Joshua 3:3

3:3 and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God ¹  being carried by the Levitical priests, you must leave here ²  and walk ³  behind it.

Numbers 14:15

14:15 If you kill ⁴  this entire people at once, ⁵  then the nations that have heard of your fame will say,

Numbers 10:33

10:33 So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey; ⁶  and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days’ journey, to find a resting place for them.

Micah 2:13

2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out ⁷ 

they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. ⁸ 

Their king will advance ⁹  before them,

The Lord himself will lead them. ¹⁰ 

John 14:2-3

14:2 There are many dwelling places ¹¹  in my Father’s house. ¹²  Otherwise, I would have told you, because ¹³  I am going away to make ready ¹⁴  a place for you. ¹⁵  14:3 And if I go and make ready ¹⁶  a place for you, I will come again and take you ¹⁷  to be with me, ¹⁸  so that where I am you may be too.

Hebrews 6:20

6:20 where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. ¹⁹ 

[3:3]  ¹ sn The ark of the covenant refers to the wooden chest that symbolized God’s presence among his covenant people.

[3:3]  ² tn Heb “set out from your place.”

[3:3]  ³ tn Or “march.”

[14:15]  ⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

[14:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “as one man.”

[10:33]  ⁶ tn The phrase “a journey of three days” is made up of the adverbial accusative qualified with the genitives.

[2:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.

[2:13]  ⁸ tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.

[2:13]  ⁹ tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”

[14:2]  ¹¹ tn Many interpreters have associated μοναί (monai) with an Aramaic word that can refer to a stopping place or resting place for a traveler on a journey. This is similar to one of the meanings the word can have in secular Greek (Pausanius 10.31.7). Origen understood the use here to refer to stations on the road to God. This may well have been the understanding of the Latin translators who translated μονή (monh) by mansio, a stopping place. The English translation “mansions” can be traced back to Tyndale, but in Middle English the word simply meant “a dwelling place” (not necessarily large or imposing) with no connotation of being temporary. The interpretation put forward by Origen would have been well suited to Gnosticism, where the soul in its ascent passes through stages during which it is gradually purified of all that is material and therefore evil. It is much more likely that the word μονή should be related to its cognate verb μένω (menw), which is frequently used in the Fourth Gospel to refer to the permanence of relationship between Jesus and the Father and/or Jesus and the believer. Thus the idea of a permanent dwelling place, rather than a temporary stopping place, would be in view. Luther’s translation of μοναί by Wohnungen is very accurate here, as it has the connotation of a permanent residence.

[14:2]  ¹² sn Most interpreters have understood the reference to my Father’s house as a reference to heaven, and the dwelling places (μονή, monh) as the permanent residences of believers there. This seems consistent with the vocabulary and the context, where in v. 3 Jesus speaks of coming again to take the disciples to himself. However, the phrase in my Father’s house was used previously in the Fourth Gospel in 2:16 to refer to the temple in Jerusalem. The author in 2:19-22 then reinterpreted the temple as Jesus’ body, which was to be destroyed in death and then rebuilt in resurrection after three days. Even more suggestive is the statement by Jesus in 8:35, “Now the slave does not remain (μένω, menw) in the household forever, but the son remains (μένω) forever.” If in the imagery of the Fourth Gospel the phrase in my Father’s house is ultimately a reference to Jesus’ body, the relationship of μονή to μένω suggests the permanent relationship of the believer to Jesus and the Father as an adopted son who remains in the household forever. In this case the “dwelling place” is “in” Jesus himself, where he is, whether in heaven or on earth. The statement in v. 3, “I will come again and receive you to myself,” then refers not just to the parousia, but also to Jesus’ postresurrection return to the disciples in his glorified state, when by virtue of his death on their behalf they may enter into union with him and with the Father as adopted sons. Needless to say, this bears numerous similarities to Pauline theology, especially the concepts of adoption as sons and being “in Christ” which are prominent in passages like Eph 1. It is also important to note, however, the emphasis in the Fourth Gospel itself on the present reality of eternal life (John 5:24, 7:38-39, etc.) and the possibility of worshiping the Father “in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24) in the present age. There is a sense in which it is possible to say that the future reality is present now. See further J. McCaffrey, The House With Many Rooms (AnBib 114).

[14:2]  ¹³ tc A number of important mss (Ì^66c א A B C* D K L W Ψ Ë¹³ 33 565 579 892 al lat) have ὅτι (Joti) here, while the majority lack it (Ì^66* C² Θ Ï). Should the ὅτι be included or omitted? The external evidence is significantly stronger for the longer reading. Most Alexandrian and Western mss favor inclusion (it is a little unusual for the Alexandrian to favor the longer reading), while most Byzantine mss favor omission (again, a little unusual). However, the reading of Ì^66*, which aligns with the Byzantine, needs to be given some value. At the same time, the scribe of this papyrus was known for freely omitting and adding words, and the fact that the ms was corrected discounts its testimony here. But because the shorter reading is out of character for the Byzantine text, the shorter reading (omitting the ὅτι) may well be authentic. Internally, the question comes down to whether the shorter reading is more difficult or not. And here, it loses the battle, for it seems to be a clarifying omission (so TCGNT 206). R. E. Brown is certainly right when he states: “all in all, the translation without ὅτι makes the best sense” (John [AB], 2:620). But this tacitly argues for the authenticity of the word. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, the ὅτι should be regarded as authentic.

[14:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to prepare.”

[14:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “If not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” What is the meaning of the last clause with or without the ὅτι? One of the questions that must be answered here is whether or not τόπος (topos) is to be equated with μονή (monh). In Rev 12:8 τόπος is used to refer to a place in heaven, which would suggest that the two are essentially equal here. Jesus is going ahead of believers to prepare a place for them, a permanent dwelling place in the Father’s house (see the note on this phrase in v. 2).

[14:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “prepare.”

[14:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “bring you.”

[14:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “to myself.”

[6:20]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.