John 5:27

5:27 and he has granted the Son ¹  authority to execute judgment, ²  because he is the Son of Man.

John 6:62

6:62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? ³ 

John 3:13-14

3:13 No one ⁴  has ascended ⁵  into heaven except the one who descended from heaven – the Son of Man. ⁶  3:14 Just as ⁷  Moses lifted up the serpent ⁸  in the wilderness, ⁹  so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁰ 

John 5:34

5:34 (I do not accept ¹¹  human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.)

John 12:23

12:23 Jesus replied, ¹²  “The time ¹³  has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ¹⁴ 

John 18:29

18:29 So Pilate came outside to them and said, “What accusation ¹⁵  do you bring against this man?” ¹⁶ 

John 2:25

2:25 He did not need anyone to testify about man, ¹⁷  for he knew what was in man. ¹⁸ 

John 9:35

The Man’s Response to Jesus

9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man ¹⁹  and said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ²⁰ 

John 13:31

The Prediction of Peter’s Denial

13:31 When ²¹  Judas ²²  had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.

John 12:34

12:34 Then the crowd responded, ²³  “We have heard from the law that the Christ ²⁴  will remain forever. ²⁵  How ²⁶  can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

John 1:51

1:51 He continued, ²⁷  “I tell all of you the solemn truth ²⁸  – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” ²⁹ 

John 6:27

6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, ³⁰  but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food ³¹  which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” ³² 

John 6:53

6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ³³  unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ³⁴  you have no life ³⁵  in yourselves.

John 8:28

8:28 Then Jesus said, ³⁶  “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, ³⁷  and I do nothing on my own initiative, ³⁸  but I speak just what the Father taught me. ³⁹ 

John 18:17

18:17 The girl ⁴⁰  who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” ⁴¹  He replied, ⁴²  “I am not.”

[5:27]  ¹ tn Grk “him.”

[5:27]  ² tn Grk “authority to judge.”

[6:62]  ³ tn Or “he was formerly?”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “And no one.”

[3:13]  ⁶ sn The verb ascended is a perfect tense in Greek (ἀναβέβηκεν, anabebhken) which seems to look at a past, completed event. (This is not as much of a problem for those who take Jesus’ words to end at v. 12, and these words to be a comment by the author, looking back on Jesus’ ascension.) As a saying of Jesus, these words are a bit harder to explain. Note, however, the lexical similarities with 1:51: “ascending,” “descending,” and “son of man.” Here, though, the ascent and descent is accomplished by the Son himself, not the angels as in 1:51. There is no need to limit this saying to Jesus’ ascent following the resurrection, however; the point of the Jacob story (Gen 28), which seems to be the background for 1:51, is the freedom of communication and relationship between God and men (a major theme of John’s Gospel). This communication comes through the angels in Gen 28 (and John 1:51); but here (most appropriately) it comes directly through the Son of Man. Although Jesus could be referring to a prior ascent, after an appearance as the preincarnate Son of Man, more likely he is simply pointing out that no one from earth has ever gone up to heaven and come down again. The Son, who has come down from heaven, is the only one who has been ‘up’ there. In both Jewish intertestamental literature and later rabbinic accounts, Moses is portrayed as ascending to heaven to receive the Torah and descending to distribute it to men (e.g., Targum Ps 68:19.) In contrast to these Jewish legends, the Son is the only one who has ever made the ascent and descent.

[3:13]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses, including a few important ones (A^[*^] Θ Ψ 050 Ë^1,13 Ï latt sy^c,p,h), have at the end of this verse “the one who is in heaven” (ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, Jo wn en tw ouranw). A few others have variations on this phrase, such as “who was in heaven” (e sy^c), or “the one who is from heaven” (0141 pc sy^s). The witnesses normally considered the best, along with several others, lack the phrase in its entirety (Ì^66,75 א B L T W^s 083 086 33 1241 pc co). On the one hand, if the reading ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ is authentic it may suggest that while Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus he spoke of himself as in heaven even while he was on earth. If that is the case, one could see why variations from this hard saying arose: “who was in heaven,” “the one who is from heaven,” and omission of the clause. At the same time, such a saying could be interpreted (though with difficulty) as part of the narrator’s comments rather than Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus, alleviating the problem. And if v. 13 was viewed in early times as the evangelist’s statement, “the one who is in heaven” could have crept into the text through a marginal note. Other internal evidence suggests that this saying may be authentic. The adjectival participle, ὁ ὤν, is used in the Fourth Gospel more than any other NT book (though the Apocalypse comes in a close second), and frequently with reference to Jesus (1:18; 6:46; 8:47). It may be looking back to the LXX of Exod 3:14 (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν). Especially since this exact construction is not necessary to communicate the location of the Son of Man, its presence in many witnesses here may suggest authenticity. Further, John uses the singular of οὐρανός (ourano", “heaven”) in all 18 instances of the word in this Gospel, and all but twice with the article (only 1:32 and 6:58 are anarthrous, and even in the latter there is significant testimony to the article). At the same time, the witnesses that lack this clause are very weighty and must not be discounted. Generally speaking, if other factors are equal, the reading of such mss should be preferred. And internally, it could be argued that ὁ ὤν is the most concise way to speak of the Son of Man in heaven at that time (without the participle the point would be more ambiguous). Further, the articular singular οὐρανός is already used twice in this verse, thus sufficiently prompting scribes to add the same in the longer reading. This combination of factors suggests that ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ is not a genuine Johannism. Further intrinsic evidence against the longer reading relates to the evangelist’s purposes: If he intended v. 13 to be his own comments rather than Jesus’ statement, his switch back to Jesus’ words in v. 14 (for the lifting up of the Son of Man is still seen as in the future) seems inexplicable. The reading “who is in heaven” thus seems to be too hard. All things considered, as intriguing as the longer reading is, it seems almost surely to have been a marginal gloss added inadvertently to the text in the process of transmission. For an argument in favor of the longer reading, see David Alan Black, “The Text of John 3:13,” GTJ 6 (1985): 49-66.

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “And just as.”

[3:14]  ⁸ sn Or the snake, referring to the bronze serpent mentioned in Num 21:9.

[3:14]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Num 21:5-9.

[3:14]  ¹⁰ sn So must the Son of Man be lifted up. This is ultimately a prediction of Jesus’ crucifixion. Nicodemus could not have understood this, but John’s readers, the audience to whom the Gospel is addressed, certainly could have (compare the wording of John 12:32). In John, being lifted up refers to one continuous action of ascent, beginning with the cross but ending at the right hand of the Father. Step 1 is Jesus’ death; step 2 is his resurrection; and step 3 is the ascension back to heaven. It is the upward swing of the “pendulum” which began with the incarnation, the descent of the Word become flesh from heaven to earth (cf. Paul in Phil 2:5-11). See also the note on the title Son of Man in 1:51.

[5:34]  ⁹ tn Or “I do not receive.”

[12:23]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:23]  ¹² tn Grk “the hour.”

[12:23]  ¹³ sn Jesus’ reply, the time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, is a bit puzzling. As far as the author’s account is concerned, Jesus totally ignores these Greeks and makes no further reference to them whatsoever. It appears that his words are addressed to Andrew and Philip, but in fact they must have had a wider audience, including possibly the Greeks who had wished to see him in the first place. The words the time has come recall all the previous references to “the hour” throughout the Fourth Gospel (see the note on time in 2:4). There is no doubt, in light of the following verse, that Jesus refers to his death here. On his pathway to glorification lies the cross, and it is just ahead.

[18:29]  ¹³ tn Or “charge.”

[18:29]  ¹⁴ sn In light of the fact that Pilate had cooperated with them in Jesus’ arrest by providing Roman soldiers, the Jewish authorities were probably expecting Pilate to grant them permission to carry out their sentence on Jesus without resistance (the Jews were not permitted to exercise capital punishment under the Roman occupation without official Roman permission, cf. v. 31). They must have been taken somewhat by surprise by Pilate’s question “What accusation do you bring against this man,” because it indicated that he was going to try the prisoner himself. Thus Pilate was regarding the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin as only an inquiry and their decision as merely an accusation.

[2:25]  ¹⁵ tn The masculine form has been retained here in the translation to maintain the connection with “a man of the Pharisees” in 3:1, with the understanding that the reference is to people of both genders.

[2:25]  ¹⁶ tn See previous note on “man” in this verse.

[9:35]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “found him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:35]  ¹⁸ tc Although most witnesses (A L Θ Ψ 070 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) have θεοῦ (qeou, “of God”) instead of ἀνθρώπου (anqrwpou, “of man”) here, the better witnesses (Ì^66,75 א B D W sy^s) have ἀνθρώπου. Not only is the external evidence decidedly on the side of ἀνθρώπου, but it is difficult to see such early and diverse witnesses changing θεοῦ to ἀνθρώπου. The wording “Son of Man” is thus virtually certain.

[13:31]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Then when.”

[13:31]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:34]  ²¹ tn Grk “Then the crowd answered him.”

[12:34]  ²² tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[12:34]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And how”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

[1:51]  ²³ tn Grk “and he said to him.”

[1:51]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[1:51]  ²⁵ sn The title Son of Man appears 13 times in John’s Gospel. It is associated especially with the themes of crucifixion (3:14; 8:28), revelation (6:27; 6:53), and eschatological authority (5:27; 9:35). The title as used in John’s Gospel has for its background the son of man figure who appears in Dan 7:13-14 and is granted universal regal authority. Thus for the author, the emphasis in this title is not on Jesus’ humanity, but on his heavenly origin and divine authority.

[6:27]  ²⁵ tn Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food).

[6:27]  ²⁶ tn The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.

[6:27]  ²⁷ tn Grk “on this one.”

[6:53]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:53]  ²⁸ sn Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. These words are at the heart of the discourse on the Bread of Life, and have created great misunderstanding among interpreters. Anyone who is inclined toward a sacramental viewpoint will almost certainly want to take these words as a reference to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist, because of the reference to eating and drinking. But this does not automatically follow: By anyone’s definition there must be a symbolic element to the eating which Jesus speaks of in the discourse, and once this is admitted, it is better to understand it here, as in the previous references in the passage, to a personal receiving of (or appropriation of) Christ and his work.

[6:53]  ²⁹ tn That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).

[8:28]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them” (the words “to them” are not found in all mss).

[8:28]  ³⁰ tn Grk “that I am.” See the note on this phrase in v. 24.

[8:28]  ³¹ tn Grk “I do nothing from myself.”

[8:28]  ³² tn Grk “but just as the Father taught me, these things I speak.”

[18:17]  ³¹ tn Grk “slave girl.” Since the descriptive term “slave girl” was introduced in the translation in the previous verse, it would be redundant to repeat the full expression here.

[18:17]  ³² 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 English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[18:17]  ³³ tn Grk “He said.”