Matthew 6:28

6:28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers ¹  of the field grow; they do not work ²  or spin.

Mark 9:1

9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, ³  there are some standing here who will not ⁴  experience ⁵  death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” ⁶ 

Luke 9:27

9:27 But I tell you most certainly, ⁷  there are some standing here who will not ⁸  experience ⁹  death before they see the kingdom of God.” ¹⁰ 

John 8:52

8:52 Then ¹¹  the Judeans ¹²  responded, ¹³  “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! ¹⁴  Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet ¹⁵  you say, ‘If anyone obeys ¹⁶  my teaching, ¹⁷  he will never experience ¹⁸  death.’ ¹⁹ 

[6:28]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “lilies.” According to L&N 3.32, “Though traditionally κρίνον has been regarded as a type of lily, scholars have suggested several other possible types of flowers, including an anemone, a poppy, a gladiolus, and a rather inconspicuous type of daisy.” In view of the uncertainty, the more generic “flowers” has been used in the translation.

[6:28]  ² tn Or, traditionally, “toil.” Although it might be argued that “work hard” would be a more precise translation of κοπιάω (kopiaw) here, the line in English reads better in terms of cadence with a single syllable.

[9:1]  ³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[9:1]  ⁴ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:1]  ⁶ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

[9:27]  ⁷ tn Grk “I tell you truly” (λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, legw de Jumin alhqw").

[9:27]  ⁸ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:27]  ¹⁰ sn The meaning of the statement that some will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God is clear at one level, harder at another. Jesus predicts some will experience the kingdom before they die. When does this happen? (1) An initial fulfillment is the next event, the transfiguration. (2) It is also possible in Luke’s understanding that all but Judas experience the initial fulfillment of the coming of God’s presence and rule in the work of Acts 2. In either case, the “kingdom of God” referred to here would be the initial rather than the final phase.

[8:52]  ¹¹ tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ א B C W Θ 579 it) lack the conjunction here, while other witnesses read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì⁷⁵ D L Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the most important Johannine papyrus (Ì⁷⁵) has the conjunction, the combination of Ì⁶⁶ א B for the omission is even stronger. Further, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 41). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁷ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:52]  ¹² tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here, as in vv. 31 and 48, the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31).

[8:52]  ¹³ tn Grk “said to him.”

[8:52]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “you have a demon.”

[8:52]  ¹⁵ tn “Yet” has been supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.

[8:52]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:52]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:52]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “will never taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[8:52]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he will never taste of death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.