Questions Jesus

18:33 So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, ³²  summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” ³³ 

[1:31]  ¹ tn Or “know.”

[1:31]  ² sn John the Baptist, who has been so reluctant to elaborate his own role, now more than willingly gives his testimony about Jesus. For the author, the emphasis is totally on John the Baptist as a witness to Jesus. No attention is given to the Baptist’s call to national repentance and very little to his baptizing. Everything is focused on what he has to say about Jesus: so that he could be revealed to Israel.

[2:18]  ³ 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. 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.)

[2:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[2:18]  ⁵ sn The request “What sign can you show us” by Jesus’ adversaries was a request for a defense of his actions – a mark of divine authentication. Whether this was a request for a miracle is not entirely clear. Jesus never obliged such a request. Yet, ironically, the only sign the Jewish leadership will get is that predicted by Jesus in 2:19 – his crucifixion and resurrection. Cf. the “sign of Jonah” in the synoptics (Matt 12:39, 40; Luke 11:29-32).

[4:48]  ⁵ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than the royal official alone).

[4:48]  ⁶ tn Or “you never believe.” The verb πιστεύσητε (pisteushte) is aorist subjunctive and may have either nuance.

[5:17]  ⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ A D L Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt co) have ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while generally better witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B W {0141} 892 1241 pbo) lack the name. Although it is possible that Alexandrian scribes deleted the name due to proclivities to prune, this is not as likely as other witnesses adding it for clarification, especially since multiple strands of the Alexandrian text are represented in the shorter reading. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to authenticity.

[5:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “answered.”

[5:17]  ⁹ sn “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” What is the significance of Jesus’ claim? A preliminary understanding can be obtained from John 5:18, noting the Jewish authorities’ response and the author’s comment. They sought to kill Jesus, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God. This must be seen in the context of the relation of God to the Sabbath rest. In the commandment (Exod 20:11) it is explained that “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth…and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Philo, based on the LXX translation of Exod 20:11, denied outright that God had ever ceased his creative activity. And when Rabban Gamaliel II, R. Joshua, R. Eleazar ben Azariah, and R. Akiba were in Rome, ca. a.d. 95, they gave as a rebuttal to sectarian arguments evidence that God might do as he willed in the world without breaking the Sabbath because the entire world was his private residence. So even the rabbis realized that God did not really cease to work on the Sabbath: Divine providence remained active on the Sabbath, otherwise, all nature and life would cease to exist. As regards men, divine activity was visible in two ways: Men were born and men died on the Sabbath. Since only God could give life and only God could deal with the fate of the dead in judgment, this meant God was active on the Sabbath. This seems to be the background for Jesus’ words in 5:17. He justified his work of healing on the Sabbath by reminding the Jewish authorities that they admitted God worked on the Sabbath. This explains the violence of the reaction. The Sabbath privilege was peculiar to God, and no one was equal to God. In claiming the right to work even as his Father worked, Jesus was claiming a divine prerogative. He was literally making himself equal to God, as 5:18 goes on to state explicitly for the benefit of the reader who might not have made the connection.

[7:15]  ⁹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.

[7:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “began to be astonished.” This imperfect verb could also be translated ingressively (“began to be astonished”), but for English stylistic reasons it is rendered as a simple past.

[7:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “How does this man know learning since he has not been taught?” The implication here is not that Jesus never went to school (in all probability he did attend a local synagogue school while a youth), but that he was not the disciple of a particular rabbi and had not had formal or advanced instruction under a recognized rabbi (compare Acts 4:13 where a similar charge is made against Peter and John; see also Paul’s comment in Acts 22:3).

[7:30]  ¹¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:30]  ¹² tn Grk “his hour.”

[8:25]  ¹³ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), 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; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).

[8:31]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ¹⁷ tn Or “truly.”

[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?”

[10:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Because of this the Father loves me.”

[10:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “die willingly.”

[11:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “Then when.”

[11:17]  ²² tn Grk “came.”

[11:17]  ²³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Lazarus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “he had already had four days in the tomb” (an idiom).

[12:19]  ²³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[14:5]  ²⁵ tn Grk “said to him.”

[17:22]  ²⁷ tn Grk And the glory.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[18:33]  ²⁹ tn Grk “into the praetorium.”

[18:33]  ³⁰ sn It is difficult to discern Pilate’s attitude when he asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Some have believed the remark to be sarcastic or incredulous as Pilate looked at this lowly and humble prisoner: “So you’re the king of the Jews, are you?” Others have thought the Roman governor to have been impressed by Jesus’ regal disposition and dignity, and to have sincerely asked, “Are you really the king of the Jews?” Since it will later become apparent (v. 38) that Pilate considered Jesus innocent (and therefore probably also harmless) an attitude of incredulity is perhaps most likely, but this is far from certain in the absence of clear contextual clues.