Discovery BoxJohn 7:23
Context7:23 But if a male child 1 is circumcised 2 on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, 3 why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well 4 on the Sabbath?
John 5:16
Context5:16 Now because Jesus was doing these things 5 on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders 6 began persecuting 7 him.
John 7:22
Context7:22 However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision 8 (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child 9 on the Sabbath.
John 19:31
Context19:31 Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath 10 (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), 11 the Jewish leaders 12 asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs 13 broken 14 and the bodies taken down. 15
[7:23] 1 tn Grk “a man.” See the note on “male child” in the previous verse.
[7:23] 2 tn Grk “receives circumcision.”
[7:23] 3 sn If a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken. The Rabbis counted 248 parts to a man’s body. In the Talmud (b. Yoma 85b) R. Eleazar ben Azariah (ca.
[7:23] 4 tn Or “made an entire man well.”
[5:16] 5 sn Note the plural phrase these things which seems to indicate that Jesus healed on the Sabbath more than once (cf. John 20:30). The synoptic gospels show this to be true; the incident in 5:1-15 has thus been chosen by the author as representative.
[5:16] 6 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.
[7:22] 9 tn Grk “gave you circumcision.”
[7:22] 10 tn Grk “a man.” While the text literally reads “circumcise a man” in actual fact the practice of circumcising male infants on the eighth day after birth (see Phil 3:5) is primarily what is in view here.
[19:31] 13 sn The Jewish authorities, because this was the day of preparation for the Sabbath and the Passover (cf. 19:14), requested Pilate to order the legs of the three who had been crucified to be broken. This would hasten their deaths, so that the bodies could be removed before the beginning of the Sabbath at 6 p.m. This was based on the law of Deut 21:22-23 and Josh 8:29 that specified the bodies of executed criminals who had been hanged on a tree should not remain there overnight. According to Josephus this law was interpreted in the 1st century to cover the bodies of those who had been crucified (J. W. 4.5.2 [4.317]). Philo of Alexandria also mentions that on occasion, especially at festivals, the bodies were taken down and given to relatives to bury (Flaccus 10 [83]). The normal Roman practice would have been to leave the bodies on the crosses, to serve as a warning to other would-be offenders.
[19:31] 14 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[19:31] 15 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See also the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.
[19:31] 16 tn Grk “asked Pilate that the legs of them might be broken.” The referent of “them” (the three individuals who were crucified, collectively referred to as “the victims”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[19:31] 17 sn To have the legs…broken. Breaking the legs of a crucified person was a way of speeding up his death, since the victim could no longer use his legs to push upward in order to be able to draw a breath. This breaking of the legs was called in Latin crurifragium, and was done with a heavy mallet.
[19:31] 18 tn Grk “asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and they might be taken down.” Here because of the numerous ambiguous third person references it is necessary to clarify that it was the crucified men whose legs were to be broken and whose corpses were to be removed from the crosses.
