Discovery BoxLuke 16:31
Context16:31 He 1 replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to 2 Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” 3
John 5:39-47
Context5:39 You study the scriptures thoroughly 4 because you think in them you possess eternal life, 5 and it is these same scriptures 6 that testify about me, 5:40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
5:41 “I do not accept 7 praise 8 from people, 9 5:42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God 10 within you. 5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept 11 me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept 12 him. 5:44 How can you believe, if you accept praise 13 from one another and don’t seek the praise 14 that comes from the only God? 15
5:45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. 16 5:46 If 17 you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses 18 wrote, how will you believe my words?”
John 8:43-45
Context8:43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept 19 my teaching. 20 8:44 You people 21 are from 22 your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. 23 He 24 was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, 25 because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, 26 he speaks according to his own nature, 27 because he is a liar and the father of lies. 28 8:45 But because I am telling you 29 the truth, you do not believe me.
John 9:27-28
Context9:27 He answered, 30 “I told you already and you didn’t listen. 31 Why do you want to hear it 32 again? You people 33 don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
9:28 They 34 heaped insults 35 on him, saying, 36 “You are his disciple! 37 We are disciples of Moses!
John 10:25-26
Context10:25 Jesus replied, 38 “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds 39 I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 10:26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep.
John 12:37-43
Context12:37 Although Jesus 40 had performed 41 so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, 12:38 so that the word 42 of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, 43 “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord 44 been revealed?” 45 12:39 For this reason they could not believe, 46 because again Isaiah said,
12:40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart, 47
so that they would not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart, 48
and turn to me, 49 and I would heal them.” 50
12:41 Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ’s 51 glory, and spoke about him.
12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers 52 many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees 53 they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, 54 so that they would not be put out of 55 the synagogue. 56 12:43 For they loved praise 57 from men more than praise 58 from God.
[16:31] 1 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[16:31] 2 tn Or “obey”; Grk “hear.” See the note on the phrase “respond to” in v. 29.
[16:31] 3 sn The concluding statement of the parable, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead, provides a hint that even Jesus’ resurrection will not help some to respond. The message of God should be good enough. Scripture is the sign to be heeded.
[5:39] 4 tn Or “Study the scriptures thoroughly” (an imperative). For the meaning of the verb see G. Delling, TDNT 2:655-57.
[5:39] 5 sn In them you possess eternal life. Note the following examples from the rabbinic tractate Pirqe Avot (“The Sayings of the Fathers”): Pirqe Avot 2:8, “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come”; Pirqe Avot 6:7, “Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.”
[5:39] 6 tn The words “same scriptures” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the referent (“these”).
[5:41] 7 tn Or “I do not receive.”
[5:41] 8 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
[5:41] 9 tn Grk “from men,” but in a generic sense; both men and women are implied here.
[5:42] 10 tn The genitive in the phrase τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ (thn agaphn tou qeou, “the love of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“God’s love”) or an objective genitive (“love for God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, the emphasis would be on the love God gives which in turn produces love for him, but Jesus’ opponents are lacking any such love inside them.
[5:43] 11 tn Or “you do not receive.”
[5:43] 12 tn Or “you will receive.”
[5:44] 13 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
[5:44] 14 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
[5:44] 15 tc Several early and important witnesses (Ì66,75 B W a b sa) lack θεοῦ (qeou, “God”) here, thus reading “the only one,” while most of the rest of the tradition, including some important
[5:45] 16 sn The final condemnation will come from Moses himself – again ironic, since Moses is the very one the Jewish authorities have trusted in (placed your hope). This is again ironic if it is occurring at Pentecost, which at this time was being celebrated as the occasion of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is evidence that some Jews of the 1st century looked on Moses as their intercessor at the final judgment (see W. A. Meeks, The Prophet King [NovTSup], 161). This would mean the statement Moses, in whom you have placed your hope should be taken literally and relates directly to Jesus’ statements about the final judgment in John 5:28-29.
[5:47] 18 tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:43] 19 tn Grk “you cannot hear,” but this is not a reference to deafness, but rather hearing in the sense of listening to something and responding to it.
[8:44] 21 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.
[8:44] 22 tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).
[8:44] 23 tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”
[8:44] 24 tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).
[8:44] 25 tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).
[8:44] 26 tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”
[8:44] 27 tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”
[8:44] 28 tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”
[8:45] 29 tn Or “because I tell you.”
[9:27] 30 tn Grk “He answered them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[9:27] 31 tn Grk “you did not hear.”
[9:27] 32 tn “It” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when they were clearly implied in the context.
[9:27] 33 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
[9:28] 34 tn Grk “And they.” 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.
[9:28] 35 tn The Greek word means “to insult strongly” or “slander.”
[9:28] 37 tn Grk “You are that one’s disciple.”
[10:25] 38 tn Grk “answered them.”
[12:37] 40 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:38] 44 tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).
[12:38] 45 sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.
[12:39] 46 sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.
[12:40] 47 tn Or “closed their mind.”
[12:40] 48 tn Or “their mind.”
[12:40] 49 tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
[12:40] 50 sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.
[12:41] 51 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent supplied here is “Christ” rather than “Jesus” because it involves what Isaiah saw. It is clear that the author presents Isaiah as having seen the preincarnate glory of Christ, which was the very revelation of the Father (see John 1:18; John 14:9).
[12:42] 52 sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.
[12:42] 53 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
[12:42] 54 tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”
[12:42] 55 tn Or “be expelled from.”
[12:42] 56 sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.
