John 1:34

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

John 4:33

4:33 So the disciples began to say ²  to one another, “No one brought him anything ³  to eat, did they?” ⁴ 

John 5:22

5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge ⁵  anyone, but has assigned ⁶  all judgment to the Son,

John 6:46

6:46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God – he ⁷  has seen the Father.) ⁸ 

John 7:11

7:11 So the Jewish leaders ⁹  were looking for him at the feast, asking, “Where is he?” ¹⁰ 

John 10:13

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

John 10:20

10:20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind! ¹³  Why do you listen to him?”

John 10:28

10:28 I give ¹⁴  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ¹⁵  no one will snatch ¹⁶  them from my hand.

John 12:1

Jesus’ Anointing

12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he ¹⁷  had raised from the dead.

John 12:44

Jesus’ Final Public Words

12:44 But Jesus shouted out, ¹⁸  “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me, ¹⁹ 

John 13:28

13:28 (Now none of those present at the table ²⁰  understood ²¹  why Jesus ²²  said this to Judas. ²³ 

John 14:6

14:6 Jesus replied, ²⁴  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. ²⁵  No one comes to the Father except through me.

[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.”

[4:33]  ² tn An ingressive imperfect conveys the idea that Jesus’ reply provoked the disciples’ response.

[4:33]  ³ tn The direct object of ἤνεγκεν (hnenken) in Greek is understood; “anything” is supplied in English.

[4:33]  ⁴ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “did they?”).

[5:22]  ³ tn Or “condemn.”

[5:22]  ⁴ tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”

[6:46]  ⁴ tn Grk “this one.”

[6:46]  ⁵ sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author. Although some would attribute these words to Jesus himself, the switch from first person in Jesus’ preceding and following remarks to third person in v. 46 suggests that the author has added a clarifying comment here.

[7:11]  ⁵ 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.

[7:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “Where is that one?”

[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.

[10:20]  ⁷ tn Or “is insane.” To translate simply “he is mad” (so KJV, ASV, RSV; “raving mad” NIV) could give the impression that Jesus was angry, while the actual charge was madness or insanity.

[10:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ⁹ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ¹⁰ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[12:1]  ⁹ 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.

[12:44]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “shouted out and said.”

[12:44]  ¹¹ sn The one who sent me refers to God.

[13:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “reclining at the table.” The phrase reclining at the table reflects the normal practice in 1st century Near Eastern culture of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position.

[13:28]  ¹² tn Or “knew.”

[13:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:28]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:6]  ¹² tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:6]  ¹³ tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”