John 5:19

5:19 So Jesus answered them, ¹  “I tell you the solemn truth, ²  the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, ³  but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father ⁴  does, the Son does likewise. ⁵ 

John 6:22

6:22 The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake ⁶  realized that only one small boat ⁷  had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded ⁸  it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.

John 12:34

12:34 Then the crowd responded, ⁹  “We have heard from the law that the Christ ¹⁰  will remain forever. ¹¹  How ¹²  can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

John 18:37

18:37 Then Pilate said, ¹³  “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to ¹⁴  my voice.”

John 21:23

21:23 So the saying circulated ¹⁵  among the brothers and sisters ¹⁶  that this disciple was not going to die. But Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but rather, “If I want him to live ¹⁷  until I come back, ¹⁸  what concern is that of yours?”

[5:19]  ¹ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[5:19]  ² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:19]  ³ tn Grk “nothing from himself.”

[5:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:19]  ⁵ sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does – and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.

[6:22]  ⁶ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.

[6:22]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses have after “one” the phrase “which his disciples had entered” (ἐκεῖνο εἰς ὃ ἐνέβησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, ekeino ei" }o enebhsan Joi maqhtai autou) although there are several permutations of this clause ([א* D] Θ [˹³ 33] Ï [sa]). The witnesses that lack this expression are, however, significant and diffused (Ì⁷⁵ א² A B L N W Ψ 1 565 579 1241 al lat). The clarifying nature of the longer reading, the multiple variants from it, and the weighty testimony for the shorter reading all argue against the authenticity of the longer text in any of its variations.

[6:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “entered.”

[12:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Then the crowd answered him.”

[12:34]  ¹² tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[12:34]  ¹³ tn Probably an allusion to Ps 89:35-37. It is difficult to pinpoint the passage in the Mosaic law to which the crowd refers. The ones most often suggested are Ps 89:36-37, Ps 110:4, Isa 9:7, Ezek 37:25, and Dan 7:14. None of these passages are in the Pentateuch per se, but “law” could in common usage refer to the entire OT (compare Jesus’ use in John 10:34). Of the passages mentioned, Ps 89:36-37 is the most likely candidate. This verse speaks of David’s “seed” remaining forever. Later in the same psalm, v. 51 speaks of the “anointed” (Messiah), and the psalm was interpreted messianically in both the NT (Acts 13:22, Rev 1:5, 3:14) and in the rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 97).

[12:34]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And how”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

[18:37]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:37]  ¹⁷ tn Or “obeys”; Grk “hears.”

[21:23]  ²¹ tn Grk “went out.”

[21:23]  ²² tn Grk “the brothers,” but here the term refers to more than just the immediate disciples of Jesus (as it does in 20:17). Here, as R. E. Brown notes (John [AB], 2:1110), it refers to Christians of the Johannine community (which would include both men and women).

[21:23]  ²³ tn Grk “to stay” or “to remain”; but since longevity is the issue in the context, “to live” conveys the idea more clearly.

[21:23]  ²⁴ tn The word “back” is supplied to clarify the meaning.