John 2:19

2:19 Jesus replied, ¹  “Destroy ²  this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.”

John 5:8

5:8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat ³  and walk.”

John 5:21

5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, ⁴  so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. ⁵ 

John 13:4

13:4 he got up from the meal, removed ⁶  his outer clothes, ⁷  took a towel and tied it around himself. ⁸ 

[2:19]  ¹ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[2:19]  ² 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.”

[5:8]  ³ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” Some of these items, however, are rather substantial (e.g., “mattress”) and would probably give the modern English reader a false impression.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “and makes them live.”

[5:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”

[13:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “and removed”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

[13:4]  ⁸ tn The plural τὰ ἱμάτια (ta Jimatia) is probably a reference to more than one garment (cf. John 19:23-24). If so, this would indicate that Jesus stripped to a loincloth, like a slave. The translation “outer clothes” is used to indicate that Jesus was not completely naked, since complete nudity would have been extremely offensive to Jewish sensibilities in this historical context.

[13:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “taking a towel he girded himself.” Jesus would have wrapped the towel (λέντιον, lention) around his waist (διέζωσεν ἑαυτόν, diezwsen Jeauton) for use in wiping the disciples’ feet. The term λέντιον is a Latin loanword (linteum) which is also found in the rabbinic literature (see BDAG 592 s.v.). It would have been a long piece of linen cloth, long enough for Jesus to have wrapped it about his waist and still used the free end to wipe the disciples’ feet.