John 1:32

1:32 Then ¹  John testified, ²  “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove ³  from heaven, ⁴  and it remained on him. ⁵ 

John 2:6

2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ⁶  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ 

John 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ⁸  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ⁹  for forty-six years, ¹⁰  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

John 6:50

6:50 This ¹¹  is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person ¹²  may eat from it and not die.

John 6:70

6:70 Jesus replied, ¹³  “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?” ¹⁴ 

John 7:19

7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps ¹⁵  the law! Why do you want ¹⁶  to kill me?”

John 11:37

11:37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! ¹⁷  Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus ¹⁸  from dying?”

John 11:49

11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, ¹⁹  “You know nothing at all!

John 12:1

Jesus’ Anointing

12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he ²⁰  had raised from the dead.

John 12:49

12:49 For I have not spoken from my own authority, ²¹  but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me ²²  what I should say and what I should speak.

John 13:21

13:21 When he had said these things, Jesus was greatly distressed ²³  in spirit, and testified, ²⁴  “I tell you the solemn truth, ²⁵  one of you will betray me.” ²⁶ 

[1:32]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “testified, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[1:32]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[1:32]  ⁵ 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.”

[2:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”

[2:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrhtai). A μετρητῆς (metrhths) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18-27 gallons (80-120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108-162 gallons (480-720 liters).

[2:20]  ¹¹ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[6:50]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Here.”

[6:50]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “someone” (τις, tis).

[6:70]  ²¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”

[6:70]  ²² tn Although most translations render this last phrase as “one of you is a devil,” such a translation presupposes that there is more than one devil. This finds roots in the KJV in which the Greek word for demon was often translated “devil.” In fact, the KJV never uses the word “demon.” (Sixty-two of the 63 NT instances of δαιμόνιον [daimonion] are translated “devil” [in Acts 17:18 the plural has been translated “gods”]. This can get confusing in places where the singular “devil” is used: Is Satan or one of the demons in view [cf. Matt 9:33 (demon); 13:39 (devil); 17:18 (demon); Mark 7:26 (demon); Luke 4:2 (devil); etc.]?) Now regarding John 6:70, both the construction in Greek and the technical use of διάβολος (diabolos) indicate that the one devil is in view. To object to the translation “the devil” because it thus equates Judas with Satan does not take into consideration that Jesus often spoke figuratively (e.g., “destroy this temple” [John 2:19]; “he [John the Baptist] is Elijah” [Matt 11:14]), even equating Peter with the devil on one occasion (Mark 8:33). According to ExSyn 249, “A curious phenomenon has occurred in the English Bible with reference to one particular monadic noun, διάβολος. The KJV translates both διάβολος and δαιμόνιον as ‘devil.’ Thus in the AV translators’ minds, ‘devil’ was not a monadic noun. Modern translations have correctly rendered δαιμόνιον as ‘demon’ and have, for the most part, recognized that διάβολος is monadic (cf., e.g., 1 Pet 5:8; Rev 20:2). But in John 6:70 modern translations have fallen into the error of the King James translators. The KJV has ‘one of you is a devil.’ So does the RSV, NRSV, ASV, NIV, NKJV, and the JB [Jerusalem Bible]. Yet there is only one devil…The legacy of the KJV still lives on, then, even in places where it ought not.”

[7:19]  ²⁶ tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”

[7:19]  ²⁷ tn Grk “seek.”

[11:37]  ³¹ tn Grk “who opened the eyes of the blind man” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[11:37]  ³² 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.

[11:49]  ³⁶ tn Grk “said to them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[12:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “whom Jesus,” but a repetition of the proper name (Jesus) here would be redundant in the English clause structure, so the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[12:49]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “I have not spoken from myself.”

[12:49]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “has given me commandment.”

[13:21]  ⁵¹ tn Or “greatly troubled.”

[13:21]  ⁵² tn Grk “and testified and said.”

[13:21]  ⁵³ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[13:21]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “will hand me over.”