John 7:8

7:8 You go up ¹  to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast ²  because my time ³  has not yet fully arrived.” ⁴ 

John 12:38

12:38 so that the word ⁵  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ⁶  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ⁷  been revealed?” ⁸ 

John 16:24

16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, ⁹  so that your joy may be complete.

John 17:13

17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience ¹⁰  my joy completed ¹¹  in themselves.

[7:8]  ¹ sn One always speaks of “going up” to Jerusalem in Jewish idiom, even though in western thought it is more common to speak of south as “down” (Jerusalem lies south of Galilee). The reason for the idiom is that Jerusalem was identified with Mount Zion in the OT, so that altitude was the issue.

[7:8]  ² tc Most mss (Ì^66,75 B L T W Θ Ψ 070 0105 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï sa), including most of the better witnesses, have “not yet” (οὔπω, oupw) here. Those with the reading οὐκ are not as impressive (א D K 1241 al lat), but οὐκ is the more difficult reading here, especially because it stands in tension with v. 10. On the one hand, it is possible that οὐκ arose because of homoioarcton: A copyist who saw oupw wrote ouk. However, it is more likely that οὔπω was introduced early on to harmonize with what is said two verses later. As for Jesus’ refusal to go up to the feast in v. 8, the statement does not preclude action of a different kind at a later point. Jesus may simply have been refusing to accompany his brothers with the rest of the group of pilgrims, preferring to travel separately and “in secret” (v. 10) with his disciples.

[7:8]  ³ tn Although the word is καιρός (kairos) here, it parallels John’s use of ὥρα (Jwra) elsewhere as a reference to the time appointed for Jesus by the Father – the time of his return to the Father, characterized by his death, resurrection, and ascension (glorification). In the Johannine literature, synonyms are often interchanged for no apparent reason other than stylistic variation.

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Or “my time has not yet come to an end” (a possible hint of Jesus’ death at Jerusalem); Grk “my time is not yet fulfilled.”

[12:38]  ⁵ tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ⁶ tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ⁷ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[16:24]  ⁹ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[17:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “they may have.”

[17:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or “fulfilled.”