John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ¹  at night ²  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ³  that you do unless God is with him.”

John 3:26

3:26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, ⁴  about whom you testified – see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”

John 8:52

8:52 Then ⁵  the Judeans ⁶  responded, ⁷  “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! ⁸  Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet ⁹  you say, ‘If anyone obeys ¹⁰  my teaching, ¹¹  he will never experience ¹²  death.’ ¹³ 

John 10:38

10:38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, ¹⁴  so that you may come to know ¹⁵  and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

John 14:10

14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? ¹⁶  The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, ¹⁷  but the Father residing in me performs ¹⁸  his miraculous deeds. ¹⁹ 

John 15:5

15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains ²⁰  in me – and I in him – bears ²¹  much fruit, ²²  because apart from me you can accomplish ²³  nothing.

John 19:12

19:12 From this point on, Pilate tried ²⁴  to release him. But the Jewish leaders ²⁵  shouted out, ²⁶  “If you release this man, ²⁷  you are no friend of Caesar! ²⁸  Everyone who claims to be a king ²⁹  opposes Caesar!”

[3:2]  ¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ² tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  ³ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

[3:26]  ⁴ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[8:52]  ⁷ tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ א B C W Θ 579 it) lack the conjunction here, while other witnesses read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì⁷⁵ D L Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the most important Johannine papyrus (Ì⁷⁵) has the conjunction, the combination of Ì⁶⁶ א B for the omission is even stronger. Further, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 41). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁷ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:52]  ⁸ tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here, as in vv. 31 and 48, the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31).

[8:52]  ⁹ tn Grk “said to him.”

[8:52]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “you have a demon.”

[8:52]  ¹¹ tn “Yet” has been supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.

[8:52]  ¹² tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:52]  ¹³ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:52]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “will never taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[8:52]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he will never taste of death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.

[10:38]  ¹⁰ tn Or “works.”

[10:38]  ¹¹ tn Or “so that you may learn.”

[14:10]  ¹³ tn The mutual interrelationship of the Father and the Son (ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν, egw en tw patri kai Jo pathr en emoi estin) is something that Jesus expected even his opponents to recognize (cf. John 10:38). The question Jesus asks of Philip (οὐ πιστεύεις, ou pisteuei") expects the answer “yes.” Note that the following statement is addressed to all the disciples, however, because the plural pronoun (ὑμῖν, Jumin) is used. Jesus says that his teaching (the words he spoke to them all) did not originate from himself, but the Father, who permanently remains (μένων, menwn) in relationship with Jesus, performs his works. One would have expected “speaks his words” here rather than “performs his works”; many of the church fathers (e.g., Augustine and Chrysostom) identified the two by saying that Jesus’ words were works. But there is an implicit contrast in the next verse between words and works, and v. 12 seems to demand that the works are real works, not just words. It is probably best to see the two terms as related but not identical; there is a progression in the idea here. Both Jesus’ words (recall the Samaritans’ response in John 4:42) and Jesus’ works are revelatory of who he is, but as the next verse indicates, works have greater confirmatory power than words.

[14:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “I do not speak from myself.”

[14:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “does.”

[14:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or “his mighty acts”; Grk “his works.”

[15:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “resides.”

[15:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “yields.”

[15:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “in him, this one bears much fruit.” The pronoun “this one” has been omitted from the translation because it is redundant according to contemporary English style.

[15:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “do.”

[19:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “sought.”

[19:12]  ²⁰ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin, and their servants (mentioned specifically as “the chief priests and their servants” in John 19:6). See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.

[19:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “shouted out, saying.”

[19:12]  ²² tn Grk “this one.”

[19:12]  ²³ sn Is the author using the phrase Friend of Caesar in a technical sense, as a title bestowed on people for loyal service to the Emperor, or in a more general sense merely describing a person as loyal to the Emperor? L. Morris (John [NICNT], 798) thinks it is “unlikely” that the title is used in the technical sense, and J. H. Bernard (St. John [ICC], 2:621) argues that the technical sense of the phrase as an official title was not used before the time of Vespasian (a.d. 69-79). But there appears to be significant evidence for much earlier usage. Some of this is given in BDAG 498-99 s.v. Καῖσαρ. E. Bammel (“φίλος τοῦ καίσαρος (John 19:12),” TLZ 77 [1952]: 205-10) listed significant and convincing arguments that the official title was indeed in use at the time. Granting that the title was in use during this period, what is the likelihood that it had been bestowed on Pilate? Pilate was of the equestrian order, that is, of lower nobility as opposed to senatorial rank. As such he would have been eligible to receive such an honor. It also appears that the powerful Sejanus was his patron in Rome, and Sejanus held considerable influence with Tiberius. Tacitus (Annals 6.8) quotes Marcus Terentius in his defense before the Senate as saying that close friendship with Sejanus “was in every case a powerful recommendation to the Emperor’s friendship.” Thus it is possible that Pilate held this honor. Therefore it appears that the Jewish authorities were putting a good deal of psychological pressure on Pilate to convict Jesus. They had, in effect, finally specified the charge against Jesus as treason: “Everyone who makes himself to be king opposes Caesar.” If Pilate now failed to convict Jesus the Jewish authorities could complain to Rome that Pilate had released a traitor. This possibility carried more weight with Pilate than might at first be evident: (1) Pilate’s record as governor was not entirely above reproach; (2) Tiberius, who lived away from Rome as a virtual recluse on the island of Capri, was known for his suspicious nature, especially toward rivals or those who posed a political threat; and (3) worst of all, Pilate’s patron in Rome, Sejanus, had recently come under suspicion of plotting to seize the imperial succession for himself. Sejanus was deposed in October of a.d. 31. It may have been to Sejanus that Pilate owed his appointment in Judea. Pilate was now in a very delicate position. The Jewish authorities may have known something of this and deliberately used it as leverage against him. Whether or not they knew just how potent their veiled threat was, it had the desired effect. Pilate went directly to the judgment seat to pronounce his judgment.

[19:12]  ²⁴ tn Grk “who makes himself out to be a king.”