Psalms 37:25

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children ¹  forced to search for food. ² 

Psalms 37:40

37:40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;

he rescues them from evil men and delivers them, ³ 

for they seek his protection.

Psalms 92:13-15

92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,

they grow in the courts of our God.

92:14 They bear fruit even when they are old;

they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. ⁴ 

92:15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector,

is just and never unfair. ⁵ 

Isaiah 59:21

59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to ⁶  them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” ⁷  says the Lord.

Jeremiah 32:40-41

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ⁸  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ⁹  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹⁰  they will never again turn ¹¹  away from me. 32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ¹²  firmly in the land.’

John 5:24

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹³  the one who hears ¹⁴  my message ¹⁵  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, ¹⁶  but has crossed over from death to life.

John 6:39-40

6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ¹⁷  at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up ¹⁸  at the last day.” ¹⁹ 

John 10:28-30

10:28 I give ²⁰  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ²¹  no one will snatch ²²  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ²³  and no one can snatch ²⁴  them from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I ²⁵  are one.” ²⁶ 

John 15:9

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain ²⁷  in my love.

John 15:1

The Vine and the Branches

15:1 “I am the true vine ²⁸  and my Father is the gardener. ²⁹ 

John 2:19

2:19 Jesus replied, ³⁰  “Destroy ³¹  this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.”

John 2:1

Turning Water into Wine

2:1 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana ³²  in Galilee. ³³  Jesus’ mother ³⁴  was there,

John 1:5

1:5 And the light shines on ³⁵  in the darkness, ³⁶  but ³⁷  the darkness has not mastered it. ³⁸ 

Jude 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ³⁹  a slave ⁴⁰  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ⁴¹  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ⁴²  God the Father and kept for ⁴³  Jesus Christ.

[37:25]  ¹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:25]  ² tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.

[37:40]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry on the generalizing tone of the preceding verse.

[92:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”

[92:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the Lord, my rocky summit, and there is no injustice in him.”

[59:21]  ⁶ tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”

[59:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”

[32:40]  ⁸ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ⁹ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹¹ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[32:41]  ¹² tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).

[5:24]  ¹³ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:24]  ¹⁴ tn Or “obeys.”

[5:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “word.”

[5:24]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

[6:39]  ¹⁷ tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[6:40]  ¹⁸ tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

[6:40]  ¹⁹ sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[10:28]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ²¹ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ²² tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ²³ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ²⁴ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[10:30]  ²⁵ tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.

[10:30]  ²⁶ tn The phrase ἕν ἐσμεν ({en esmen) is a significant assertion with trinitarian implications. ἕν is neuter, not masculine, so the assertion is not that Jesus and the Father are one person, but one “thing.” Identity of the two persons is not what is asserted, but essential unity (unity of essence).

[15:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “reside.”

[15:1]  ²⁸ sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.

[15:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “the farmer.”

[2:19]  ³⁰ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[2:19]  ³¹ tn The imperative here is really more than a simple conditional imperative (= “if you destroy”); its semantic force here is more like the ironical imperative found in the prophets (Amos 4:4, Isa 8:9) = “Go ahead and do this and see what happens.”

[2:1]  ³² map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:1]  ³³ sn Cana in Galilee was not a very well-known place. It is mentioned only here, in 4:46, and 21:2, and nowhere else in the NT. Josephus (Life 16 [86]) says he once had his quarters there. The probable location is present day Khirbet Cana, 8 mi (14 km) north of Nazareth, or Khirbet Kenna, 4 mi (7 km) northeast of Nazareth.

[2:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother.”

[1:5]  ³⁵ tn To this point the author has used past tenses (imperfects, aorists); now he switches to a present. The light continually shines (thus the translation, “shines on”). Even as the author writes, it is shining. The present here most likely has gnomic force (though it is possible to take it as a historical present); it expresses the timeless truth that the light of the world (cf. 8:12, 9:5, 12:46) never ceases to shine.

[1:5]  ³⁶ sn The author now introduces what will become a major theme of John’s Gospel: the opposition of light and darkness. The antithesis is a natural one, widespread in antiquity. Gen 1 gives considerable emphasis to it in the account of the creation, and so do the writings of Qumran. It is the major theme of one of the most important extra-biblical documents found at Qumran, the so-called War Scroll, properly titled The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness. Connections between John and Qumran are still an area of scholarly debate and a consensus has not yet emerged. See T. A. Hoffman, “1 John and the Qumran Scrolls,” BTB 8 (1978): 117-25.

[1:5]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and,” but the context clearly indicates a contrast, so this has been translated as an adversative use of καί (kai).

[1:5]  ³⁸ tn Or “comprehended it,” or “overcome it.” The verb κατέλαβεν (katelaben) is not easy to translate. “To seize” or “to grasp” is possible, but this also permits “to grasp with the mind” in the sense of “to comprehend” (esp. in the middle voice). This is probably another Johannine double meaning – one does not usually think of darkness as trying to “understand” light. For it to mean this, “darkness” must be understood as meaning “certain people,” or perhaps “humanity” at large, darkened in understanding. But in John’s usage, darkness is not normally used of people or a group of people. Rather it usually signifies the evil environment or ‘sphere’ in which people find themselves: “They loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). Those who follow Jesus do not walk in darkness (8:12). They are to walk while they have light, lest the darkness “overtake/overcome” them (12:35, same verb as here). For John, with his set of symbols and imagery, darkness is not something which seeks to “understand (comprehend)” the light, but represents the forces of evil which seek to “overcome (conquer)” it. The English verb “to master” may be used in both sorts of contexts, as “he mastered his lesson” and “he mastered his opponent.”

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁴¹ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.