John 4:1

Departure From Judea

4:1 Now when Jesus ¹  knew that the Pharisees ²  had heard that he ³  was winning ⁴  and baptizing more disciples than John

John 7:45

Lack of Belief

7:45 Then the officers ⁵  returned ⁶  to the chief priests and Pharisees, ⁷  who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?” ⁸ 

John 9:40

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ⁹  who were with him heard this ¹⁰  and asked him, ¹¹  “We are not blind too, are we?” ¹² 

John 11:47

11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees ¹³  called the council ¹⁴  together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs.

John 11:57

11:57 (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees ¹⁵  had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus ¹⁶  was should report it, so that they could arrest ¹⁷  him.) ¹⁸ 

John 12:19

12:19 Thus the Pharisees ¹⁹  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

John 12:42

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ²⁰  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ²¹  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ²²  so that they would not be put out of ²³  the synagogue. ²⁴ 

John 18:3

18:3 So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers ²⁵  and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. ²⁶  They came to the orchard ²⁷  with lanterns ²⁸  and torches and weapons.

[4:1]  ¹ tc Several early and important witnesses, along with the majority of later ones (Ì^66c,75 A B C L W^s Ψ 083 ˹³ 33 Ï sa), have κύριος (kurio", “Lord”) here instead of ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsou", “Jesus”). As significant as this external support is, the internal evidence seems to be on the side of ᾿Ιησοῦς. “Jesus” is mentioned two more times in the first two verses of chapter four in a way that is stylistically awkward (so much so that the translation has substituted the pronoun for the first one; see tn note below). This seems to be sufficient reason to motivate scribes to change the wording to κύριος. Further, the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is not without decent support, though admittedly not as strong as that for κύριος (Ì^66* א D Θ 086 ˹ 565 1241 al lat bo). On the other hand, this Gospel speaks of Jesus as Lord in the evangelist’s narrative descriptions elsewhere only in 11:2; 20:18, 20; 21:12; and probably 6:23, preferring ᾿Ιησοῦς most of the time. This fact could be used to argue that scribes, acquainted with John’s style, changed κύριος to ᾿Ιησοῦς. But the immediate context generally is weighed more heavily than an author’s style. It is possible that neither word was in the original text and scribes supplied what they thought most appropriate (see TCGNT 176). But without ms evidence to this effect coupled with the harder reading ᾿Ιησοῦς, this conjecture must remain doubtful. All in all, it is best to regard ᾿Ιησοῦς as the original reading here.

[4:1]  ² sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[4:1]  ³ tn Grk “Jesus”; the repetition of the proper name is somewhat redundant in English (see the beginning of the verse) and so the pronoun (“he”) has been substituted here.

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “was making.”

[7:45]  ⁵ tn Or “servants.” The “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. As “servants” or “officers” of the Sanhedrin, their representatives should be distinguished from the Levites serving as temple police (perhaps John 7:30 and 44; also John 8:20; 10:39; 19:6; Acts 4:3). Even when performing ‘police’ duties such as here, their “officers” are doing so only as part of their general tasks (See K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:540).

[7:45]  ⁶ tn Grk “came.”

[7:45]  ⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[7:45]  ⁸ tn Grk “Why did you not bring him?” The words “back with you” are implied.

[9:40]  ⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  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 “are we?”).

[11:47]  ¹³ tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.

[11:47]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The συνέδριον (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word συνέδριον in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning “councils.” The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as “one of them” supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities.

[11:57]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.

[11:57]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:57]  ¹⁹ tn Or “could seize.”

[11:57]  ²⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:19]  ²¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ²⁵ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ²⁷ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  ²⁸ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ²⁹ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[18:3]  ²⁹ tn Grk “a cohort.” The word σπεῖραν (speiran) is a technical term for a Roman cohort, normally a force of 600 men (one tenth of a legion). It was under the command of a χιλίαρχος (ciliarco", v. 12). Because of the improbability of an entire cohort being sent to arrest a single man, some have suggested that σπεῖραν here refers only to a maniple, a force of 200. But the use of the word here does not necessarily mean the entire cohort was present on this mission, but only that it was the cohort which performed the task (for example, saying the fire department put out the fire does not mean that every fireman belonging to the department was on the scene at the time). These Roman soldiers must have been ordered to accompany the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees by Pilate, since they would have been under the direct command of the Roman prefect or procurator. It is not difficult to understand why Pilate would have been willing to assist the Jewish authorities in such a way. With a huge crowd of pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Passover, the Romans would have been especially nervous about an uprising of some sort. No doubt the chief priests and Pharisees had informed Pilate that this man Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, or in the terms Pilate would understand, king of Israel.

[18:3]  ³⁰ tn The phrase “officers of the chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:32, 45; 18:3, 12, 18, 22; 19:6. They are different from the Levites who served as “temple police” according to K. H. Rengstorf (TDNT 8:540). In John 7:32ff. these officers had made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest Jesus, and perhaps this is part of the reason why their leaders had made sure they were accompanied by Roman soldiers this time. No more mistakes were to be tolerated.

[18:3]  ³¹ tn The words “to the orchard” are not in the Greek text but are repeated from v. 1 for clarity.

[18:3]  ³² tn These were lamps that had some sort of covering to protect them from wind and rain. In earlier usage the word meant “torch” but by NT times it apparently meant a lamp designed to be used outdoors, so “lantern” is a good contemporary English equivalent.