John 4:50

4:50 Jesus told him, “Go home; ¹  your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and set off for home. ² 

John 5:32

5:32 There is another ³  who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.

John 5:46

5:46 If ⁴  you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

John 6:29

6:29 Jesus replied, ⁵  “This is the deed ⁶  God requires ⁷  – to believe in the one whom he ⁸  sent.”

John 6:56

6:56 The one who eats ⁹  my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him. ¹⁰ 

John 7:38

7:38 let the one who believes in me drink. ¹¹  Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him ¹²  will flow rivers of living water.’” ¹³ 

John 8:13

8:13 So the Pharisees ¹⁴  objected, ¹⁵  “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!” ¹⁶ 

John 8:18

8:18 I testify about myself ¹⁷  and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”

John 10:4

10:4 When he has brought all his own sheep ¹⁸  out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize ¹⁹  his voice.

John 11:45

The Response of the Jewish Leaders

11:45 Then many of the people, ²⁰  who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus ²¹  did, believed in him.

John 12:32

12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people ²²  to myself.”

John 13:22

13:22 The disciples began to look at one another, worried and perplexed ²³  to know which of them he was talking about.

John 14:1

Jesus’ Parting Words to His Disciples

14:1 “Do not let your hearts be distressed. ²⁴  You believe in God; ²⁵  believe also in me.

John 14:20

14:20 You will know at that time ²⁶  that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

John 17:19

17:19 And I set myself apart ²⁷  on their behalf, ²⁸  so that they too may be truly set apart. ²⁹ 

John 19:27

19:27 He then said to his disciple, “Look, here is your mother!” From that very time ³⁰  the disciple took her into his own home.

[4:50]  ¹ tn Grk “Go”; the word “home” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[4:50]  ² tn Grk “and left.” The words “for home” are implied by the following verse.

[5:32]  ³ sn To whom does another refer? To John the Baptist or to the Father? In the nearer context, v. 33, it would seem to be John the Baptist. But v. 34 seems to indicate that Jesus does not receive testimony from men. Probably it is better to view v. 32 as identical to v. 37, with the comments about the Baptist as a parenthetical digression.

[5:46]  ⁵ tn Grk “For if.”

[6:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[6:29]  ⁸ tn Grk “the work.”

[6:29]  ⁹ tn Grk “This is the work of God.”

[6:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “that one” (i.e., God).

[6:56]  ⁹ 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.

[6:56]  ¹⁰ sn Resides in me, and I in him. Note how in John 6:54 eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood produces eternal life and the promise of resurrection at the last day. Here the same process of eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood leads to a relationship of mutual indwelling (resides in me, and I in him). This suggests strongly that for the author (and for Jesus) the concepts of ‘possessing eternal life’ and of ‘residing in Jesus’ are virtually interchangeable.

[7:38]  ¹¹ tn An alternate way of punctuating the Greek text of vv. 37-38 results in this translation: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Certainly Jesus picks up on the literal water used in the ceremony and uses it figuratively. But what does the figure mean? According to popular understanding, it refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believer. There is some difficulty in locating an OT text which speaks of rivers of water flowing from within such a person, but Isa 58:11 is often suggested: “The Lord will continually lead you, he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water.” Other passages which have been suggested are Prov 4:23 and 5:15; Isa 44:3 and 55:1; Ezek 47:1 ff.; Joel 3:18; and Zech 13:1 and 14:8. The meaning in this case is that when anyone comes to believe in Jesus the scriptures referring to the activity of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life are fulfilled. “When the believer comes to Christ and drinks he not only slakes his thirst but receives such an abundant supply that veritable rivers flow from him” (L. Morris, John [NICNT], 424-25). In other words, with this view, the believer himself becomes the source of the living water. This is the traditional understanding of the passage, often called the “Eastern interpretation” following Origen, Athanasius, and the Greek Fathers. It is supported by such modern scholars as Barrett, Behm, Bernard, Cadman, Carson, R. H. Lightfoot, Lindars, Michaelis, Morris, Odeberg, Schlatter, Schweizer, C. H. Turner, M. M. B. Turner, Westcott, and Zahn. In addition it is represented by the following Greek texts and translations: KJV, RSV, NASB, NA²⁷, and UBS⁴. D. A. Carson, John, 322-29, has a thorough discussion of the issues and evidence although he opts for the previous interpretation. There is another interpretation possible, however, called the “Western interpretation” because of patristic support by Justin, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Irenaeus. Modern scholars who favor this view are Abbott, Beasley-Murray, Bishop, Boismard, Braun, Brown, Bullinger, Bultmann, Burney, Dodd, Dunn, Guilding, R. Harris, Hoskyns, Jeremias, Loisy, D. M. Stanley, Thüsing, N. Turner, and Zerwick. This view is represented by the translation in the RSV margin and by the NEB. It is also sometimes called the “christological interpretation” because it makes Jesus himself the source of the living water in v. 38, by punctuating as follows: (37b) ἐάν τι διψᾷ ἐρχέσθω πρός με, καὶ πινέτω (38) ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ. Καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ γραφή, ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος. Three crucial questions are involved in the solution of this problem: (1) punctuation; (2) determining the antecedent of αὐτοῦ (autou); and (3) the source of the scripture quotation. With regard to (1) Ì⁶⁶ does place a full stop after πινέτω (pinetw), but this may be theologically motivated and could have been added later. Grammatical and stylistic arguments are inconclusive. More important is (2) the determination of the antecedent of αὐτοῦ. Can any other Johannine parallels be found which make the believer the source of the living water? John 4:14 is often mentioned in this regard, but unlike 4:14 the water here becomes a source for others also. Neither does 14:12 provide a parallel. Furthermore, such an interpretation becomes even more problematic in light of the explanation given in v. 39 that the water refers to the Holy Spirit, since it is extremely difficult to see the individual believer becoming the ‘source’ of the Spirit for others. On the other hand, the Gospel of John repeatedly places Jesus himself in this role as source of the living water: 4:10, of course, for the water itself; but according to 20:22 Jesus provides the Spirit (cf. 14:16). Furthermore, the symbolism of 19:34 is difficult to explain as anything other than a deliberate allusion to what is predicted here. This also explains why the Spirit cannot come to the disciples unless Jesus “departs” (16:7). As to (3) the source of the scripture quotation, M. E. Boismard has argued that John is using a targumic rendering of Ps 78:15-16 which describes the water brought forth from the rock in the wilderness by Moses (“Les citations targumiques dans le quatrième évangile,” RB 66 [1959]: 374-78). The frequency of Exodus motifs in the Fourth Gospel (paschal lamb, bronze serpent, manna from heaven) leads quite naturally to the supposition that the author is here drawing on the account of Moses striking the rock in the wilderness to bring forth water (Num 20:8 ff.). That such imagery was readily identified with Jesus in the early church is demonstrated by Paul’s understanding of the event in 1 Cor 10:4. Jesus is the Rock from which the living water – the Spirit – will flow. Carson (see note above) discusses this imagery although he favors the traditional or “Eastern” interpretation. In summary, the latter or “Western” interpretation is to be preferred.

[7:38]  ¹² tn Or “out of the innermost part of his person”; Grk “out of his belly.”

[7:38]  ¹³ sn An OT quotation whose source is difficult to determine; Isa 44:3, 55:1, 58:11, and Zech 14:8 have all been suggested.

[8:13]  ¹³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[8:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Then the Pharisees said to him.”

[8:13]  ¹⁵ sn Compare the charge You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true! to Jesus’ own statement about his testimony in 5:31.

[8:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “I am the one who testifies about myself.”

[10:4]  ¹⁷ tn The word “sheep” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[10:4]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “because they know.”

[11:45]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the Judeans”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the friends, acquaintances, and relatives of Lazarus or his sisters who had come to mourn, since the Jewish religious authorities are specifically mentioned as a separate group in John 11:46-47. See also the notes on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 8 and “the Jewish people of the region” in v. 19, as well as the notes on the word “people” in vv. 31, 33 and the phrase “people who had come to mourn” in v. 36.

[11:45]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:32]  ²¹ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).

[13:22]  ²³ tn Grk “uncertain,” “at a loss.” Here two terms, “worried and perplexed,” were used to convey the single idea of the Greek verb ἀπορέω (aporew).

[14:1]  ²⁵ sn The same verb is used to describe Jesus’ own state in John 11:33, 12:27, and 13:21. Jesus is looking ahead to the events of the evening and the next day, his arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death, which will cause his disciples extreme emotional distress.

[14:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “Believe in God.” The translation of the two uses of πιστεύετε (pisteuete) is difficult. Both may be either indicative or imperative, and as L. Morris points out (John [NICNT], 637), this results in a bewildering variety of possibilities. To complicate matters further, the first may be understood as a question: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” Morris argues against the KJV translation which renders the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative on the grounds that for the writer of the Fourth Gospel, faith in Jesus is inseparable from faith in God. But this is precisely the point that Jesus is addressing in context. He is about to undergo rejection by his own people as their Messiah. The disciples’ faith in him as Messiah and Lord would be cast into extreme doubt by these events, which the author makes clear were not at this time foreseen by the disciples. After the resurrection it is this identification between Jesus and the Father which needs to be reaffirmed (cf. John 20:24-29). Thus it seems best to take the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative, producing the translation “You believe in God; believe also in me.”

[14:20]  ²⁷ tn Grk “will know in that day.”

[17:19]  ²⁹ tn Or “I sanctify.”

[17:19]  ³⁰ tn Or “for their sake.”

[17:19]  ³¹ tn Or “they may be truly consecrated,” or “they may be truly sanctified.”

[19:27]  ³¹ tn Grk “from that very hour.”