John 8:31

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ¹  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ²  you are really ³  my disciples

John 8:51

8:51 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴  if anyone obeys ⁵  my teaching, ⁶  he will never see death.” ⁷ 

John 15:25

15:25 Now this happened ⁸  to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’ ⁹ 

John 17:20

Jesus Prays for Believers Everywhere

17:20 “I am not praying ¹⁰  only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe ¹¹  in me through their testimony, ¹² 

[8:31]  ¹ tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), 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; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).

[8:31]  ² tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ³ tn Or “truly.”

[8:51]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[8:51]  ⁵ tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:51]  ⁶ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:51]  ⁷ tn Grk “he will never see death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.

[15:25]  ⁷ tn The words “this happened” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to complete an ellipsis.

[15:25]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 35:19 and Ps 69:4. As a technical term law (νόμος, nomos) is usually restricted to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT), but here it must have a broader reference, since the quotation is from Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4. The latter is the more likely source for the quoted words, since it is cited elsewhere in John’s Gospel (2:17 and 19:29, in both instances in contexts associated with Jesus’ suffering and death).

[17:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I do not pray.”

[17:20]  ¹¹ tn Although πιστευόντων (pisteuontwn) is a present participle, it must in context carry futuristic force. The disciples whom Jesus is leaving behind will carry on his ministry and in doing so will see others come to trust in him. This will include not only Jewish Christians, but other Gentile Christians who are “not of this fold” (10:16), and thus Jesus’ prayer for unity is especially appropriate in light of the probability that most of the readers of the Gospel are Gentiles (much as Paul stresses unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians in Eph 2:10-22).

[17:20]  ¹² tn Grk “their word.”