John 4:15

4:15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw ¹  water.” ² 

John 4:36

4:36 The one who reaps receives pay ³  and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together.

John 6:13

6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves ⁴  left over by the people who had eaten.

John 9:24

9:24 Then they summoned ⁵  the man who used to be blind ⁶  a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. ⁷  We know that this man ⁸  is a sinner.”

John 13:19

13:19 I am telling you this now, ⁹  before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe ¹⁰  that I am he. ¹¹ 

John 17:13

17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience ¹²  my joy completed ¹³  in themselves.

John 19:29

19:29 A jar full of sour wine ¹⁴  was there, so they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a branch of hyssop ¹⁵  and lifted it ¹⁶  to his mouth.

John 19:35

19:35 And the person who saw it ¹⁷  has testified (and his testimony is true, and he ¹⁸  knows that he is telling the truth), ¹⁹  so that you also may believe.

John 20:31

20:31 But these ²⁰  are recorded ²¹  so that you may believe ²²  that Jesus is the Christ, ²³  the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. ²⁴ 

[4:15]  ¹ tn Grk “or come here to draw.”

[4:15]  ² tn The direct object of the infinitive ἀντλεῖν (antlein) is understood in Greek but supplied for clarity in the English translation.

[4:36]  ³ tn Or “a reward”; see L&N 38.14 and 57.173. This is something of a wordplay.

[6:13]  ⁵ sn Note that the fish mentioned previously (in John 6:9) are not emphasized here, only the five barley loaves. This is easy to understand, however, because the bread is of primary importance for the author in view of Jesus’ upcoming discourse on the Bread of Life.

[9:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “they called.”

[9:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “who was blind.”

[9:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “Give glory to God” (an idiomatic formula used in placing someone under oath to tell the truth).

[9:24]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “this man” is a reference to Jesus.

[13:19]  ⁹ tn Or (perhaps) “I am certainly telling you this.” According to BDF §12.3 ἀπ᾿ ἄρτι (ap’ arti) should be read as ἀπαρτί (aparti), meaning “exactly, certainly.”

[13:19]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “so that you may believe.”

[13:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that I am.” R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:555) argues for a nonpredicated ἐγώ εἰμι (egw eimi) here, but this is far from certain.

[17:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “they may have.”

[17:13]  ¹² tn Or “fulfilled.”

[19:29]  ¹³ sn The cheap sour wine was called in Latin posca, and referred to a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and was probably there for the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion.

[19:29]  ¹⁴ sn Hyssop was a small aromatic bush; exact identification of the plant is uncertain. The hyssop used to lift the wet sponge may have been a form of reed (κάλαμος, kalamo", “reed,” is used in Matt 27:48 and Mark 15:36); the biblical name can refer to several different species of plant (at least eighteen different plants have been suggested).

[19:29]  ¹⁵ tn Or “and brought it.”

[19:35]  ¹⁵ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[19:35]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and that one.”

[19:35]  ¹⁷ sn A parenthetical note by the author.

[20:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “these things.”

[20:31]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “are written.”

[20:31]  ¹⁹ tc ‡ A difficult textual variant is present at this point in the Greek text. Some mss (Ì^66vid א* B Θ 0250 pc) read the present subjunctive πιστεύητε (pisteuhte) after ἵνα (Jina; thus NEB text, “that you may hold the faith”) while others (א² A C D L W Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï) read the aorist subjunctive πιστεύσητε (pisteushte) after ἵνα (cf. NEB margin, “that you may come to believe”). As reflected by the renderings of the NEB text and margin, it is often assumed that the present tense would suggest ongoing belief (i.e., the Fourth Gospel primarily addressed those who already believed, and was intended to strengthen their faith), while the aorist tense would speak of coming to faith (i.e., John’s Gospel was primarily evangelistic in nature). Both textual variants enjoy significant ms support, although the present subjunctive has somewhat superior witnesses on its behalf. On internal grounds it is hard to decide which is more likely the original. Many resolve this issue on the basis of a reconstruction of the overall purpose of the Gospel, viz., whether it is addressed to unbelievers or believers. However, since elsewhere in the Gospel of John (1) the present tense can refer to both initial faith and continuation in the faith and (2) the aorist tense simply refrains from commenting on the issue, it is highly unlikely that the distinction here would be determinative for the purpose of the Fourth Gospel. The question of purpose cannot be resolved by choosing one textual variant over the other in 20:31, but must be decided on other factors. Nevertheless, if a choice has to be made, the present subjunctive is the preferred reading. NA²⁷ puts the aorist’s sigma in brackets, thus representing both readings virtually equally (so TCGNT 220).

[20:31]  ²⁰ tn Or “Jesus is the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[20:31]  ²¹ sn John 20:31. A major question concerning this verse, the purpose statement of the Gospel of John, is whether the author is writing primarily for an audience of unbelievers, with purely evangelistic emphasis, or whether he envisions an audience of believers, whom he wants to strengthen in their faith. Several points are important in this discussion: (1) in the immediate context (20:30), the other signs spoken of by the author were performed in the presence of disciples; (2) in the case of the first of the signs, at Cana, the author makes a point of the effect the miracle had on the disciples (2:11); (3) if the primary thrust of the Gospel is toward unbelievers, it is difficult to see why so much material in chaps. 13-17 (the last meal and Farewell Discourse, concluding with Jesus’ prayer for the disciples), which deals almost exclusively with the disciples, is included; (4) the disciples themselves were repeatedly said to have believed in Jesus throughout the Gospel, beginning with 2:11, yet they still needed to believe after the resurrection (if Thomas’ experience in 20:27-28 is any indication); and (5) the Gospel appears to be written with the assumption that the readers are familiar with the basic story (or perhaps with one or more of the synoptic gospel accounts, although this is less clear). Thus no account of the birth of Jesus is given at all, and although he is identified as being from Nazareth, the words of the Pharisees and chief priests to Nicodemus (7:52) are almost certainly to be taken as ironic, assuming the reader knows where Jesus was really from. Likewise, when Mary is identified in 11:2 as the one who anointed Jesus’ feet with oil, it is apparently assumed that the readers are familiar with the story, since the incident involved is not mentioned in the Fourth Gospel until 12:3. These observations must be set over against the clear statement of purpose in the present verse, 20:31, which seems to have significant evangelistic emphasis. In addition to this there is the repeated emphasis on witness throughout the Fourth Gospel (cf. the witness of John the Baptist in 1:7, 8, 15, 32, and 34, along with 5:33; the Samaritan woman in 4:39; Jesus’ own witness, along with that of the Father who sent him, in 8:14, 18, and 18:37; the disciples themselves in 15:27; and finally the testimony of the author himself in 19:35 and 21:24). In light of all this evidence it seems best to say that the author wrote with a dual purpose: (1) to witness to unbelievers concerning Jesus, in order that they come to believe in him and have eternal life; and (2) to strengthen the faith of believers, by deepening and expanding their understanding of who Jesus is.