John 16:4-5

16:4 But I have told you these things ¹  so that when their time ²  comes, you will remember that I told you about them. ³ 

“I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you. ⁴  16:5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, ⁵  and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ 

John 16:16-17

16:16 In a little while you ⁷  will see me no longer; again after a little while, you ⁸  will see me.” ⁹ 

16:17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, ¹⁰  ‘In a little while you ¹¹  will not see me; again after a little while, you ¹²  will see me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹³ 

[16:4]  ¹ tn The first half of v. 4 resumes the statement of 16:1, ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν (tauta lelalhka Jumin), in a somewhat more positive fashion, omitting the reference to the disciples being caused to stumble.

[16:4]  ² tn Grk “their hour.”

[16:4]  ³ tn The words “about them” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[16:4]  ⁴ sn This verse serves as a transition between the preceding discussion of the persecutions the disciples will face in the world after the departure of Jesus, and the following discussion concerning the departure of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit-Paraclete. Jesus had not told the disciples these things from the beginning because he was with them.

[16:5]  ⁵ sn Now the theme of Jesus’ impending departure is resumed (I am going to the one who sent me). It will also be mentioned in 16:10, 17, and 28. Jesus had said to his opponents in 7:33 that he was going to the one who sent him; in 13:33 he had spoken of going where the disciples could not come. At that point Peter had inquired where he was going, but it appears that Peter did not understand Jesus’ reply at that time and did not persist in further questioning. In 14:5 Thomas had asked Jesus where he was going.

[16:5]  ⁶ sn Now none of the disciples asks Jesus where he is going, and the reason is given in the following verse: They have been overcome with sadness as a result of the predictions of coming persecution that Jesus has just spoken to them in 15:18-25 and 16:1-4a. Their shock at Jesus’ revelation of coming persecution is so great that none of them thinks to ask him where it is that he is going.

[16:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:16]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “What is this that he is saying to us.”

[16:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ¹² tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ¹³ 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.