John 8:12

Jesus as the Light of the World

8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, ¹  “I am the light of the world. ²  The one who follows me will never ³  walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:25

8:25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus replied, ⁴  “What I have told you from the beginning.

John 8:38

8:38 I am telling you the things I have seen while with the ⁵  Father; ⁶  as for you, ⁷  practice the things you have heard from the ⁸  Father!”

John 8:51

8:51 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹  if anyone obeys ¹⁰  my teaching, ¹¹  he will never see death.” ¹² 

John 8:58

8:58 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹³  before Abraham came into existence, ¹⁴  I am!” ¹⁵ 

John 10:9

10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, ¹⁶  and find pasture. ¹⁷ 

John 10:11

10:11 “I am the good ¹⁸  shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life ¹⁹  for the sheep.

John 10:14

10:14 “I am the good shepherd. I ²⁰  know my own ²¹  and my own know me –

John 10:30

10:30 The Father and I ²²  are one.” ²³ 

John 11:25

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ²⁴  even if he dies,

John 14:6

14:6 Jesus replied, ²⁵  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. ²⁶  No one comes to the Father except through me.

Revelation 1:17-18

1:17 When ²⁷  I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but ²⁸  he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 1:18 and the one who lives! I ²⁹  was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! ³⁰ 

[8:12]  ¹ tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”

[8:12]  ² sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.

[8:12]  ³ tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.

[8:25]  ⁴ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:38]  ⁵ tc The first person pronoun μου (mou, “my”) may be implied, especially if ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) follows the second mention of “father” in this verse (as it does in the majority of mss); no doubt this implication gave rise to the reading μου found in most witnesses (א D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy). No pronoun here is read by Ì^66,75 B C L 070 pc. This problem cannot be isolated from the second in the verse, however. See that discussion below.

[8:38]  ⁶ tn Grk “The things which I have seen with the Father I speak about.”

[8:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “and you.”

[8:38]  ⁸ tc A few significant witnesses lack ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here (Ì^66,75 B L W 070 pc), while the majority have the pronoun (א C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 565 892 Ï al lat sy). However, these mss do not agree on the placement of the pronoun: τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν ποιεῖτε (tou patro" Jumwn poieite), τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν (tw patri Jumwn), and τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν ταῦτα (tw patri Jumwn tauta) all occur. If the pronoun is read, then the devil is in view and the text should be translated as “you are practicing the things you have heard from your father.” If it is not read, then the same Father mentioned in the first part of the verse is in view. In this case, ποιεῖτε should be taken as an imperative: “you [must] practice the things you have heard from the Father.” The omission is decidedly the harder reading, both because the contrast between God and the devil is now delayed until v. 41, and because ποιεῖτε could be read as an indicative, especially since the two clauses are joined by καί (kai, “and”). Thus, the pronoun looks to be a motivated reading. In light of the better external and internal evidence the omission is preferred.

[8:51]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[8:51]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:51]  ¹¹ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:51]  ¹² tn Grk “he will never see death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.

[8:58]  ¹³ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[8:58]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “before Abraham was.”

[8:58]  ¹⁵ sn I am! is an explicit claim to deity. Although each occurrence of the phrase “I am” in the Fourth Gospel needs to be examined individually in context to see if an association with Exod 3:14 is present, it seems clear that this is the case here (as the response of the Jewish authorities in the following verse shows).

[10:9]  ¹⁶ tn Since the Greek phrase εἰσέρχομαι καὶ ἐξέρχομαι (eisercomai kai exercomai, “come in and go out”) is in some places an idiom for living or conducting oneself in relationship to some community (“to live with, to live among” [cf. Acts 1:21; see also Num 27:17; 2 Chr 1:10]), it may well be that Jesus’ words here look forward to the new covenant community of believers. Another significant NT text is Luke 9:4, where both these verbs occur in the context of the safety and security provided by a given household for the disciples. See also BDAG 294 s.v. εἰσέρχομαι 1.b.β.

[10:9]  ¹⁷ sn That is, pasture land in contrast to cultivated land.

[10:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).

[10:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”

[10:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And I.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:14]  ²¹ tn The direct object is frequently omitted in Greek and must be supplied from the context. Here it could be “sheep,” but Jesus was ultimately talking about “people.”

[10:30]  ²² tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.

[10:30]  ²³ tn The phrase ἕν ἐσμεν ({en esmen) is a significant assertion with trinitarian implications. ἕν is neuter, not masculine, so the assertion is not that Jesus and the Father are one person, but one “thing.” Identity of the two persons is not what is asserted, but essential unity (unity of essence).

[11:25]  ²⁴ tn That is, will come to life.

[14:6]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”

[1:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:17]  ²⁸ tn Here the Greek conjunction καί (kai) has been translated as a contrastive (“but”) due to the contrast between the two clauses.

[1:18]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ³⁰ tn Concerning “Hades” BDAG 19 s.v. ᾅδης 1 and 2 states: “Orig. proper noun, god of the nether world, ‘Hades’, then the nether world, Hades as place of the dead, Ac 2:27, 31 (Ps 15:10; Eccl 9:10; PGM 1, 179; 16, 8; Philo, Mos. 1, 195; Jos., Bell. 1, 596, Ant. 6, 332). Of Jonah’s fish ἐκ τοῦ κατωτάτου ᾅδου. In the depths, contrasted w. heaven ἕως (τοῦ) ᾅδου Mt 11:23; Lk 10:15 (PsSol 15:10; cp.; Is 14:11, 15); ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ 16:23; ἐν ῝Αιδου ApcPt Rainer. Accessible by gates (but the pl. is also used [e.g. Hom., X., Ael. Aristid. 47, 20 K.=23 p. 450 D.] when only one gate is meant), hence πύλαι ᾅδου (Il. 5, 646; Is 38:10; Wsd 16:13; 3 Macc 5:51; Pss. Sol. 16:2. – Lucian, Menipp. 6 the magicians can open τοῦ ῝Αιδου τὰς πύλας and conduct people in and out safely) Mt 16:18…locked ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου Rv 1:18 (the genitives are either obj. [Ps.-Apollod. 3, 12, 6, 10 Aeacus, the son of Zeus holds the κλεῖς τοῦ ῝Αιδου; SEG VIII, 574, 3 (III ad) τῷ τὰς κλεῖδας ἔχοντι τῶν καθ᾿ ῝Αιδου (restored)] or possess.; in the latter case death and Hades are personif.; s. 2)…Hades personif.…w. θάνατος (cp. Is 28:15; Job 38:17…) Rv 6:8; 20:13f.”