John 16:20-26

16:20 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹  you will weep ²  and wail, ³  but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, ⁴  but your sadness will turn into ⁵  joy. 16:21 When a woman gives birth, she has distress ⁶  because her time ⁷  has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being ⁸  has been born into the world. ⁹  16:22 So also you have sorrow ¹⁰  now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ¹¹  16:23 At that time ¹²  you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth, ¹³  whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. ¹⁴  16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, ¹⁵  so that your joy may be complete.

16:25 “I have told you these things in obscure figures of speech; ¹⁶  a time ¹⁷  is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figures, but will tell you ¹⁸  plainly ¹⁹  about the Father. 16:26 At that time ²⁰  you will ask in my name, and I do not say ²¹  that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

[16:20]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:20]  ² tn Or “wail,” “cry.”

[16:20]  ³ tn Or “lament.”

[16:20]  ⁴ tn Or “sorrowful.”

[16:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “will become.”

[16:21]  ⁶ sn The same word translated distress here has been translated sadness in the previous verse (a wordplay that is not exactly reproducible in English).

[16:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “her hour.”

[16:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “that a man” (but in a generic sense, referring to a human being).

[16:21]  ⁹ sn Jesus now compares the situation of the disciples to a woman in childbirth. Just as the woman in the delivery of her child experiences real pain and anguish (has distress), so the disciples will also undergo real anguish at the crucifixion of Jesus. But once the child has been born, the mother’s anguish is turned into joy, and she forgets the past suffering. The same will be true of the disciples, who after Jesus’ resurrection and reappearance to them will forget the anguish they suffered at his death on account of their joy.

[16:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “distress.”

[16:22]  ¹² sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will be indignant toward his enemies.” The change from “you will see [me]” to I will see you places more emphasis on Jesus as the one who reinitiates the relationship with the disciples after his resurrection, but v. 16 (you will see me) is more like Isa 66:14. Further support for seeing this allusion as intentional is found in Isa 66:7, which uses the same imagery of the woman giving birth found in John 16:21. In the context of Isa 66 the passages refer to the institution of the messianic kingdom, and in fact the last clause of 66:14 along with the following verses (15-17) have yet to be fulfilled. This is part of the tension of present and future eschatological fulfillment that runs throughout the NT, by virtue of the fact that there are two advents. Some prophecies are fulfilled or partially fulfilled at the first advent, while other prophecies or parts of prophecies await fulfillment at the second.

[16:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And in that day.”

[16:23]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:23]  ¹⁸ sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.

[16:24]  ²¹ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “in parables”; or “in metaphors.” There is some difficulty in defining παροιμίαις (paroimiai") precisely: A translation like “parables” does not convey accurately the meaning. BDAG 779-80 s.v. παροιμία suggests in general “proverb, saw, maxim,” but for Johannine usage “veiled saying, figure of speech, in which esp. lofty ideas are concealed.” In the preceding context of the Farewell Discourse, Jesus has certainly used obscure language and imagery at times: John 13:8-11; 13:16; 15:1-17; and 16:21 could all be given as examples. In the LXX this word is used to translate the Hebrew mashal which covers a wide range of figurative speech, often containing obscure or enigmatic elements.

[16:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:25]  ²⁸ tn Or “inform you.”

[16:25]  ²⁹ tn Or “openly.”

[16:26]  ³¹ tn Grk “In that day.”

[16:26]  ³² tn Grk “I do not say to you.”