Psalms 17:4

17:4 As for the actions of people ¹  –

just as you have commanded,

I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. ² 

Luke 16:8

16:8 The ³  master commended the dishonest ⁴  manager because he acted shrewdly. ⁵  For the people ⁶  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ⁷  than the people ⁸  of light.

John 3:31

3:31 The one who comes from above is superior to all. ⁹  The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. ¹⁰  The one who comes from heaven ¹¹  is superior to all. ¹² 

John 7:6-7

7:6 So Jesus replied, ¹³  “My time ¹⁴  has not yet arrived, ¹⁵  but you are ready at any opportunity! ¹⁶  7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it that its deeds are evil.

John 8:23

8:23 Jesus replied, ¹⁷  “You people ¹⁸  are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world.

John 15:19-20

15:19 If you belonged to the world, ¹⁹  the world would love you as its own. ²⁰  However, because you do not belong to the world, ²¹  but I chose you out of the world, for this reason ²²  the world hates you. ²³  15:20 Remember what ²⁴  I told you, ‘A slave ²⁵  is not greater than his master.’ ²⁶  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ²⁷  my word, they will obey ²⁸  yours too.

John 17:14

17:14 I have given them your word, ²⁹  and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, ³⁰  just as I do not belong to the world. ³¹ 

John 17:16

17:16 They do not belong to the world ³²  just as I do not belong to the world. ³³ 

Revelation 12:9

12:9 So ³⁴  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

[17:4]  ¹ tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”

[17:4]  ² tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).

[16:8]  ³ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:8]  ⁴ sn Is the manager dishonest because of what he just did? Or is it a reference to what he had done earlier, described in v. 1? This is a difficult question, but it seems unlikely that the master, having fired the man for prior dishonesty, would now commend those same actions. It would also be unusual for Jesus to make that point of the story the example. Thus it is more likely the reference to dishonesty goes back to the earliest events, while the commendation is for the cleverness of the former manager reflected in vv. 5-7.

[16:8]  ⁵ sn Where this parable ends is debated: Does it conclude with v. 7, after v. 8a, after v. 8b, or after v. 9? Verse 8a looks as if it is still part of the story, with its clear reference to the manager, while 8b looks like Jesus’ application, since its remarks are more general. So it is most likely the parable stops after v. 8a.

[16:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “sons” (an idiom).

[16:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “with their own generation.”

[16:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “sons.” Here the phrase “sons of light” is a reference to the righteous. The point is that those of the world often think ahead about consequences better than the righteous do.

[3:31]  ⁹ tn Or “is above all.”

[3:31]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “speaks from the earth.”

[3:31]  ¹¹ sn The one who comes from heaven refers to Christ. As in John 1:1, the Word’s preexistence is indicated here.

[3:31]  ¹² tc Ì⁷⁵ א* D ˹ 565 as well as several versions and fathers lack the phrase “is superior to all” (ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν, epanw pantwn estin). This effectively joins the last sentence of v. 31 with v. 32: “The one who comes from heaven testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.” On the other side, the phrase may have been deleted because of perceived redundancy, since it duplicates what is said earlier in the verse. The witnesses that include ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν in both places are weighty and widespread (Ì^36vid,66 א² A B L W^s Θ Ψ 083 086 ˹³ 33 Ï lat sy^s,p,h bo). On balance, the longer reading should probably be considered authentic.

[7:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[7:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “my opportunity.”

[7:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “is not yet here.”

[7:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “your time is always ready.”

[8:23]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And he said to them.”

[8:23]  ¹⁸ tn The word “people” is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[15:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “if you were of the world.”

[15:19]  ²⁰ tn The words “you as” are not in the original but are supplied for clarity.

[15:19]  ²¹ tn Grk “because you are not of the world.”

[15:19]  ²² tn Or “world, therefore.”

[15:19]  ²³ sn I chose you out of the world…the world hates you. Two themes are brought together here. In 8:23 Jesus had distinguished himself from the world in addressing his Jewish opponents: “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” In 15:16 Jesus told the disciples “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you.” Now Jesus has united these two ideas as he informs the disciples that he has chosen them out of the world. While the disciples will still be “in” the world after Jesus has departed, they will not belong to it, and Jesus prays later in John 17:15-16 to the Father, “I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” The same theme also occurs in 1 John 4:5-6: “They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us.” Thus the basic reason why the world hates the disciples (as it hated Jesus before them) is because they are not of the world. They are born from above, and are not of the world. For this reason the world hates them.

[15:20]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Remember the word that I said to you.”

[15:20]  ²⁵ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[15:20]  ²⁶ sn A slave is not greater than his master. Jesus now recalled a statement he had made to the disciples before, in John 13:16. As the master has been treated, so will the slaves be treated also. If the world had persecuted Jesus, then it would also persecute the disciples. If the world had kept Jesus’ word, it would likewise keep the word of the disciples. In this statement there is the implication that the disciples would carry on the ministry of Jesus after his departure; they would in their preaching and teaching continue to spread the message which Jesus himself had taught while he was with them. And they would meet with the same response, by and large, that he encountered.

[15:20]  ²⁷ tn Or “if they kept.”

[15:20]  ²⁸ tn Or “they will keep.”

[17:14]  ²⁹ tn Or “your message.”

[17:14]  ³⁰ tn Grk “because they are not of the world.”

[17:14]  ³¹ tn Grk “just as I am not of the world.”

[17:16]  ³² tn Grk “they are not of the world.” This is a repetition of the second half of v. 14. The only difference is in word order: Verse 14 has οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου (ouk eisin ek tou kosmou), while here the prepositional phrase is stated first: ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου οὐκ εἰσίν (ek tou kosmou ouk eisin). This gives additional emphasis to the idea of the prepositional phrase, i.e., origin, source, or affiliation.

[17:16]  ³³ tn Grk “just as I am not of the world.”

[12:9]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.