John 2:22-23

2:22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture ¹  and the saying ²  that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus at the Passover Feast

2:23 Now while Jesus ³  was in Jerusalem ⁴  at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. ⁵ 

[2:22]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “statement”; Grk “word.”

[2:23]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:23]  ⁵ 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.