John 10:29

10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ¹  and no one can snatch ²  them from my Father’s hand.

John 16:2

16:2 They will put you out of ³  the synagogue, ⁴  yet a time ⁵  is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ⁶ 

John 18:38

18:38 Pilate asked, ⁷  “What is truth?” ⁸ 

When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders ⁹  and announced, ¹⁰  “I find no basis for an accusation ¹¹  against him.

John 19:17

19:17 and carrying his own cross ¹²  he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” ¹³  (called in Aramaic ¹⁴  Golgotha). ¹⁵ 

[10:29]  ¹ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ² tn Or “no one can seize.”

[16:2]  ³ tn Or “expel you from.”

[16:2]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[16:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:2]  ⁶ sn Jesus now refers not to the time of his return to the Father, as he has frequently done up to this point, but to the disciples’ time of persecution. They will be excommunicated from Jewish synagogues. There will even be a time when those who kill Jesus’ disciples will think that they are offering service to God by putting the disciples to death. Because of the reference to service offered to God, it is almost certain that Jewish opposition is intended here in both cases rather than Jewish opposition in the first instance (putting the disciples out of synagogues) and Roman opposition in the second (putting the disciples to death). Such opposition materializes later and is recorded in Acts: The stoning of Stephen in 7:58-60 and the slaying of James the brother of John by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12:2-3 are notable examples.

[18:38]  ⁵ tn Grk “Pilate said.”

[18:38]  ⁶ sn With his reply “What is truth?” Pilate dismissed the matter. It is not clear what Pilate’s attitude was at this point, as in 18:33. He may have been sarcastic, or perhaps somewhat reflective. The author has not given enough information in the narrative to be sure. Within the narrative, Pilate’s question serves to make the reader reflect on what truth is, and that answer (in the narrative) has already been given (14:6).

[18:38]  ⁷ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12. The term also occurs in v. 31, where it is clear the Jewish leaders are in view, because they state that they cannot legally carry out an execution. Although it is likely (in view of the synoptic parallels) that the crowd here in 18:38 was made up not just of the Jewish leaders, but of ordinary residents of Jerusalem and pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Passover, nevertheless in John’s Gospel Pilate is primarily in dialogue with the leadership of the nation, who are expressly mentioned in 18:35 and 19:6.

[18:38]  ⁸ tn Grk “said to them.”

[18:38]  ⁹ tn Grk “find no cause.”

[19:17]  ⁷ tn Or “carrying the cross by himself.”

[19:17]  ⁸ sn Jesus was led out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” where he was to be crucified. It is clear from v. 20 that this was outside the city. The Latin word for the Greek κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria. Thus the English word “Calvary” is a transliteration of the Latin rather than a NT place name (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[19:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:17]  ¹⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.