John 6:33

6:33 For the bread of God is the one who ¹  comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6:35

6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty. ² 

John 6:41

6:41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus ³  began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,”

John 6:50

6:50 This ⁴  is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person ⁵  may eat from it and not die.

John 6:55

6:55 For my flesh is true ⁶  food, and my blood is true ⁷  drink.

John 6:58

6:58 This ⁸  is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ⁹  ate, but then later died. ¹⁰  The one who eats ¹¹  this bread will live forever.”

John 1:9

1:9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, ¹²  was coming into the world. ¹³ 

John 15:1

The Vine and the Branches

15:1 “I am the true vine ¹⁴  and my Father is the gardener. ¹⁵ 

Galatians 4:4

4:4 But when the appropriate time ¹⁶  had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Galatians 4:1

4:1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, ¹⁷  is no different from a slave, though he is the owner ¹⁸  of everything.

Galatians 5:20

5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ¹⁹  hostilities, ²⁰  strife, ²¹  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ²²  factions,

[6:33]  ¹ tn Or “he who.”

[6:35]  ² tn Grk “the one who believes in me will not possibly thirst, ever.”

[6:41]  ³ tn Grk “Then the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the translation restricts the phrase to those Jews who were hostile to Jesus (cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.β), since the “crowd” mentioned in 6:22-24 was almost all Jewish (as suggested by their addressing Jesus as “Rabbi” (6:25). Likewise, the designation “Judeans” does not fit here because the location is Galilee rather than Judea.

[6:50]  ⁴ tn Or “Here.”

[6:50]  ⁵ tn Grk “someone” (τις, tis).

[6:55]  ⁶ tn Or “real.”

[6:55]  ⁷ tn Or “real.”

[6:58]  ⁸ tn Or “This one.”

[6:58]  ⁹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:58]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not just like your ancestors ate and died.” The cryptic Greek expression has been filled out in the translation for clarity.

[6:58]  ¹¹ 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.

[1:9]  ¹² tn Grk “every man” (but in a generic sense, “every person,” or “every human being”).

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Or “He was the true light, who gives light to everyone who comes into the world.” The participle ἐρχόμενον (ercomenon) may be either (1) neuter nominative, agreeing with τὸ φῶς (to fw"), or (2) masculine accusative, agreeing with ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon). Option (1) results in a periphrastic imperfect with ἦν (hn), ἦν τὸ φῶς… ἐρχόμενον, referring to the incarnation. Option (2) would have the participle modifying ἄνθρωπον and referring to the true light as enlightening “every man who comes into the world.” Option (2) has some rabbinic parallels: The phrase “all who come into the world” is a fairly common expression for “every man” (cf. Leviticus Rabbah 31.6). But (1) must be preferred here, because: (a) In the next verse the light is in the world; it is logical for v. 9 to speak of its entering the world; (b) in other passages Jesus is described as “coming into the world” (6:14, 9:39, 11:27, 16:28) and in 12:46 Jesus says: ἐγὼ φῶς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐλήλυθα (egw fw" ei" ton kosmon elhluqa); (c) use of a periphrastic participle with the imperfect tense is typical Johannine style: 1:28, 2:6, 3:23, 10:40, 11:1, 13:23, 18:18 and 25. In every one of these except 13:23 the finite verb is first and separated by one or more intervening words from the participle.

[15:1]  ¹⁴ sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.

[15:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the farmer.”

[4:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the fullness of time” (an idiom for the totality of a period of time, with the implication of proper completion; see L&N 67.69).

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a small child.” The Greek term νήπιος (nhpios) refers to a young child, no longer a helpless infant but probably not more than three or four years old (L&N 9.43). The point in context, though, is that this child is too young to take any responsibility for the management of his assets.

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “master” or “lord” (κύριος, kurios).

[5:20]  ¹⁹ tn Or “witchcraft.”

[5:20]  ²⁰ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

[5:20]  ²¹ tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

[5:20]  ²² tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).