John 1:34

1:34 I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.” ¹ 

John 3:33

3:33 The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful. ² 

John 5:27

5:27 and he has granted the Son ³  authority to execute judgment, ⁴  because he is the Son of Man.

John 5:31

More Testimony About Jesus

5:31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

John 9:12

9:12 They said ⁵  to him, “Where is that man?” ⁶  He replied, ⁷  “I don’t know.”

John 9:36

9:36 The man ⁸  replied, ⁹  “And who is he, sir, that ¹⁰  I may believe in him?”

John 10:2

10:2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

John 10:13

10:13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, ¹¹  he runs away. ¹² 

John 12:14

12:14 Jesus found a young donkey ¹³  and sat on it, just as it is written,

John 17:17

17:17 Set them apart ¹⁴  in the truth; your word is truth.

[1:34]  ¹ 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 {Ì^66,75 A B C L Θ Ψ 0233^vid Ë^1,13 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 mss for this verse, {Ì⁵} (3rd century), evidently read οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. (There is a gap in the ms at the point of the disputed words; it is too large for υἱός especially if written, as it surely would have been, as a nomen sacrum [uMs]. The term ἐκλεκτός was not a nomen sacrum and would have therefore taken up much more space [eklektos]. Given these two variants, there is hardly any question as to what Ì⁵ read.) This papyrus has many affinities with א*, which here also has ὁ ἐκλεκτός. In addition to their combined testimony Ì^106vid b e ff^2* sy^s,c also support this reading. ̹⁰⁶ is particularly impressive, for it is a second third-century papyrus in support of ὁ ἐκλεκτός. A third reading combines these two: “the elect Son” (electus filius in ff^2c sa and a [with slight variation]). Although the evidence for ἐκλεκτός is not as impressive as that for υἱός, the reading is found in early Alexandrian and Western witnesses. Turning to the internal evidence, “the Chosen One” clearly comes out ahead. “Son of God” is a favorite expression of the author (cf. 1:49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31); further, there are several other references to “his Son,” “the Son,” etc. Scribes would be naturally motivated to change ἐκλεκτός to υἱός since the latter is both a Johannine expression and is, on the surface, richer theologically in 1:34. On the other hand, there is not a sufficient reason for scribes to change υἱός to ἐκλεκτός. The term never occurs in John; even its verbal cognate (ἐκλέγω, eklegw) is never affirmed of Jesus in this Gospel. ἐκλεκτός clearly best explains the rise of υἱός. Further, the third reading (“Chosen Son of God”) is patently a conflation of the other two. It has all the earmarks of adding υἱός to ἐκλεκτός. Thus, ὁ υἱός τοῦ θεοῦ is almost certainly a motivated reading. As R. E. Brown notes (John [AB], 1:57), “On the basis of theological tendency…it is difficult to imagine that Christian scribes would change ‘the Son of God’ to ‘God’s chosen one,’ while a change in the opposite direction would be quite plausible. Harmonization with the Synoptic accounts of the baptism (‘You are [This is] my beloved Son’) would also explain the introduction of ‘the Son of God’ into John; the same phenomenon occurs in vi 69. Despite the weaker textual evidence, therefore, it seems best – with Lagrange, Barrett, Boismard, and others – to accept ‘God’s chosen one’ as original.”

[3:33]  ² tn Or “is true.”

[5:27]  ³ tn Grk “him.”

[5:27]  ⁴ tn Grk “authority to judge.”

[9:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “And they said.”

[9:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “that one.” “Man” is more normal English style for the referent.

[9:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “He said.”

[9:36]  ⁵ tn Grk “That one.”

[9:36]  ⁶ tn Grk answered and said.” This has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”

[9:36]  ⁷ tn Or “And who is he, sir? Tell me so that…” Some translations supply elliptical words like “Tell me” (NIV, NRSV) following the man’s initial question, but the shorter form given in the translation is clear enough.

[10:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “does not have a care for the sheep.”

[10:13]  ⁷ tc The phrase “he runs away” is lacking in several important mss (Ì^{44vid,45,66,75} א A*^vid B D L [W] Θ 1 33 1241 al co). Most likely it was added by a later scribe to improve the readability of vv. 12-13, which is one long sentence in Greek. It has been included in the translation for the same stylistic reasons.

[12:14]  ⁷ sn The author does not repeat the detailed accounts of the finding of the donkey recorded in the synoptic gospels. He does, however, see the event as a fulfillment of scripture, which he indicates by quoting Zech 9:9.

[17:17]  ⁸ tn Or “Consecrate them” or “Sanctify them.”