Luke 5:35

5:35 But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, ¹  at that time ²  they will fast.”

Luke 13:35

13:35 Look, your house is forsaken! ³  And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ⁴ 

Matthew 9:15

9:15 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests ⁵  cannot mourn while the bridegroom ⁶  is with them, can they? But the days ⁷  are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, ⁸  and then they will fast.

John 7:33-36

7:33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer, ⁹  and then ¹⁰  I am going to the one who sent me. 7:34 You will look for me ¹¹  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.”

7:35 Then the Jewish leaders ¹²  said to one another, “Where is he ¹³  going to go that we cannot find him? ¹⁴  He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed ¹⁵  among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? ¹⁶  7:36 What did he mean by saying, ¹⁷  ‘You will look for me ¹⁸  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

John 8:21-24

Where Jesus Came From and Where He is Going

8:21 Then Jesus ¹⁹  said to them again, ²⁰  “I am going away, and you will look for me ²¹  but will die in your sin. ²²  Where I am going you cannot come.” 8:22 So the Jewish leaders ²³  began to say, ²⁴  “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” 8:23 Jesus replied, ²⁵  “You people ²⁶  are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world. 8:24 Thus I told you ²⁷  that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, ²⁸  you will die in your sins.”

John 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ²⁹  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ³⁰  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ³¹  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

John 13:33

13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, ³²  and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ³³  ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ ³⁴  now I tell you the same. ³⁵ 

John 16:5-7

16:5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, ³⁶  and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ³⁷  16:6 Instead your hearts are filled with sadness ³⁸  because I have said these things to you. 16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate ³⁹  will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:16-22

16:16 In a little while you ⁴⁰  will see me no longer; again after a little while, you ⁴¹  will see me.” ⁴² 

16:17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, ⁴³  ‘In a little while you ⁴⁴  will not see me; again after a little while, you ⁴⁵  will see me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ⁴⁶  16:18 So they kept on repeating, ⁴⁷  “What is the meaning of what he says, ⁴⁸  ‘In a little while’? ⁴⁹  We do not understand ⁵⁰  what he is talking about.” ⁵¹ 

16:19 Jesus could see ⁵²  that they wanted to ask him about these things, ⁵³  so ⁵⁴  he said to them, “Are you asking ⁵⁵  each other about this – that I said, ‘In a little while you ⁵⁶  will not see me; again after a little while, you ⁵⁷  will see me’? 16:20 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵⁸  you will weep ⁵⁹  and wail, ⁶⁰  but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, ⁶¹  but your sadness will turn into ⁶²  joy. 16:21 When a woman gives birth, she has distress ⁶³  because her time ⁶⁴  has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being ⁶⁵  has been born into the world. ⁶⁶  16:22 So also you have sorrow ⁶⁷  now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ⁶⁸ 

John 17:11-13

17:11 I ⁶⁹  am no longer in the world, but ⁷⁰  they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe ⁷¹  in your name ⁷²  that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ⁷³  17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe ⁷⁴  and watched over them ⁷⁵  in your name ⁷⁶  that you have given me. Not one ⁷⁷  of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, ⁷⁸  so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ⁷⁹  17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience ⁸⁰  my joy completed ⁸¹  in themselves.

[5:35]  ¹ sn The statement when the bridegroom is taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 9:18ff.

[5:35]  ² tn Grk “then in those days.”

[13:35]  ³ sn Your house is forsaken. The language here is from Jer 12:7 and 22:5. It recalls exilic judgment.

[13:35]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26. The judgment to come will not be lifted until the Lord returns. See Luke 19:41-44.

[9:15]  ⁵ tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).

[9:15]  ⁶ sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5; 4 Ezra 2:15, 38).

[9:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “days.”

[9:15]  ⁸ sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 16:13ff.

[7:33]  ⁹ tn Grk “Yet a little I am with you.”

[7:33]  ¹⁰ tn The word “then” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[7:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “seek me.”

[7:35]  ¹² 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 is understood to refer to the Jewish authorities or leaders, since the Jewish leaders are mentioned in this context both before and after the present verse (7:32, 45).

[7:35]  ¹³ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:35]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “will not find him.”

[7:35]  ¹⁵ sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.

[7:35]  ¹⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “is he?”).

[7:36]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “What is this word that he said.”

[7:36]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “seek me.”

[8:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:21]  ²⁰ tn The expression οὖν πάλιν (oun palin) indicates some sort of break in the sequence of events, but it is not clear how long. The author does not mention the interval between 8:12-20 and this next recorded dialogue. The feast of Tabernacles is past, and the next reference to time is 10:22, where the feast of the Dedication is mentioned. The interval is two months, and these discussions could have taken place at any time within that interval, as long as one assumes something of a loose chronological framework. However, if the material in the Fourth Gospel is arranged theologically or thematically, such an assumption would not apply.

[8:21]  ²¹ tn Grk “you will seek me.”

[8:21]  ²² tn The expression ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖσθε (en th Jamartia Jumwn apoqaneisqe) is similar to an expression found in the LXX at Ezek 3:18, 20 and Prov 24:9. Note the singular of ἁμαρτία (the plural occurs later in v. 24). To die with one’s sin unrepented and unatoned would be the ultimate disaster to befall a person. Jesus’ warning is stern but to the point.

[8:22]  ²³ 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 refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. It was the Pharisees who had begun this line of questioning in John 8:13, and there has been no clear change since then in the identity of Jesus’ opponents.

[8:22]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect verb has been translated with ingressive force (“began to say”) because the comments that follow were occasioned by Jesus’ remarks in the preceding verse about his upcoming departure.

[8:23]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And he said to them.”

[8:23]  ²⁶ tn The word “people” is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[8:24]  ²⁷ tn Grk “thus I said to you.”

[8:24]  ²⁸ tn Grk “unless you believe that I am.” In this context there is an implied predicate nominative (“he”) following the “I am” phrase. What Jesus’ hearers had to acknowledge is that he was who he claimed to be, i.e., the Messiah (cf. 20:31). This view is also reflected in English translations like NIV (“if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be”), NLT (“unless you believe that I am who I say I am”), and CEV (“if you don’t have faith in me for who I am”). For a different view that takes this “I am” and the one in 8:28 as nonpredicated (i.e., absolute), see R. E. Brown, John (AB), 1:533-38. Such a view refers sees the nonpredicated “I am” as a reference to the divine Name revealed in Exod 3:14, and is reflected in English translations like NAB (“if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins”) and TEV (“you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I Am Who I Am’”).

[12:35]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ³¹ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[13:33]  ³² tn Or “You will seek me.”

[13:33]  ³³ tn 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 refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.

[13:33]  ³⁴ sn See John 7:33-34.

[13:33]  ³⁵ tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[16:5]  ³⁶ sn Now the theme of Jesus’ impending departure is resumed (I am going to the one who sent me). It will also be mentioned in 16:10, 17, and 28. Jesus had said to his opponents in 7:33 that he was going to the one who sent him; in 13:33 he had spoken of going where the disciples could not come. At that point Peter had inquired where he was going, but it appears that Peter did not understand Jesus’ reply at that time and did not persist in further questioning. In 14:5 Thomas had asked Jesus where he was going.

[16:5]  ³⁷ sn Now none of the disciples asks Jesus where he is going, and the reason is given in the following verse: They have been overcome with sadness as a result of the predictions of coming persecution that Jesus has just spoken to them in 15:18-25 and 16:1-4a. Their shock at Jesus’ revelation of coming persecution is so great that none of them thinks to ask him where it is that he is going.

[16:6]  ³⁸ tn Or “distress” or “grief.”

[16:7]  ³⁹ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.

[16:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:16]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:16]  ⁴² sn The phrase after a little while, you will see me is sometimes taken to refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus departs, but (as at 14:19) it is much more probable that it refers to the postresurrection appearances of Jesus to the disciples. There is no indication in the context that the disciples will see Jesus only with “spiritual” sight, as would be the case if the coming of the Spirit is in view.

[16:17]  ⁴³ tn Grk “What is this that he is saying to us.”

[16:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:17]  ⁴⁶ sn These fragmentary quotations of Jesus’ statements are from 16:16 and 16:10, and indicate that the disciples heard only part of what Jesus had to say to them on this occasion.

[16:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “they kept on saying.”

[16:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “What is this that he says.”

[16:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “A little while.” Although the phrase τὸ μικρόν (to mikron) in John 16:18 could be translated simply “a little while,” it was translated “in a little while” to maintain the connection to John 16:16, where it has the latter meaning in context.

[16:18]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “we do not know.”

[16:18]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “what he is speaking.”

[16:19]  ⁵² tn Grk “knew.”

[16:19]  ⁵³ tn The words “about these things” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Καί (kai) has been translated as “so” here to indicate the following statement is a result of Jesus’ observation in v. 19a.

[16:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “inquiring” or “seeking.”

[16:19]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

[16:19]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

[16:20]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:20]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “wail,” “cry.”

[16:20]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “lament.”

[16:20]  ⁶¹ tn Or “sorrowful.”

[16:20]  ⁶² tn Grk “will become.”

[16:21]  ⁶³ sn The same word translated distress here has been translated sadness in the previous verse (a wordplay that is not exactly reproducible in English).

[16:21]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “her hour.”

[16:21]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “that a man” (but in a generic sense, referring to a human being).

[16:21]  ⁶⁶ sn Jesus now compares the situation of the disciples to a woman in childbirth. Just as the woman in the delivery of her child experiences real pain and anguish (has distress), so the disciples will also undergo real anguish at the crucifixion of Jesus. But once the child has been born, the mother’s anguish is turned into joy, and she forgets the past suffering. The same will be true of the disciples, who after Jesus’ resurrection and reappearance to them will forget the anguish they suffered at his death on account of their joy.

[16:22]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “distress.”

[16:22]  ⁶⁸ sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will be indignant toward his enemies.” The change from “you will see [me]” to I will see you places more emphasis on Jesus as the one who reinitiates the relationship with the disciples after his resurrection, but v. 16 (you will see me) is more like Isa 66:14. Further support for seeing this allusion as intentional is found in Isa 66:7, which uses the same imagery of the woman giving birth found in John 16:21. In the context of Isa 66 the passages refer to the institution of the messianic kingdom, and in fact the last clause of 66:14 along with the following verses (15-17) have yet to be fulfilled. This is part of the tension of present and future eschatological fulfillment that runs throughout the NT, by virtue of the fact that there are two advents. Some prophecies are fulfilled or partially fulfilled at the first advent, while other prophecies or parts of prophecies await fulfillment at the second.

[17:11]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk And I.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:11]  ⁷⁰ tn The context indicates that this should be translated as an adversative or contrastive conjunction.

[17:11]  ⁷¹ tn Or “protect them”; Grk “keep them.”

[17:11]  ⁷² tn Or “by your name.”

[17:11]  ⁷³ tn The second repetition of “one” is implied, and is supplied here for clarity.

[17:12]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

[17:12]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “and guarded them.”

[17:12]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:12]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:12]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

[17:12]  ⁷⁹ sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.

[17:13]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “they may have.”

[17:13]  ⁸¹ tn Or “fulfilled.”