John 21:18-19

21:18 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹  when you were young, you tied your clothes around you ²  and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up ³  and bring you where you do not want to go.” 21:19 (Now Jesus ⁴  said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter ⁵  was going to glorify God.) ⁶  After he said this, Jesus told Peter, ⁷  “Follow me.”

John 21:22

21:22 Jesus replied, ⁸  “If I want him to live ⁹  until I come back, ¹⁰  what concern is that of yours? You follow me!”

John 21:2

21:2 Simon Peter, Thomas ¹¹  (called Didymus), ¹²  Nathanael ¹³  (who was from Cana ¹⁴  in Galilee), the sons ¹⁵  of Zebedee, ¹⁶  and two other disciples ¹⁷  of his were together.

John 1:14

1:14 Now ¹⁸  the Word became flesh ¹⁹  and took up residence ²⁰  among us. We ²¹  saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, ²²  full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

[21:18]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[21:18]  ² tn Or “you girded yourself.”

[21:18]  ³ tn Grk “others will gird you.”

[21:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The phrase by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God almost certainly indicates martyrdom (cf. 1 Pet 4:16), and it may not predict anything more than that. But the parallelism of this phrase to similar phrases in John 12:33 and 18:32 which describe Jesus’ own death by crucifixion have led many to suggest that the picture Jesus is portraying for Peter looks not just at martyrdom but at death by crucifixion. This seems to be confirmed by the phrase you will stretch out your hands in the preceding verse. There is some evidence that the early church understood this and similar phrases (one of them in Isa 65:2) to refer to crucifixion (for a detailed discussion of the evidence see L. Morris, John [NICNT], 876, n. 52). Some have objected that if this phrase does indeed refer to crucifixion, the order within v. 18 is wrong, because the stretching out of the hands in crucifixion precedes the binding and leading where one does not wish to go. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:1108) sees this as a deliberate reversal of the normal order (hysteron proteron) intended to emphasize the stretching out of the hands. Another possible explanation for the unusual order is the Roman practice in crucifixions of tying the condemned prisoner’s arms to the crossbeam (patibulum) and forcing him to carry it to the place of execution (W. Bauer as cited by O. Cullmann in Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr [LHD], 88).

[21:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “After he said this, he said to him”; the referents (first Jesus, second Peter) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[21:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “to stay” or “to remain”; but since longevity is the issue in the context, “to live” conveys the idea more clearly.

[21:22]  ¹⁰ tn The word “back” is supplied to clarify the meaning.

[21:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and Thomas.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.

[21:2]  ¹² sn Didymus means “the twin” in Greek.

[21:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “and Nathanael.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.

[21:2]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[21:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and the sons.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.

[21:2]  ¹⁶ sn The sons of Zebedee were James and John.

[21:2]  ¹⁷ sn The two other disciples who are not named may have been Andrew and Philip, who are mentioned together in John 6:7-8 and 12:22.

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic, the incarnation of the Word. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[1:14]  ¹⁹ tn This looks at the Word incarnate in humility and weakness; the word σάρξ (sarx) does not carry overtones of sinfulness here as it frequently does in Pauline usage. See also John 3:6.

[1:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and tabernacled.”

[1:14]  ²¹ tn Grk “and we saw.”

[1:14]  ²² tn Or “of the unique one.” Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clem. 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant., 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).