John 2:7

2:7 Jesus told the servants, ¹  “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top.

John 7:16

7:16 So Jesus replied, ²  “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me. ³ 

John 8:13

8:13 So the Pharisees ⁴  objected, ⁵  “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!” ⁶ 

John 12:7

12:7 So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial. ⁷ 

John 13:24

13:24 So Simon Peter ⁸  gestured to this disciple ⁹  to ask Jesus ¹⁰  who it was he was referring to. ¹¹ 

John 13:34

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love ¹²  one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ¹³ 

John 16:18

16:18 So they kept on repeating, ¹⁴  “What is the meaning of what he says, ¹⁵  ‘In a little while’? ¹⁶  We do not understand ¹⁷  what he is talking about.” ¹⁸ 

John 18:8

18:8 Jesus replied, ¹⁹  “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for ²⁰  me, let these men ²¹  go.” ²² 

John 19:5

19:5 So Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. ²³  Pilate ²⁴  said to them, “Look, here is the man!” ²⁵ 

John 19:36

19:36 For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.” ²⁶ 

John 21:5

21:5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you don’t have any fish, ²⁷  do you?” ²⁸  They replied, ²⁹  “No.”

[2:7]  ¹ tn Grk “them” (it is clear from the context that the servants are addressed).

[7:16]  ² tn Grk “So Jesus answered and said to them.”

[7:16]  ³ tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.

[8:13]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[8:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “Then the Pharisees said to him.”

[8:13]  ⁵ sn Compare the charge You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true! to Jesus’ own statement about his testimony in 5:31.

[12:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “Leave her alone, that for the day of my burial she may keep it.” The construction with ἵνα (Jina) is somewhat ambiguous. The simplest way to read it would be, “Leave her alone, that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” This would imply that Mary was going to use the perfumed oil on that day, while vv. 3 and 5 seem to indicate clearly that she had already used it up. Some understand the statement as elliptical: “Leave her alone; (she did this) in order to keep it for the day of my burial.” Another alternative would be an imperatival use of ἵνα with the meaning: “Leave her alone; let her keep it.” The reading of the Byzantine text, which omits the ἵνα and substitutes a perfect tense τετήρηκεν (tethrhken), while not likely to be original, probably comes close to the meaning of the text, and that has been followed in this translation.

[13:24]  ⁵ sn It is not clear where Simon Peter was seated. If he were on Jesus’ other side, it is difficult to see why he would not have asked the question himself. It would also have been difficult to beckon to the beloved disciple, on Jesus’ right, from such a position. So apparently Peter was seated somewhere else. It is entirely possible that Judas was seated to Jesus’ left. Matt 26:25 seems to indicate that Jesus could speak to him without being overheard by the rest of the group. Judas is evidently in a position where Jesus can hand him the morsel of food (13:26).

[13:24]  ⁶ tn Grk “to this one”; the referent (the beloved disciple) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:24]  ⁸ sn That is, who would betray him (v. 21).

[13:34]  ⁶ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

[13:34]  ⁷ sn The idea that love is a commandment is interesting. In the OT the ten commandments have a setting in the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai; they were the stipulations that Israel had to observe if the nation were to be God’s chosen people. In speaking of love as the new commandment for those whom Jesus had chosen as his own (John 13:1, 15:16) and as a mark by which they could be distinguished from others (13:35), John shows that he is thinking of this scene in covenant terminology. But note that the disciples are to love “Just as I have loved you” (13:34). The love Jesus has for his followers cannot be duplicated by them in one sense, because it effects their salvation, since he lays down his life for them: It is an act of love that gives life to people. But in another sense, they can follow his example (recall to the end, 13:1; also 1 John 3:16, 4:16 and the interpretation of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet). In this way Jesus’ disciples are to love one another: They are to follow his example of sacrificial service to one another, to death if necessary.

[16:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “they kept on saying.”

[16:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “What is this that he says.”

[16:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “A little while.” Although the phrase τὸ μικρόν (to mikron) in John 16:18 could be translated simply “a little while,” it was translated “in a little while” to maintain the connection to John 16:16, where it has the latter meaning in context.

[16:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “we do not know.”

[16:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “what he is speaking.”

[18:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[18:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “if you are seeking.”

[18:8]  ¹⁰ tn The word “men” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The translation uses the word “men” here rather than a more generic word like “people” because in context Jesus referred only to the eleven remaining disciples who were loyal to him and were present at his arrest.

[18:8]  ¹¹ sn A second time Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he,” identifying himself as the one they are seeking. Jesus also added, “If you are looking for me, let these men go.” Jesus successfully diverted attention from his disciples by getting the soldiers and officers of the chief priests to admit (twice) that it is only him they were after. Even in this hour Jesus still protected and cared for his own, giving himself up on their behalf. By handing himself over to his enemies, Jesus ensured that his disciples went free. From the perspective of the author, this is acting out beforehand what Jesus will actually do for his followers when he goes to the cross.

[19:5]  ⁹ sn See the note on the purple robe in 19:2.

[19:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Pilate) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:5]  ¹¹ sn Look, here is the man! Pilate may have meant no more than something like “Here is the accused!” or in a contemptuous way, “Here is your king!” Others have taken Pilate’s statement as intended to evoke pity from Jesus’ accusers: “Look at this poor fellow!” (Jesus would certainly not have looked very impressive after the scourging). For the author, however, Pilate’s words constituted an unconscious allusion to Zech 6:12, “Look, here is the man whose name is the Branch.” In this case Pilate (unknowingly and ironically) presented Jesus to the nation under a messianic title.

[19:36]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, and Ps 34:20. A number of different OT passages lie behind this quotation: Exod 12:10 LXX, Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, or Ps 34:20. Of these, the first is the closest in form to the quotation here. The first three are all more likely candidates than the last, since the first three all deal with descriptions of the Passover lamb.

[21:5]  ¹¹ tn The word προσφάγιον (prosfagion) is unusual. According to BDAG 886 s.v. in Hellenistic Greek it described a side dish to be eaten with bread, and in some contexts was the equivalent of ὄψον (oyon), “fish.” Used in addressing a group of returning fishermen, however, it is quite clear that the speaker had fish in mind.

[21:5]  ¹² tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “do you?”).

[21:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “They answered him.”