John 8:9

8:9 Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, ¹  until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

John 8:46

8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty ²  of any sin? ³  If I am telling you ⁴  the truth, why don’t you believe me?

John 16:8

16:8 And when he ⁵  comes, he will prove the world wrong ⁶  concerning sin and ⁷  righteousness and ⁸  judgment –

John 16:1

16:1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. ⁹ 

Colossians 1:24

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

Jude 1:15

1:15 to execute judgment on ¹⁰  all, and to convict every person ¹¹  of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds ¹²  that they have committed, ¹³  and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁴ 

[8:9]  ¹ tn Or “beginning from the eldest.”

[8:46]  ² tn Or “can convict me.”

[8:46]  ³ tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”

[8:46]  ⁴ tn Or “if I tell you.”

[16:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “when that one.”

[16:8]  ⁶ tn Or “will convict the world,” or “will expose the world.” The conjunction περί (peri) is used in 16:8-11 in the sense of “concerning” or “with respect to.” But what about the verb ἐλέγχω (elencw)? The basic meanings possible for this word are (1) “to convict or convince someone of something”; (2) “to bring to light or expose something; and (3) “to correct or punish someone.” The third possibility may be ruled out in these verses on contextual grounds since punishment is not implied. The meaning is often understood to be that the Paraclete will “convince” the world of its error, so that some at least will repent. But S. Mowinckel (“Die Vorstellungen des Spätjudentums vom heiligen Geist als Fürsprecher und der johanneische Paraklet,” ZNW 32 [1933]: 97-130) demonstrated that the verb ἐλέγχω did not necessarily imply the conversion or reform of the guilty party. This means it is far more likely that conviction in something of a legal sense is intended here (as in a trial). The only certainty is that the accused party is indeed proven guilty (not that they will acknowledge their guilt). Further confirmation of this interpretation is seen in John 14:17 where the world cannot receive the Paraclete and in John 3:20, where the evildoer deliberately refuses to come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed for what they really are (significantly, the verb in John 3:20 is also ἐλέγχω). However, if one wishes to adopt the meaning “prove guilty” for the use of ἐλέγχω in John 16:8 a difficulty still remains: While this meaning fits the first statement in 16:9 – the world is ‘proven guilty’ concerning its sin of refusing to believe in Jesus – it does not fit so well the second and third assertions in vv. 10-11. Thus R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:705) suggests the more general meaning “prove wrong” which would fit in all three cases. This may be so, but there may also be a developmental aspect to the meaning, which would then shift from v. 9 to v. 10 to v. 11.

[16:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “and concerning.”

[16:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “and concerning.”

[16:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “so that you will not be caused to stumble.”

[1:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “against” (κατά [kata] + genitive). English usage is satisfied with “on” at this point, but the parallel is lost in the translation to some degree, for the end of v. 15 says that this judgment is meted out on these sinners because they spoke against him (κατά + genitive).

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “soul.”

[1:15]  ¹² tn Grk “of all their works of ungodliness.” The adverb “thoroughly” is part of the following verb “have committed.” See note on verb “committed” later in this verse.

[1:15]  ¹³ tn The verb in Greek does not simply mean “have committed,” but “have committed in an ungodly way.” The verb ἀσεβέω (asebew) is cognate to the noun ἀσέβεια (asebeia, “ungodliness”). There is no easy way to express this in English, since English does not have a single word that means the same thing. Nevertheless, the tenor of v. 15 is plainly seen, regardless of the translation.

[1:15]  ¹⁴ sn An apparent quotation from 1 En. 1:9. There is some doubt as to whether Jude is actually quoting from the text of 1 Enoch; the text here in Jude differs in some respects from the extant text of this pseudepigraphic book. It is sometimes suggested that Jude may instead have been quoting from oral tradition which had roots older than the written text.