John 3:15-16

3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ¹ 

3:16 For this is the way ²  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ³  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ⁴  but have eternal life. ⁵ 

John 5:24

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁶  the one who hears ⁷  my message ⁸  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, ⁹  but has crossed over from death to life.

John 6:50

6:50 This ¹⁰  is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person ¹¹  may eat from it and not die.

John 11:25-26

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ¹²  even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. ¹³  Do you believe this?”

[3:15]  ¹ tn This is the first use of the term ζωὴν αἰώνιον (zwhn aiwnion) in the Gospel, although ζωή (zwh) in chap. 1 is to be understood in the same way without the qualifying αἰώνιος (aiwnios).

[3:16]  ² tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (Joutws) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16,” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (Jwste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.

[3:16]  ³ tn 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 Clement 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 (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), 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).

[3:16]  ⁴ tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.

[3:16]  ⁵ sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

[5:24]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:24]  ⁷ tn Or “obeys.”

[5:24]  ⁸ tn Or “word.”

[5:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

[6:50]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Here.”

[6:50]  ¹¹ tn Grk “someone” (τις, tis).

[11:25]  ¹² tn That is, will come to life.

[11:26]  ¹³ tn Grk “will never die forever.”