John 16:16-19

16:16 In a little while you ¹  will see me no longer; again after a little while, you ²  will see me.” ³ 

16:17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, ⁴  ‘In a little while you ⁵  will not see me; again after a little while, you ⁶  will see me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ⁷  16:18 So they kept on repeating, ⁸  “What is the meaning of what he says, ⁹  ‘In a little while’? ¹⁰  We do not understand ¹¹  what he is talking about.” ¹² 

16:19 Jesus could see ¹³  that they wanted to ask him about these things, ¹⁴  so ¹⁵  he said to them, “Are you asking ¹⁶  each other about this – that I said, ‘In a little while you ¹⁷  will not see me; again after a little while, you ¹⁸  will see me’?

[16:16]  ¹ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:16]  ² tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:16]  ³ sn The phrase after a little while, you will see me is sometimes taken to refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus departs, but (as at 14:19) it is much more probable that it refers to the postresurrection appearances of Jesus to the disciples. There is no indication in the context that the disciples will see Jesus only with “spiritual” sight, as would be the case if the coming of the Spirit is in view.

[16:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “What is this that he is saying to us.”

[16:17]  ⁵ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ⁷ sn These fragmentary quotations of Jesus’ statements are from 16:16 and 16:10, and indicate that the disciples heard only part of what Jesus had to say to them on this occasion.

[16:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “they kept on saying.”

[16:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “What is this that he says.”

[16:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “A little while.” Although the phrase τὸ μικρόν (to mikron) in John 16:18 could be translated simply “a little while,” it was translated “in a little while” to maintain the connection to John 16:16, where it has the latter meaning in context.

[16:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “we do not know.”

[16:18]  ¹² tn Grk “what he is speaking.”

[16:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “knew.”

[16:19]  ¹⁴ tn The words “about these things” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:19]  ¹⁵ tn Καί (kai) has been translated as “so” here to indicate the following statement is a result of Jesus’ observation in v. 19a.

[16:19]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “inquiring” or “seeking.”

[16:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:19]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”