Discovery BoxJohn 1:31-51
Context1:31 I did not recognize 1 him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” 2
1:32 Then 3 John testified, 4 “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove 5 from heaven, 6 and it remained on him. 7 1:33 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining – this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 1:34 I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.” 8
1:35 Again the next day John 9 was standing there 10 with two of his disciples. 1:36 Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 11 1:37 When John’s 12 two disciples heard him say this, 13 they followed Jesus. 14 1:38 Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?” 15 So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), 16 “where are you staying?” 1:39 Jesus 17 answered, 18 “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. Now it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 19
1:40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who heard what John said 20 and followed Jesus. 21 1:41 He first 22 found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” 23 (which is translated Christ). 24 1:42 Andrew brought Simon 25 to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John. 26 You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). 27
1:43 On the next day Jesus 28 wanted to set out for Galilee. 29 He 30 found Philip and said 31 to him, “Follow me.” 1:44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, 32 the town of 33 Andrew and Peter.) 1:45 Philip found Nathanael 34 and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also 35 wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 1:46 Nathanael 36 replied, 37 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” 38 Philip replied, 39 “Come and see.”
1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, 40 “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 41 1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, 42 “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, 43 I saw you.” 1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king 44 of Israel!” 45 1:50 Jesus said to him, 46 “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 47 1:51 He continued, 48 “I tell all of you the solemn truth 49 – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” 50
[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.
[1:32] 3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the narrative. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.
[1:32] 4 tn Grk “testified, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[1:32] 5 sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.
[1:32] 6 tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
[1:32] 7 sn John says the Spirit remained on Jesus. The Greek verb μένω (menw) is a favorite Johannine word, used 40 times in the Gospel and 27 times in the Epistles (67 together) against 118 times total in the NT. The general significance of the verb μένω for John is to express the permanency of relationship between Father and Son and Son and believer. Here the use of the word implies that Jesus permanently possesses the Holy Spirit, and because he does, he will dispense the Holy Spirit to others in baptism. Other notes on the dispensation of the Spirit occur at John 3:5 and following (at least implied by the wordplay), John 3:34, 7:38-39, numerous passages in John 14-16 (the Paraclete passages) and John 20:22. Note also the allusion to Isa 42:1 – “Behold my servant…my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit on him.”
[1:34] 8 tc ‡ What did John the Baptist declare about Jesus on this occasion? Did he say, “This is the Son of God” (οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, |outo" estin Jo Juio" tou qeou), or “This is the Chosen One of God” (οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, outo" estin Jo eklekto" tou qeou)? The majority of the witnesses, impressive because of their diversity in age and locales, read “This is the Son of God” (so {Ì66,75 A B C L Θ Ψ 0233vid Ë1,13 33 1241 aur c f l g bo as well as the majority of Byzantine minuscules and many others}). Most scholars take this to be sufficient evidence to regard the issue as settled without much of a need to reflect on internal evidence. On the other hand, one of the earliest
[1:35] 9 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
[1:35] 10 tn “There” is not in the Greek text but is implied by current English idiom.
[1:36] 11 sn This section (1:35-51) is joined to the preceding by the literary expedient of repeating the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus being the Lamb of God (1:36, cf. 1:29). This repeated testimony (1:36) no longer has revelatory value in itself, since it has been given before; its purpose, instead, is to institute a chain reaction which will bring John the Baptist’s disciples to Jesus and make them Jesus’ own disciples.
[1:37] 12 tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:37] 13 tn Grk “And the two disciples heard him speaking.”
[1:37] 14 sn The expression followed Jesus pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.
[1:38] 15 tn Grk “What are you seeking?”
[1:38] 16 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[1:39] 17 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:39] 18 tn Grk “said to them.”
[1:39] 19 tn Grk “about the tenth hour.”
[1:40] 20 tn Grk “who heard from John.”
[1:40] 21 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:41] 22 tc Most witnesses (א* L Ws Ï) read πρῶτος (prwtos) here instead of πρῶτον (prwton). The former reading would be a predicate adjective and suggest that Andrew “was the first” person to proselytize another regarding Jesus. The reading preferred, however, is the neuter πρῶτον, used as an adverb (BDAG 893 s.v. πρῶτος 1.a.β.), and it suggests that the first thing that Andrew did was to proselytize Peter. The evidence for this reading is early and weighty: Ì66,75 א2 A B Θ Ψ 083 Ë1,13 892 al lat.
[1:41] 23 sn Naturally part of Andrew’s concept of the Messiah would have been learned from John the Baptist (v. 40). However, there were a number of different messianic expectations in 1st century Palestine (see the note on “Who are you?” in v. 19), and it would be wrong to assume that what Andrew meant here is the same thing the author means in the purpose statement at the end of the Fourth Gospel, 20:31. The issue here is not whether the disciples’ initial faith in Jesus as Messiah was genuine or not, but whether their concept of who Jesus was grew and developed progressively as they spent time following him, until finally after his resurrection it is affirmed in the climactic statement of John’s Gospel, the affirmation of Thomas in 20:28.
[1:41] 24 tn Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “the one who has been anointed.”
[1:42] 25 tn Grk “He brought him”; both referents (Andrew, Simon) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:42] 26 tc The reading “Simon, son of John” is well attested in Ì66,75,106 א B* L 33 pc it co. The majority of
[1:42] 27 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The change of name from Simon to Cephas is indicative of the future role he will play. Only John among the gospel writers gives the Greek transliteration (Κηφᾶς, Khfas) of Simon’s new name, Qéphâ (which is Galilean Aramaic). Neither Πέτρος (Petros) in Greek nor Qéphâ in Aramaic is a normal proper name; it is more like a nickname.
[1:43] 28 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Jesus is best taken as the subject of εὑρίσκει (Jeuriskei), since Peter would scarcely have wanted to go to Galilee.
[1:43] 29 sn No explanation is given for why Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee, but probably he wanted to go to the wedding at Cana (about a two day trip).
[1:43] 30 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[1:43] 31 tn Grk “and Jesus said.”
[1:44] 32 sn Although the author thought of the town as in Galilee (12:21), Bethsaida technically was in Gaulanitis (Philip the Tetrarch’s territory) across from Herod’s Galilee. There may have been two places called Bethsaida, or this may merely reflect popular imprecision – locally it was considered part of Galilee, even though it was just east of the Jordan river. This territory was heavily Gentile (which may explain why Andrew and Philip both have Gentile names).
[1:44] 33 tn Probably ἀπό (apo) indicates “originally from” in the sense of birthplace rather than current residence; Mark 1:21, 29 seems to locate the home of Andrew and Peter at Capernaum. The entire remark (v. 44) amounts to a parenthetical comment by the author.
[1:45] 34 sn Nathanael is traditionally identified with Bartholomew (although John never describes him as such). He appears here after Philip, while in all lists of the twelve except in Acts 1:13, Bartholomew follows Philip. Also, the Aramaic Bar-tolmai means “son of Tolmai,” the surname; the man almost certainly had another name.
[1:45] 35 tn “Also” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
[1:46] 36 tn Grk “And Nathanael.”
[1:46] 37 tn Grk “said to him.”
[1:46] 38 sn Can anything good come out of Nazareth? may be a local proverb expressing jealousy among the towns.
[1:46] 39 tn Grk “And Philip said to him.”
[1:47] 40 tn Grk “said about him.”
[1:48] 42 tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”
[1:48] 43 sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)
[1:49] 44 tn Although βασιλεύς (basileus) lacks the article it is definite due to contextual and syntactical considerations. See ExSyn 263.
[1:49] 45 sn Nathanael’s confession – You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel – is best understood as a confession of Jesus’ messiahship. It has strong allusions to Ps 2:6-7, a well-known messianic psalm. What Nathanael’s exact understanding was at this point is hard to determine, but “son of God” was a designation for the Davidic king in the OT, and Nathanael parallels it with King of Israel here.
[1:50] 46 tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “said to him.”
[1:50] 47 sn What are the greater things Jesus had in mind? In the narrative this forms an excellent foreshadowing of the miraculous signs which began at Cana of Galilee.
[1:51] 48 tn Grk “and he said to him.”
[1:51] 49 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[1:51] 50 sn The title Son of Man appears 13 times in John’s Gospel. It is associated especially with the themes of crucifixion (3:14; 8:28), revelation (6:27; 6:53), and eschatological authority (5:27; 9:35). The title as used in John’s Gospel has for its background the son of man figure who appears in Dan 7:13-14 and is granted universal regal authority. Thus for the author, the emphasis in this title is not on Jesus’ humanity, but on his heavenly origin and divine authority.
