John 2:12

Cleansing the Temple

2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum ¹  with his mother and brothers ²  and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

John 3:22

Further Testimony About Jesus by John the Baptist

3:22 After this, ³  Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing.

John 7:1

The Feast of Tabernacles

7:1 After this ⁴  Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. ⁵  He ⁶  stayed out of Judea ⁷  because the Jewish leaders ⁸  wanted ⁹  to kill him.

John 11:11

11:11 After he said this, he added, ¹⁰  “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. ¹¹  But I am going there to awaken him.”

John 13:7

13:7 Jesus replied, ¹²  “You do not understand ¹³  what I am doing now, but you will understand ¹⁴  after these things.”

John 13:27

13:27 And after Judas ¹⁵  took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. ¹⁶  Jesus said to him, ¹⁷  “What you are about to do, do quickly.”

John 18:2-3

18:2 (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times ¹⁸  with his disciples.) ¹⁹  18:3 So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers ²⁰  and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. ²¹  They came to the orchard ²²  with lanterns ²³  and torches and weapons.

John 19:40

19:40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices, ²⁴  in strips of linen cloth ²⁵  according to Jewish burial customs. ²⁶ 

John 20:7

20:7 and the face cloth, ²⁷  which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. ²⁸ 

[2:12]  ¹ sn Verse 12 is merely a transitional note in the narrative (although Capernaum does not lie on the direct route to Jerusalem from Cana). Nothing is mentioned in John’s Gospel at this point about anything Jesus said or did there (although later his teaching is mentioned, see 6:59). From the synoptics it is clear that Capernaum was a center of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and might even be called “his own town” (Matt 9:1). The royal official whose son Jesus healed (John 4:46-54) was from Capernaum. He may have heard Jesus speak there, or picked up the story about the miracle at Cana from one of Jesus’ disciples.

[2:12]  ² sn With respect to Jesus’ brothers, the so-called Helvidian view is to be preferred (named after Helvidius, a 4th-century theologian). This view holds that the most natural way to understand the phrase is as a reference to children of Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus. Other views are that of Epiphanius (they were children of Joseph by a former marriage) or Jerome (they were cousins). The tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity appeared in the 2nd century and is difficult to explain (as J. H. Bernard, St. John [ICC], 1:85, points out) if some of her other children were prominent members of the early church (e.g., James of Jerusalem). But this is outweighed by the natural sense of the words.

[3:22]  ³ tn This section is related loosely to the preceding by μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta). This constitutes an indefinite temporal reference; the intervening time is not specified.

[7:1]  ⁵ sn Again, the transition is indicated by the imprecise temporal indicator After this. Clearly, though, the author has left out much of the events of Jesus’ ministry, because chap. 6 took place near the Passover (6:4). This would have been the Passover between winter/spring of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion (assuming a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), or the Passover of winter/spring a.d. 29, assuming a date of a.d. 30 for the crucifixion.

[7:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “Jesus was traveling around in Galilee.”

[7:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “For he.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[7:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “he did not want to travel around in Judea.”

[7:1]  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 should be restricted to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents.

[7:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “were seeking.”

[11:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “He said these things, and after this he said to them.”

[11:11]  ⁸ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “asleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term, especially in light of the disciples’ confusion over what Jesus actually meant (see v. 13).

[13:7]  ⁹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[13:7]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “You do not know.”

[13:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “you will know.”

[13:27]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:27]  ¹² tn Grk “into that one”; the pronoun “he” is more natural English style here.

[13:27]  ¹³ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to him.”

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Or “often.”

[18:2]  ¹⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:3]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “a cohort.” The word σπεῖραν (speiran) is a technical term for a Roman cohort, normally a force of 600 men (one tenth of a legion). It was under the command of a χιλίαρχος (ciliarco", v. 12). Because of the improbability of an entire cohort being sent to arrest a single man, some have suggested that σπεῖραν here refers only to a maniple, a force of 200. But the use of the word here does not necessarily mean the entire cohort was present on this mission, but only that it was the cohort which performed the task (for example, saying the fire department put out the fire does not mean that every fireman belonging to the department was on the scene at the time). These Roman soldiers must have been ordered to accompany the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees by Pilate, since they would have been under the direct command of the Roman prefect or procurator. It is not difficult to understand why Pilate would have been willing to assist the Jewish authorities in such a way. With a huge crowd of pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Passover, the Romans would have been especially nervous about an uprising of some sort. No doubt the chief priests and Pharisees had informed Pilate that this man Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, or in the terms Pilate would understand, king of Israel.

[18:3]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase “officers of the chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:32, 45; 18:3, 12, 18, 22; 19:6. They are different from the Levites who served as “temple police” according to K. H. Rengstorf (TDNT 8:540). In John 7:32ff. these officers had made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest Jesus, and perhaps this is part of the reason why their leaders had made sure they were accompanied by Roman soldiers this time. No more mistakes were to be tolerated.

[18:3]  ¹⁷ tn The words “to the orchard” are not in the Greek text but are repeated from v. 1 for clarity.

[18:3]  ¹⁸ tn These were lamps that had some sort of covering to protect them from wind and rain. In earlier usage the word meant “torch” but by NT times it apparently meant a lamp designed to be used outdoors, so “lantern” is a good contemporary English equivalent.

[19:40]  ¹⁷ tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these materials were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition.

[19:40]  ¹⁸ tn The Fourth Gospel uses ὀθονίοις (oqonioi") to describe the wrappings, and this has caused a good deal of debate, since it appears to contradict the synoptic accounts which mention a σινδών (sindwn), a large single piece of linen cloth. If one understands ὀθονίοις to refer to smaller strips of cloth, like bandages, there would be a difference, but diminutive forms have often lost their diminutive force in Koine Greek (BDF §111.3), so there may not be any difference.

[19:40]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”

[20:7]  ¹⁹ sn The word translated face cloth is a Latin loanword (sudarium). It was a small towel used to wipe off perspiration (the way a handkerchief would be used today). This particular item was not mentioned in connection with Jesus’ burial in John 19:40, probably because this was only a brief summary account. A face cloth was mentioned in connection with Lazarus’ burial (John 11:44) and was probably customary. R. E. Brown speculates that it was wrapped under the chin and tied on top of the head to prevent the mouth of the corpse from falling open (John [AB], 2:986), but this is not certain.

[20:7]  ²⁰ sn Much dispute and difficulty surrounds the translation of the words not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. Basically the issue concerns the positioning of the graveclothes as seen by Peter and the other disciple when they entered the tomb. Some have sought to prove that when the disciples saw the graveclothes they were arranged just as they were when around the body, so that when the resurrection took place the resurrected body of Jesus passed through them without rearranging or disturbing them. In this case the reference to the face cloth being rolled up does not refer to its being folded, but collapsed in the shape it had when wrapped around the head. Sometimes in defense of this view the Greek preposition μετά (meta, which normally means “with”) is said to mean “like” so that the comparison with the other graveclothes does not involve the location of the face cloth but rather its condition (rolled up rather than flattened). In spite of the intriguing nature of such speculations, it seems more probable that the phrase describing the face cloth should be understood to mean it was separated from the other graveclothes in a different place inside the tomb. This seems consistent with the different conclusions reached by Peter and the beloved disciple (vv. 8-10). All that the condition of the graveclothes indicated was that the body of Jesus had not been stolen by thieves. Anyone who had come to remove the body (whether the authorities or anyone else) would not have bothered to unwrap it before carrying it off. And even if one could imagine that they had (perhaps in search of valuables such as rings or jewelry still worn by the corpse) they would certainly not have bothered to take time to roll up the face cloth and leave the other wrappings in an orderly fashion.