John 6:31

6:31 Our ancestors ¹  ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ² 

John 6:45

6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ ³  Everyone who hears and learns from the Father ⁴  comes to me.

John 8:6

8:6 (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against ⁵  him.) ⁶  Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. ⁷ 

John 10:34

10:34 Jesus answered, ⁸  “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ⁹ 

John 20:30

20:30 Now Jesus performed ¹⁰  many other miraculous signs in the presence of the ¹¹  disciples, which are not recorded ¹²  in this book. ¹³ 

John 21:24

A Final Note

21:24 This is the disciple who testifies about these things and has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

[6:31]  ¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:31]  ² sn A quotation from Ps 78:24 (referring to the events of Exod 16:4-36).

[6:45]  ³ sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.

[6:45]  ⁴ tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”

[8:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “so that they could accuse.”

[8:6]  ⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author of 7:53–8:11.

[8:6]  ⁷ tn Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagrafw) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).

[10:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “answered them.”

[10:34]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 82:6. Technically the Psalms are not part of the OT “law” (which usually referred to the five books of Moses), but occasionally the term “law” was applied to the entire OT, as here. The problem in this verse concerns the meaning of Jesus’ quotation from Ps 82:6. It is important to look at the OT context: The whole line reads “I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.” Jesus will pick up on the term “sons of the Most High” in 10:36, where he refers to himself as the Son of God. The psalm was understood in rabbinic circles as an attack on unjust judges who, though they have been given the title “gods” because of their quasi-divine function of exercising judgment, are just as mortal as other men. What is the argument here? It is often thought to be as follows: If it was an OT practice to refer to men like the judges as gods, and not blasphemy, why did the Jewish authorities object when this term was applied to Jesus? This really doesn’t seem to fit the context, however, since if that were the case Jesus would not be making any claim for “divinity” for himself over and above any other human being – and therefore he would not be subject to the charge of blasphemy. Rather, this is evidently a case of arguing from the lesser to the greater, a common form of rabbinic argument. The reason the OT judges could be called gods is because they were vehicles of the word of God (cf. 10:35). But granting that premise, Jesus deserves much more than they to be called God. He is the Word incarnate, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world to save the world (10:36). In light of the prologue to the Gospel of John, it seems this interpretation would have been most natural for the author. If it is permissible to call men “gods” because they were the vehicles of the word of God, how much more permissible is it to use the word “God” of him who is the Word of God?

[20:30]  ⁹ tn Or “did.”

[20:30]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Although most mss, including several important ones (Ì⁶⁶ א C D L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat), read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after τῶν μαθητῶν (twn maqhtwn, “the disciples”), the pronoun is lacking in A B K Δ 0250 al. The weight of the witnesses for the inclusion is somewhat stronger than that for the exclusion. However, the addition of “his” to “disciples” is a frequent scribal emendation and as such is a predictable variant. It is thus most likely that the shorter reading is authentic. NA²⁷ puts the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[20:30]  ¹¹ tn Grk “are not written.”

[20:30]  ¹² sn The author mentions many other miraculous signs performed by Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in the Gospel. What are these signs the author of the Gospel has in mind? One can only speculate. The author says they were performed in the presence of the disciples, which emphasizes again their role as witnesses (cf. 15:27). The point here is that the author has been selective in his use of material. He has chosen to record those incidents from the life and ministry of Jesus which supported his purpose in writing the Gospel. Much which might be of tremendous interest, but does not directly contribute to that purpose in writing, he has omitted. The author explains his purpose in writing in the following verse.