John 6:12

6:12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus ¹  said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.”

John 18:9

18:9 He said this ²  to fulfill the word he had spoken, ³  “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” ⁴ 

John 10:10

10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill ⁵  and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ⁶ 

John 10:28

10:28 I give ⁷  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ⁸  no one will snatch ⁹  them from my hand.

John 11:50

11:50 You do not realize ¹⁰  that it is more to your advantage to have one man ¹¹  die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” ¹² 

John 3:16

3:16 For this is the way ¹³  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ¹⁴  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ¹⁵  but have eternal life. ¹⁶ 

John 6:27

6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, ¹⁷  but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food ¹⁸  which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” ¹⁹ 

John 6:39

6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ²⁰  at the last day.

John 12:25

12:25 The one who loves his life ²¹  destroys ²²  it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards ²³  it for eternal life.

John 17:12

17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe ²⁴  and watched over them ²⁵  in your name ²⁶  that you have given me. Not one ²⁷  of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, ²⁸  so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ²⁹ 

[6:12]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:9]  ² tn The words “He said this” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. There is an ellipsis in the Greek text that must be supplied for the modern English reader at this point.

[18:9]  ³ sn This expression is similar to John 6:39 and John 17:12.

[18:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “Of the ones whom you gave me, I did not lose one of them.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.

[10:10]  ³ tn That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).

[10:10]  ⁴ tn That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.

[10:28]  ⁴ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ⁵ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ⁶ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[11:50]  ⁵ tn Or “you are not considering.”

[11:50]  ⁶ tn Although it is possible to argue that ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") should be translated “person” here since it is not necessarily masculinity that is in view in Caiaphas’ statement, “man” was retained in the translation because in 11:47 “this man” (οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, outo" Jo anqrwpo") has as its referent a specific individual, Jesus, and it was felt this connection should be maintained.

[11:50]  ⁷ sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45). Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the time.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (Joutws) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16,” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (Jwste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).

[3:16]  ⁸ tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.

[3:16]  ⁹ sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

[6:27]  ⁷ tn Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food).

[6:27]  ⁸ tn The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.

[6:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “on this one.”

[6:39]  ⁸ tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[12:25]  ⁹ tn Or “soul.”

[12:25]  ¹⁰ tn Or “loses.” Although the traditional English translation of ἀπολλύει (apolluei) in John 12:25 is “loses,” the contrast with φυλάξει (fulaxei, “keeps” or “guards”) in the second half of the verse favors the meaning “destroy” here.

[12:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “keeps.”

[17:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

[17:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and guarded them.”

[17:12]  ¹² tn Or “by your name.”

[17:12]  ¹³ tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:12]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

[17:12]  ¹⁵ sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.