Discovery BoxJohn 2:15-25
Context2:15 So he made a whip of cords 1 and drove them all out of the temple courts, 2 with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers 3 and overturned their tables. 2:16 To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make 4 my Father’s house a marketplace!” 5 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal 6 for your house will devour me.” 7
2:18 So then the Jewish leaders 8 responded, 9 “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 10 2:19 Jesus replied, 11 “Destroy 12 this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 2:20 Then the Jewish leaders 13 said to him, “This temple has been under construction 14 for forty-six years, 15 and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 2:21 But Jesus 16 was speaking about the temple of his body. 17 2:22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture 18 and the saying 19 that Jesus had spoken.
2:23 Now while Jesus 20 was in Jerusalem 21 at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. 22 2:24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. 23 2:25 He did not need anyone to testify about man, 24 for he knew what was in man. 25
[2:15] 1 tc Several witnesses, two of which are quite ancient (Ì66,75 L N Ë1 33 565 892 1241 al lat), have ὡς (Jws, “like”) before φραγέλλιον (fragellion, “whip”). A decision based on external evidence would be difficult to make because the shorter reading also has excellent witnesses, as well as the majority, on its side (א A B Θ Ψ Ë13 Ï co). Internal evidence, though, leans toward the shorter reading. Scribes tended to add to the text, and the addition of ὡς here clearly softens the assertion of the evangelist: Instead of making a whip of cords, Jesus made “[something] like a whip of cords.”
[2:15] 3 sn Because of the imperial Roman portraits they carried, Roman denarii and Attic drachmas were not permitted to be used in paying the half-shekel temple-tax (the Jews considered the portraits idolatrous). The money changers exchanged these coins for legal Tyrian coinage at a small profit.
[2:16] 4 tn Or (perhaps) “Stop making.”
[2:16] 5 tn Or “a house of merchants” (an allusion to Zech 14:21).
[2:17] 6 tn Or “Fervent devotion to your house.”
[2:17] 7 sn A quotation from Ps 69:9.
[2:18] 8 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. Here the author refers to the authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.)
[2:18] 9 tn Grk “answered and said to him.”
[2:18] 10 sn The request “What sign can you show us” by Jesus’ adversaries was a request for a defense of his actions – a mark of divine authentication. Whether this was a request for a miracle is not entirely clear. Jesus never obliged such a request. Yet, ironically, the only sign the Jewish leadership will get is that predicted by Jesus in 2:19 – his crucifixion and resurrection. Cf. the “sign of Jonah” in the synoptics (Matt 12:39, 40; Luke 11:29-32).
[2:19] 11 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
[2:19] 12 tn The imperative here is really more than a simple conditional imperative (= “if you destroy”); its semantic force here is more like the ironical imperative found in the prophets (Amos 4:4, Isa 8:9) = “Go ahead and do this and see what happens.”
[2:20] 13 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.
[2:20] 14 tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.
[2:20] 15 sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19
[2:21] 16 tn Grk “that one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This Greek term is frequently used as a way of referring to Jesus in the Johannine letters (cf. 1 John 2:6; 3:3, 5, 7, 16; 4:17).
[2:21] 17 tn The genitive “of his body” (τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, tou swmato" autou) is a genitive of apposition, clarifying which temple Jesus was referring to. Thus, Jesus not only was referring to his physical resurrection, but also to his participation in the resurrection process. The New Testament thus records the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as all performing the miracle of Christ's resurrection.
[2:22] 18 sn They believed the scripture is probably an anaphoric reference to Ps 69:9 (69:10 LXX), quoted in John 2:17 above. Presumably the disciples did not remember Ps 69:9 on the spot, but it was a later insight.
[2:22] 19 tn Or “statement”; Grk “word.”
[2:23] 20 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:23] 21 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[2:23] 22 sn Because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. The issue here is not whether their faith was genuine or not, but what its object was. These individuals, after seeing the miracles, believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They most likely saw in him a political-eschatological figure of some sort. That does not, however, mean that their concept of “Messiah” was the same as Jesus’ own, or the author’s.
[2:24] 23 tn Grk “all.” The word “people” has been supplied for clarity, since the Greek word πάντας (pantas) is masculine plural (thus indicating people rather than things).
[2:25] 24 tn The masculine form has been retained here in the translation to maintain the connection with “a man of the Pharisees” in 3:1, with the understanding that the reference is to people of both genders.
