John 4:14

4:14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, ¹  but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain ²  of water springing up ³  to eternal life.”

John 6:58

6:58 This ⁴  is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ⁵  ate, but then later died. ⁶  The one who eats ⁷  this bread will live forever.”

John 8:52

8:52 Then ⁸  the Judeans ⁹  responded, ¹⁰  “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! ¹¹  Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet ¹²  you say, ‘If anyone obeys ¹³  my teaching, ¹⁴  he will never experience ¹⁵  death.’ ¹⁶ 

John 13:8

13:8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” ¹⁷  Jesus replied, ¹⁸  “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” ¹⁹ 

[4:14]  ¹ tn Grk “will never be thirsty forever.” The possibility of a later thirst is emphatically denied.

[4:14]  ² tn Or “well.” “Fountain” is used as the translation for πηγή (phgh) here since the idea is that of an artesian well that flows freely, but the term “artesian well” is not common in contemporary English.

[4:14]  ³ tn The verb ἁλλομένου (Jallomenou) is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul. See Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Kgdms 10:2, 10 LXX (= 1 Sam 10:6, 10 ET); and Isa 35:6 (note context).

[6:58]  ⁴ tn Or “This one.”

[6:58]  ⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:58]  ⁶ tn Grk “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not just like your ancestors ate and died.” The cryptic Greek expression has been filled out in the translation for clarity.

[6:58]  ⁷ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[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.

[13:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “You will never wash my feet forever.” The negation is emphatic in Greek but somewhat awkward in English. Emphasis is conveyed in the translation by the use of an exclamation point.

[13:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”

[13:8]  ¹² tn Or “you have no part in me.”