John 4:12

4:12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor ¹  Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.” ² 

John 10:24

10:24 The Jewish leaders ³  surrounded him and asked, ⁴  “How long will you keep us in suspense? ⁵  If you are the Christ, ⁶  tell us plainly.” ⁷ 

John 14:9

14:9 Jesus replied, ⁸  “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known ⁹  me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

John 16:17

16:17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, ¹⁰  ‘In a little while you ¹¹  will not see me; again after a little while, you ¹²  will see me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹³ 

John 17:21

17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray ¹⁴  that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

John 18:31

18:31 Pilate told them, ¹⁵  “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him ¹⁶  according to your own law!” ¹⁷  The Jewish leaders ¹⁸  replied, ¹⁹  “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” ²⁰ 

[4:12]  ¹ tn Or “our forefather”; Grk “our father.”

[4:12]  ² 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 this instance all of v. 12 is one question. It has been broken into two sentences for the sake of English style (instead of “for he” the Greek reads “who”).

[10:24]  ³ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. The question they ask Jesus (“Are you the Christ?”) is the same one they sent and asked of John the Baptist in the desert (see John 1:19-34). See also the note on the phrase “the Jewish people” in v. 19.

[10:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “said to him.” This has been translated as “asked” for stylistic reasons.

[10:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “How long will you take away our life?” (an idiom which meant to keep one from coming to a conclusion about something). The use of the phrase τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν αἴρεις (thn yuchn Jhmwn airei") meaning “to keep in suspense” is not well attested, although it certainly fits the context here. In modern Greek the phrase means “to annoy, bother.”

[10:24]  ⁶ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[10:24]  ⁷ tn Or “publicly.”

[14:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:9]  ⁶ tn Or “recognized.”

[16:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “What is this that he is saying to us.”

[16:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ¹⁰ sn These fragmentary quotations of Jesus’ statements are from 16:16 and 16:10, and indicate that the disciples heard only part of what Jesus had to say to them on this occasion.

[17:21]  ⁹ tn The words “I pray” are repeated from the first part of v. 20 for clarity.

[18:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Then Pilate said to them.”

[18:31]  ¹² tn Or “judge him.” For the translation “pass judgment on him” see R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:848).

[18:31]  ¹³ sn Pilate, as the sole representative of Rome in a troubled area, was probably in Jerusalem for the Passover because of the danger of an uprising (the normal residence for the Roman governor was in Caesarea as mentioned in Acts 23:35). At this time on the eve of the feast he would have been a busy and perhaps even a worried man. It is not surprising that he offered to hand Jesus back over to the Jewish authorities to pass judgment on him. It may well be that Pilate realized when no specific charge was mentioned that he was dealing with an internal dispute over some religious matter. Pilate wanted nothing to do with such matters, as the statement “Pass judgment on him according to your own law!” indicates. As far as the author is concerned, this points out who was really responsible for Jesus’ death: The Roman governor Pilate would have had nothing to do with it if he had not been pressured by the Jewish religious authorities, upon whom the real responsibility rested.

[18:31]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12.

[18:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:31]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “It is not permitted to us to kill anyone.”