John 8:6

8:6 (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against ¹  him.) ²  Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. ³ 

John 8:40

8:40 But now you are trying ⁴  to kill me, a man who has told you ⁵  the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! ⁶ 

John 8:59

8:59 Then they picked up ⁷  stones to throw at him, ⁸  but Jesus hid himself and went out from the temple area. ⁹ 

John 5:16-18

Responding to Jewish Leaders

5:16 Now because Jesus was doing these things ¹⁰  on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders ¹¹  began persecuting ¹²  him. 5:17 So he ¹³  told ¹⁴  them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” ¹⁵  5:18 For this reason the Jewish leaders ¹⁶  were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

John 7:1

The Feast of Tabernacles

7:1 After this ¹⁷  Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. ¹⁸  He ¹⁹  stayed out of Judea ²⁰  because the Jewish leaders ²¹  wanted ²²  to kill him.

John 7:19

7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps ²³  the law! Why do you want ²⁴  to kill me?”

John 7:25

Questions About Jesus’ Identity

7:25 Then some of the residents of Jerusalem ²⁵  began to say, “Isn’t this the man ²⁶  they are trying ²⁷  to kill?

John 10:31

10:31 The Jewish leaders ²⁸  picked up rocks again to stone him to death.

John 11:53

11:53 So from that day they planned together to kill him.

[8:6]  ¹ tn Grk “so that they could accuse.”

[8:6]  ² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author of 7:53–8:11.

[8:6]  ³ tn Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagrafw) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).

[8:40]  ⁴ tn Grk “seeking.”

[8:40]  ⁵ tn Grk “has spoken to you.”

[8:40]  ⁶ tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.

[8:59]  ⁷ tn Grk “they took up.”

[8:59]  ⁸ sn Jesus’ Jewish listeners understood his claim to deity, rejected it, and picked up stones to throw at him for what they considered blasphemy.

[8:59]  ⁹ tc Most later witnesses (A Θ^c Ë^1,13 Ï) have at the end of the verse “passing through their midst, he went away in this manner” (διελθὼν διὰ μέσου καὶ παρῆγεν οὕτως, dielqwn dia mesou kai parhgen {outw"), while many others have similar permutations (so א^1,2 C L N Ψ 070 33 579 892 1241 al). The wording is similar to two other texts: Luke 4:30 (διελθὼν διὰ μέσου; in several mss αὐτῶν ἐπορεύετο καί [autwn eporeueto kai] is found between this phrase and παρῆγεν, strengthening the parallel with Luke 4:30) and John 9:1 (παρῆγεν; cf. παράγων [paragwn] there). The effect is to signal Jesus’ departure as a miraculous cloaking. As such, the additional statement has all the earmarks of scribal amplification. Further, the best and earliest witnesses (Ì^66,75 א* B D W Θ* lat sa) lack these words, rendering the shorter text virtually certain.

[5:16]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.

[5:16]  ¹² tn Or “harassing.”

[5:17]  ¹³ tc ‡ Most witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ A D L Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt co) have ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while generally better witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B W {0141} 892 1241 pbo) lack the name. Although it is possible that Alexandrian scribes deleted the name due to proclivities to prune, this is not as likely as other witnesses adding it for clarification, especially since multiple strands of the Alexandrian text are represented in the shorter reading. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to authenticity.

[5:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “answered.”

[5:17]  ¹⁵ sn “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” What is the significance of Jesus’ claim? A preliminary understanding can be obtained from John 5:18, noting the Jewish authorities’ response and the author’s comment. They sought to kill Jesus, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God. This must be seen in the context of the relation of God to the Sabbath rest. In the commandment (Exod 20:11) it is explained that “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth…and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Philo, based on the LXX translation of Exod 20:11, denied outright that God had ever ceased his creative activity. And when Rabban Gamaliel II, R. Joshua, R. Eleazar ben Azariah, and R. Akiba were in Rome, ca. a.d. 95, they gave as a rebuttal to sectarian arguments evidence that God might do as he willed in the world without breaking the Sabbath because the entire world was his private residence. So even the rabbis realized that God did not really cease to work on the Sabbath: Divine providence remained active on the Sabbath, otherwise, all nature and life would cease to exist. As regards men, divine activity was visible in two ways: Men were born and men died on the Sabbath. Since only God could give life and only God could deal with the fate of the dead in judgment, this meant God was active on the Sabbath. This seems to be the background for Jesus’ words in 5:17. He justified his work of healing on the Sabbath by reminding the Jewish authorities that they admitted God worked on the Sabbath. This explains the violence of the reaction. The Sabbath privilege was peculiar to God, and no one was equal to God. In claiming the right to work even as his Father worked, Jesus was claiming a divine prerogative. He was literally making himself equal to God, as 5:18 goes on to state explicitly for the benefit of the reader who might not have made the connection.

[5:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.

[7:1]  ¹⁷ sn Again, the transition is indicated by the imprecise temporal indicator After this. Clearly, though, the author has left out much of the events of Jesus’ ministry, because chap. 6 took place near the Passover (6:4). This would have been the Passover between winter/spring of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion (assuming a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), or the Passover of winter/spring a.d. 29, assuming a date of a.d. 30 for the crucifixion.

[7:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Jesus was traveling around in Galilee.”

[7:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “For he.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[7:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he did not want to travel around in Judea.”

[7:1]  ²¹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “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 phrase should be restricted to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents.

[7:1]  ²² tn Grk “were seeking.”

[7:19]  ²³ tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”

[7:19]  ²⁴ tn Grk “seek.”

[7:25]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:25]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Is it not this one.”

[7:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “seeking.”

[10:31]  ²⁸ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the notes on the phrases “Jewish people” in v. 19 and “Jewish leaders” in v. 24.