John 16:12

16:12 “I have many more things to say to you, ¹  but you cannot bear ²  them now.

John 7:34

7:34 You will look for me ³  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.”

John 8:43

8:43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept ⁴  my teaching. ⁵ 

John 5:44

5:44 How can you believe, if you accept praise ⁶  from one another and don’t seek the praise ⁷  that comes from the only God? ⁸ 

John 8:22

8:22 So the Jewish leaders ⁹  began to say, ¹⁰  “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’”

John 7:36

7:36 What did he mean by saying, ¹¹  ‘You will look for me ¹²  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

John 8:21

Where Jesus Came From and Where He is Going

8:21 Then Jesus ¹³  said to them again, ¹⁴  “I am going away, and you will look for me ¹⁵  but will die in your sin. ¹⁶  Where I am going you cannot come.”

John 13:33

13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, ¹⁷  and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ¹⁸  ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ ¹⁹  now I tell you the same. ²⁰ 

John 15:5

15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains ²¹  in me – and I in him – bears ²²  much fruit, ²³  because apart from me you can accomplish ²⁴  nothing.

[16:12]  ¹ sn In what sense does Jesus have many more things to say to the disciples? Does this imply the continuation of revelation after his departure? This is probably the case, especially in light of v. 13 and following, which describe the work of the Holy Spirit in guiding the disciples into all truth. Thus Jesus was saying that he would continue to speak (to the twelve, at least) after his return to the Father. He would do this through the Holy Spirit whom he was going to send. It is possible that an audience broader than the twelve is addressed, and in the Johannine tradition there is evidence that later other Christians (or perhaps, professed Christians) claimed to be recipients of revelation through the Spirit-Paraclete (1 John 4:1-6).

[16:12]  ² tn Or (perhaps) “you cannot accept.”

[7:34]  ³ tn Grk “seek me.”

[8:43]  ⁵ tn Grk “you cannot hear,” but this is not a reference to deafness, but rather hearing in the sense of listening to something and responding to it.

[8:43]  ⁶ tn Grk “my word.”

[5:44]  ⁷ tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).

[5:44]  ⁸ tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).

[5:44]  ⁹ tc Several early and important witnesses (Ì^66,75 B W a b sa) lack θεοῦ (qeou, “God”) here, thus reading “the only one,” while most of the rest of the tradition, including some important mss, has the name ({א A D L Θ Ψ 33 Ï}). Internally, it could be argued that the name of God was not used here, in keeping with the NT practice of suppressing the name of God at times for rhetorical effect, drawing the reader inexorably to the conclusion that the one being spoken of is God himself. On the other hand, never is ὁ μόνος (Jo mono") used absolutely in the NT (i.e., without a noun or substantive with it), and always the subject of the adjunct is God (cf. Matt 24:36; John 17:3; 1 Tim 6:16). What then is to explain the shorter reading? In uncial script, with θεοῦ written as a nomen sacrum, envisioning accidental omission of the name by way of homoioteleuton requires little imagination, largely because of the succession of words ending in -ου: toumonouqMuou. It is thus preferable to retain the word in the text.

[8:22]  ⁹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. It was the Pharisees who had begun this line of questioning in John 8:13, and there has been no clear change since then in the identity of Jesus’ opponents.

[8:22]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verb has been translated with ingressive force (“began to say”) because the comments that follow were occasioned by Jesus’ remarks in the preceding verse about his upcoming departure.

[7:36]  ¹¹ tn Grk “What is this word that he said.”

[7:36]  ¹² tn Grk “seek me.”

[8:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:21]  ¹⁴ tn The expression οὖν πάλιν (oun palin) indicates some sort of break in the sequence of events, but it is not clear how long. The author does not mention the interval between 8:12-20 and this next recorded dialogue. The feast of Tabernacles is past, and the next reference to time is 10:22, where the feast of the Dedication is mentioned. The interval is two months, and these discussions could have taken place at any time within that interval, as long as one assumes something of a loose chronological framework. However, if the material in the Fourth Gospel is arranged theologically or thematically, such an assumption would not apply.

[8:21]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “you will seek me.”

[8:21]  ¹⁶ tn The expression ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖσθε (en th Jamartia Jumwn apoqaneisqe) is similar to an expression found in the LXX at Ezek 3:18, 20 and Prov 24:9. Note the singular of ἁμαρτία (the plural occurs later in v. 24). To die with one’s sin unrepented and unatoned would be the ultimate disaster to befall a person. Jesus’ warning is stern but to the point.

[13:33]  ¹⁵ tn Or “You will seek me.”

[13:33]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.

[13:33]  ¹⁷ sn See John 7:33-34.

[13:33]  ¹⁸ tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[15:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “resides.”

[15:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “yields.”

[15:5]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in him, this one bears much fruit.” The pronoun “this one” has been omitted from the translation because it is redundant according to contemporary English style.

[15:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “do.”