Yohanes 8:12--10:42
Konteks8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, 1 “I am the light of the world. 2 The one who follows me will never 3 walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 8:13 So the Pharisees 4 objected, 5 “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!” 6 8:14 Jesus answered, 7 “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you people 8 do not know where I came from or where I am going. 9 8:15 You people 10 judge by outward appearances; 11 I do not judge anyone. 12 8:16 But if I judge, my evaluation is accurate, 13 because I am not alone when I judge, 14 but I and the Father who sent me do so together. 15 8:17 It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 16 8:18 I testify about myself 17 and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
8:19 Then they began asking 18 him, “Who is your father?” Jesus answered, “You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too.” 19 8:20 (Jesus 20 spoke these words near the offering box 21 while he was teaching in the temple courts. 22 No one seized him because his time 23 had not yet come.) 24
8:21 Then Jesus 25 said to them again, 26 “I am going away, and you will look for me 27 but will die in your sin. 28 Where I am going you cannot come.” 8:22 So the Jewish leaders 29 began to say, 30 “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” 8:23 Jesus replied, 31 “You people 32 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 33 that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, 34 you will die in your sins.”
8:25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus replied, 35 “What I have told you from the beginning. 8:26 I have many things to say and to judge 36 about you, but the Father 37 who sent me is truthful, 38 and the things I have heard from him I speak to the world.” 39 8:27 (They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.) 40
8:28 Then Jesus said, 41 “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, 42 and I do nothing on my own initiative, 43 but I speak just what the Father taught me. 44 8:29 And the one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, 45 because I always do those things that please him.” 8:30 While he was saying these things, many people 46 believed in him.
8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans 47 who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, 48 you are really 49 my disciples 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 50 8:33 “We are descendants 51 of Abraham,” they replied, 52 “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, 53 ‘You will become free’?” 8:34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, 54 everyone who practices 55 sin is a slave 56 of sin. 8:35 The slave does not remain in the family 57 forever, but the son remains forever. 58 8:36 So if the son 59 sets you free, you will be really free. 8:37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. 60 But you want 61 to kill me, because my teaching 62 makes no progress among you. 63 8:38 I am telling you the things I have seen while with the 64 Father; 65 as for you, 66 practice the things you have heard from the 67 Father!”
8:39 They answered him, 68 “Abraham is our father!” 69 Jesus replied, 70 “If you are 71 Abraham’s children, you would be doing 72 the deeds of Abraham. 8:40 But now you are trying 73 to kill me, a man who has told you 74 the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! 75 8:41 You people 76 are doing the deeds of your father.”
Then 77 they said to Jesus, 78 “We were not born as a result of immorality! 79 We have only one Father, God himself.” 8:42 Jesus replied, 80 “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. 81 I 82 have not come on my own initiative, 83 but he 84 sent me. 8:43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept 85 my teaching. 86 8:44 You people 87 are from 88 your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. 89 He 90 was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, 91 because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, 92 he speaks according to his own nature, 93 because he is a liar and the father of lies. 94 8:45 But because I am telling you 95 the truth, you do not believe me. 8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty 96 of any sin? 97 If I am telling you 98 the truth, why don’t you believe me? 8:47 The one who belongs to 99 God listens and responds 100 to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond, 101 because you don’t belong to God.” 102
8:48 The Judeans 103 replied, 104 “Aren’t we correct in saying 105 that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” 106 8:49 Jesus answered, “I am not possessed by a demon, 107 but I honor my Father – and yet 108 you dishonor me. 8:50 I am not trying to get 109 praise for myself. 110 There is one who demands 111 it, and he also judges. 112 8:51 I tell you the solemn truth, 113 if anyone obeys 114 my teaching, 115 he will never see death.” 116
8:52 Then 117 the Judeans 118 responded, 119 “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! 120 Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet 121 you say, ‘If anyone obeys 122 my teaching, 123 he will never experience 124 death.’ 125 8:53 You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? 126 And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?” 8:54 Jesus replied, 127 “If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless. 128 The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you people 129 say, ‘He is our God.’ 8:55 Yet 130 you do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, 131 I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey 132 his teaching. 133 8:56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed 134 to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” 135
8:57 Then the Judeans 136 replied, 137 “You are not yet fifty years old! 138 Have 139 you seen Abraham?” 8:58 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, 140 before Abraham came into existence, 141 I am!” 142 8:59 Then they picked up 143 stones to throw at him, 144 but Jesus hid himself and went out from the temple area. 145
9:1 Now as Jesus was passing by, 146 he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 9:2 His disciples asked him, 147 “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man 148 or his parents?” 149 9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man 150 nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that 151 the acts 152 of God may be revealed 153 through what happens to him. 154 9:4 We must perform the deeds 155 of the one who sent me 156 as long as 157 it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work. 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 158 9:6 Having said this, 159 he spat on the ground and made some mud 160 with the saliva. He 161 smeared the mud on the blind man’s 162 eyes 9:7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” 163 (which is translated “sent”). 164 So the blind man 165 went away and washed, and came back seeing.
9:8 Then the neighbors and the people who had seen him previously 166 as a beggar began saying, 167 “Is this not the man 168 who used to sit and beg?” 9:9 Some people said, 169 “This is the man!” 170 while others said, “No, but he looks like him.” 171 The man himself 172 kept insisting, “I am the one!” 173 9:10 So they asked him, 174 “How then were you made to see?” 175 9:11 He replied, 176 “The man called Jesus made mud, 177 smeared it 178 on my eyes and told me, 179 ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and was able to see.” 180 9:12 They said 181 to him, “Where is that man?” 182 He replied, 183 “I don’t know.”
9:13 They brought the man who used to be blind 184 to the Pharisees. 185 9:14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the mud 186 and caused him to see 187 was a Sabbath.) 188 9:15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight. 189 He replied, 190 “He put mud 191 on my eyes and I washed, and now 192 I am able to see.”
9:16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say, 193 “This man is not from God, because he does not observe 194 the Sabbath.” 195 But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform 196 such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division 197 among them. 9:17 So again they asked the man who used to be blind, 198 “What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?” 199 “He is a prophet,” the man replied. 200
9:18 Now the Jewish religious leaders 201 refused to believe 202 that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned 203 the parents of the man who had become able to see. 204 9:19 They asked the parents, 205 “Is this your son, whom you say 206 was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 9:20 So his parents replied, 207 “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 9:21 But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see. 208 Ask him, he is a mature adult. 209 He will speak for himself.” 9:22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. 210 For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus 211 to be the Christ 212 would be put out 213 of the synagogue. 214 9:23 For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult, 215 ask him.”) 216
9:24 Then they summoned 217 the man who used to be blind 218 a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. 219 We know that this man 220 is a sinner.” 9:25 He replied, 221 “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing – that although I was blind, now I can see.” 9:26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?” 222 9:27 He answered, 223 “I told you already and you didn’t listen. 224 Why do you want to hear it 225 again? You people 226 don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
9:28 They 227 heaped insults 228 on him, saying, 229 “You are his disciple! 230 We are disciples of Moses! 9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man 231 comes from!” 9:30 The man replied, 232 “This is a remarkable thing, 233 that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see! 234 9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to 235 sinners, but if anyone is devout 236 and does his will, God 237 listens to 238 him. 239 9:32 Never before 240 has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see. 241 9:33 If this man 242 were not from God, he could do nothing.” 9:34 They replied, 243 “You were born completely in sinfulness, 244 and yet you presume to teach us?” 245 So they threw him out.
9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man 246 and said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 247 9:36 The man 248 replied, 249 “And who is he, sir, that 250 I may believe in him?” 9:37 Jesus told him, “You have seen him; he 251 is the one speaking with you.” 252 9:38 [He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 253 9:39 Jesus 254 said,] 255 “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, 256 and the ones who see may become blind.”
9:40 Some of the Pharisees 257 who were with him heard this 258 and asked him, 259 “We are not blind too, are we?” 260 9:41 Jesus replied, 261 “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, 262 but now because you claim that you can see, 263 your guilt 264 remains.” 265
10:1 “I tell you the solemn truth, 266 the one who does not enter the sheepfold 267 by the door, 268 but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 10:2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 10:3 The doorkeeper 269 opens the door 270 for him, 271 and the sheep hear his voice. He 272 calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 273 10:4 When he has brought all his own sheep 274 out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize 275 his voice. 10:5 They will never follow a stranger, 276 but will run away from him, because they do not recognize 277 the stranger’s voice.” 278 10:6 Jesus told them this parable, 279 but they 280 did not understand 281 what he was saying to them.
10:7 So Jesus said to them again, “I tell you the solemn truth, 282 I am the door for the sheep. 283 10:8 All who came before me were 284 thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 285 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, 286 and find pasture. 287 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill 288 and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. 289
10:11 “I am the good 290 shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life 291 for the sheep. 10:12 The hired hand, 292 who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons 293 the sheep and runs away. 294 So the wolf attacks 295 the sheep and scatters them. 10:13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, 296 he runs away. 297
10:14 “I am the good shepherd. I 298 know my own 299 and my own know me – 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life 300 for 301 the sheep. 10:16 I have 302 other sheep that do not come from 303 this sheepfold. 304 I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, 305 so that 306 there will be one flock and 307 one shepherd. 10:17 This is why the Father loves me 308 – because I lay down my life, 309 so that I may take it back again. 10:18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down 310 of my own free will. 311 I have the authority 312 to lay it down, and I have the authority 313 to take it back again. This commandment 314 I received from my Father.”
10:19 Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people 315 because of these words. 10:20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind! 316 Why do you listen to him?” 10:21 Others said, “These are not the words 317 of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see, 318 can it?” 319
10:22 Then came the feast of the Dedication 320 in Jerusalem. 321 10:23 It was winter, 322 and Jesus was walking in the temple area 323 in Solomon’s Portico. 324 10:24 The Jewish leaders 325 surrounded him and asked, 326 “How long will you keep us in suspense? 327 If you are the Christ, 328 tell us plainly.” 329 10:25 Jesus replied, 330 “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds 331 I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 10:26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give 332 them eternal life, and they will never perish; 333 no one will snatch 334 them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, 335 and no one can snatch 336 them from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I 337 are one.” 338
10:31 The Jewish leaders 339 picked up rocks again to stone him to death. 10:32 Jesus said to them, 340 “I have shown you many good deeds 341 from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 10:33 The Jewish leaders 342 replied, 343 “We are not going to stone you for a good deed 344 but for blasphemy, 345 because 346 you, a man, are claiming to be God.” 347
10:34 Jesus answered, 348 “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 349 10:35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken), 350 10:36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart 351 and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 10:37 If I do not perform 352 the deeds 353 of my Father, do not believe me. 10:38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, 354 so that you may come to know 355 and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 10:39 Then 356 they attempted 357 again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches. 358
10:40 Jesus 359 went back across the Jordan River 360 again to the place where John 361 had been baptizing at an earlier time, 362 and he stayed there. 10:41 Many 363 came to him and began to say, “John 364 performed 365 no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man 366 was true!” 10:42 And many believed in Jesus 367 there.
[8:12] 1 tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”
[8:12] 2 sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.
[8:12] 3 tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.
[8:13] 4 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
[8:13] 5 tn Grk “Then the Pharisees said to him.”
[8:13] 6 sn Compare the charge You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true! to Jesus’ own statement about his testimony in 5:31.
[8:14] 7 tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to them.”
[8:14] 8 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the pronoun (“you”) and verb (“do not know”) in Greek are plural.
[8:14] 9 sn You people do not know where I came from or where I am going. The ignorance of the religious authorities regarding Jesus’ origin works on two levels at once: First, they thought Jesus came from Galilee (although he really came from Bethlehem in Judea) and second, they did not know that he came from heaven (from the Father), and this is where he would return. See further John 7:52.
[8:15] 10 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the pronoun and verb (“judge”) in Greek are plural.
[8:15] 11 tn Or “judge according to external things”; Grk “according to the flesh.” These translations are given by BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 5.
[8:15] 12 sn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement “I do not judge anyone”? It is clear that Jesus did judge (even in the next verse). The point is that he didn’t practice the same kind of judgment that the Pharisees did. Their kind of judgment was condemnatory. They tried to condemn people. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save it (3:17). Nevertheless, and not contradictory to this, the coming of Jesus did bring judgment, because it forced people to make a choice. Would they accept Jesus or reject him? Would they come to the light or shrink back into the darkness? As they responded, so were they judged – just as 3:19-21 previously stated. One’s response to Jesus determines one’s eternal destiny.
[8:16] 13 tn Grk “my judgment is true.”
[8:16] 14 tn The phrase “when I judge” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.
[8:16] 15 tn The phrase “do so together” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.
[8:17] 16 sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.
[8:18] 17 tn Grk “I am the one who testifies about myself.”
[8:19] 18 tn Grk “Then they were saying to him.” The imperfect verb has been translated with ingressive force here because of the introduction of a new line of questioning by the Pharisees. Jesus had just claimed his Father as a second witness; now his opponents want to know who his father is.
[8:19] 19 sn If you knew me you would know my Father too. Jesus’ reply is based on his identity with the Father (see also John 1:18; 14:9).
[8:20] 20 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:20] 21 tn The term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion) can be translated “treasury” or “treasure room” in this context. BDAG 186 s.v. 1 notes, “It can be taken in this sense J 8:20 (sing.) in (or at) the treasury.” BDAG 186 s.v. 2 argues that the occurrences of this word in the synoptic gospels also refer to the treasury: “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.
[8:20] sn The offering box probably refers to the receptacles in the temple forecourt by the Court of Women used to collect freewill offerings. These are mentioned by Josephus, J. W. 5.5.2 (5.200), 6.5.2 (6.282); Ant. 19.6.1 (19.294); and in 1 Macc 14:49 and 2 Macc 3:6, 24, 28, 40 (see also Mark 12:41; Luke 21:1).
[8:20] 22 tn Grk “the temple.”
[8:20] 24 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[8:21] 25 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:21] 26 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] 27 tn Grk “you will seek me.”
[8:21] 28 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] 29 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] 30 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] 31 tn Grk “And he said to them.”
[8:23] 32 tn The word “people” is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
[8:24] 33 tn Grk “thus I said to you.”
[8:24] 34 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’”).
[8:24] sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
[8:25] 35 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
[8:26] 36 tn Or “I have many things to pronounce in judgment about you.” The two Greek infinitives could be understood as a hendiadys, resulting in one phrase.
[8:26] 37 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:26] 38 tn Grk “true” (in the sense of one who always tells the truth).
[8:26] 39 tn Grk “and what things I have heard from him, these things I speak to the world.”
[8:27] 40 sn They did not understand…about his Father is a parenthetical note by the author. This type of comment, intended for the benefit of the reader, is typical of the “omniscient author” convention adopted by the author, who is writing from a postresurrection point of view. He writes with the benefit of later knowledge that those who originally heard Jesus’ words would not have had.
[8:28] 41 tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them” (the words “to them” are not found in all
[8:28] 42 tn Grk “that I am.” See the note on this phrase in v. 24.
[8:28] 43 tn Grk “I do nothing from myself.”
[8:28] 44 tn Grk “but just as the Father taught me, these things I speak.”
[8:29] 45 tn That is, “he has not abandoned me.”
[8:30] 46 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity and smoothness in the translation.
[8:31] 47 tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), 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; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).
[8:31] 48 tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”
[8:32] 50 tn Or “the truth will release you.” The translation “set you free” or “release you” (unlike the more traditional “make you free”) conveys more the idea that the hearers were currently in a state of slavery from which they needed to be freed. The following context supports precisely this idea.
[8:32] sn The statement the truth will set you free is often taken as referring to truth in the philosophical (or absolute) sense, or in the intellectual sense, or even (as the Jews apparently took it) in the political sense. In the context of John’s Gospel (particularly in light of the prologue) this must refer to truth about the person and work of Jesus. It is saving truth. As L. Morris says, “it is the truth which saves men from the darkness of sin, not that which saves them from the darkness of error (though there is a sense in which men in Christ are delivered from gross error)” (John [NICNT], 457).
[8:33] 51 tn Grk “We are the seed” (an idiom).
[8:33] 52 tn Grk “They answered to him.”
[8:33] 53 tn Or “How is it that you say.”
[8:34] 54 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[8:34] 55 tn Or “who commits.” This could simply be translated, “everyone who sins,” but the Greek is more emphatic, using the participle ποιῶν (poiwn) in a construction with πᾶς (pas), a typical Johannine construction. Here repeated, continuous action is in view. The one whose lifestyle is characterized by repeated, continuous sin is a slave to sin. That one is not free; sin has enslaved him. To break free from this bondage requires outside (divine) intervention. Although the statement is true at the general level (the person who continually practices a lifestyle of sin is enslaved to sin) the particular sin of the Jewish authorities, repeatedly emphasized in the Fourth Gospel, is the sin of unbelief. The present tense in this instance looks at the continuing refusal on the part of the Jewish leaders to acknowledge who Jesus is, in spite of mounting evidence.
[8:34] 56 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
[8:35] 57 tn Or “household.” The Greek work οἰκία (oikia) can denote the family as consisting of relatives by both descent and marriage, as well as slaves and servants, living in the same house (more the concept of an “extended family”).
[8:35] 58 sn Jesus’ point is that while a slave may be part of a family or household, the slave is not guaranteed a permanent place there, while a son, as a descendant or blood relative, will always be guaranteed a place in the family (remains forever).
[8:36] 59 tn Or “Son.” The question is whether “son” is to be understood as a direct reference to Jesus himself, or as an indirect reference (a continuation of the generic illustration begun in the previous verse).
[8:37] 60 tn Grk “seed” (an idiom).
[8:37] 61 tn Grk “you are seeking.”
[8:37] 63 tn Or “finds no place in you.” The basic idea seems to be something (in this case Jesus’ teaching) making headway or progress where resistance is involved. See BDAG 1094 s.v. χωρέω 2.
[8:38] 64 tc The first person pronoun μου (mou, “my”) may be implied, especially if ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) follows the second mention of “father” in this verse (as it does in the majority of
[8:38] 65 tn Grk “The things which I have seen with the Father I speak about.”
[8:38] 67 tc A few significant witnesses lack ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here (Ì66,75 B L W 070 pc), while the majority have the pronoun (א C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë1,13 33 565 892 Ï al lat sy). However, these
[8:39] 68 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”
[8:39] 69 tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”
[8:39] 70 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
[8:39] 71 tc Although most
[8:39] 72 tc Some important
[8:39] tn Or “you would do.”
[8:40] 74 tn Grk “has spoken to you.”
[8:40] 75 tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.
[8:41] 76 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
[8:41] 77 tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sys,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë13 33 Ï). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, 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 52). 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.
[8:41] 78 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:41] 79 sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.
[8:42] 80 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
[8:42] 81 tn Or “I came from God and have arrived.”
[8:42] 82 tn Grk “For I.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
[8:42] 83 tn Grk “from myself.”
[8:42] 84 tn Grk “that one” (referring to God).
[8:43] 85 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] 87 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.
[8:44] 88 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] 89 tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”
[8:44] 90 tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).
[8:44] 91 tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).
[8:44] 92 tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”
[8:44] 93 tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”
[8:44] 94 tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”
[8:45] 95 tn Or “because I tell you.”
[8:46] 96 tn Or “can convict me.”
[8:46] 97 tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”
[8:46] 98 tn Or “if I tell you.”
[8:47] 100 tn Grk “to God hears” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).
[8:47] 101 tn Grk “you do not hear” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).
[8:47] 102 tn Grk “you are not of God.”
[8:48] 103 tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here 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). They had become increasingly hostile as Jesus continued to teach. Now they were ready to say that Jesus was demon-possessed.
[8:48] 104 tn Grk “answered and said to him.”
[8:48] 105 tn Grk “Do we not say rightly.”
[8:48] 106 tn Grk “and have a demon.” It is not clear what is meant by the charge Σαμαρίτης εἶ σὺ καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις (Samarith" ei su kai daimonion ecei"). The meaning could be “you are a heretic and are possessed by a demon.” Note that the dual charge gets one reply (John 8:49). Perhaps the phrases were interchangeable: Simon Magus (Acts 8:14-24) and in later traditions Dositheus, the two Samaritans who claimed to be sons of God, were regarded as mad, that is, possessed by demons.
[8:49] 107 tn Grk “I do not have a demon.”
[8:49] 108 tn “Yet” is supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.
[8:50] 109 tn Grk “I am not seeking.”
[8:50] 111 tn Grk “who seeks.”
[8:50] 112 tn Or “will be the judge.”
[8:51] 113 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[8:51] 114 tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”
[8:51] 116 tn Grk “he will never see death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.
[8:51] sn Those who keep Jesus’ words will not see death because they have already passed from death to life (cf. 5:24). In Johannine theology eternal life begins in the present rather than in the world to come.
[8:52] 117 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 Ë1,13 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] 118 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] 119 tn Grk “said to him.”
[8:52] 120 tn Grk “you have a demon.”
[8:52] 121 tn “Yet” has been supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.
[8:52] 122 tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”
[8:52] 124 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] 125 tn Grk “he will never taste of death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.
[8:53] 126 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 “are you?”).
[8:54] 127 tn Grk “Jesus answered.”
[8:54] 128 tn Grk “is nothing.”
[8:54] 129 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
[8:55] 130 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast present in the context.
[8:55] 131 tn Grk “If I say, ‘I do not know him.’”
[8:56] 134 tn Or “rejoiced greatly.”
[8:56] 135 tn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement that the patriarch Abraham “saw” his day and rejoiced? The use of past tenses would seem to refer to something that occurred during the patriarch’s lifetime. Genesis Rabbah 44:25ff, (cf. 59:6) states that Rabbi Akiba, in a debate with Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, held that Abraham had been shown not this world only but the world to come (this would include the days of the Messiah). More realistically, it is likely that Gen 22:13-15 lies behind Jesus’ words. This passage, known to rabbis as the Akedah (“Binding”), tells of Abraham finding the ram which will replace his son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice – an occasion of certain rejoicing.
[8:57] 136 tn Grk “Then the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here, as in vv. 31, 48, and 52, 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). They have now become completely hostile, as John 8:59 clearly shows.
[8:57] 137 tn Grk “said to him.”
[8:57] 138 tn Grk ‘You do not yet have fifty years” (an idiom).
[8:58] 140 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[8:58] 141 tn Grk “before Abraham was.”
[8:58] 142 sn I am! is an explicit claim to deity. Although each occurrence of the phrase “I am” in the Fourth Gospel needs to be examined individually in context to see if an association with Exod 3:14 is present, it seems clear that this is the case here (as the response of the Jewish authorities in the following verse shows).
[8:59] 143 tn Grk “they took up.”
[8:59] 144 sn Jesus’ Jewish listeners understood his claim to deity, rejected it, and picked up stones to throw at him for what they considered blasphemy.
[8:59] 145 tc Most later witnesses (A Θc Ë1,13 Ï) have at the end of the verse “passing through their midst, he went away in this manner” (διελθὼν διὰ μέσου καὶ παρῆγεν οὕτως, dielqwn dia mesou kai parhgen {outw"), while many others have similar permutations (so א1,2 C L N Ψ 070 33 579 892 1241 al). The wording is similar to two other texts: Luke 4:30 (διελθὼν διὰ μέσου; in several
[8:59] tn Grk “from the temple.”
[9:1] 146 tn Or “going along.” The opening words of chap. 9, καὶ παράγων (kai paragwn), convey only the vaguest indication of the circumstances.
[9:1] sn Since there is no break with chap. 8, Jesus is presumably still in Jerusalem, and presumably not still in the temple area. The events of chap. 9 fall somewhere between the feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2) and the feast of the Dedication (John 10:22). But in the author’s narrative the connection exists – the incident recorded in chap. 9 (along with the ensuing debates with the Pharisees) serves as a real-life illustration of the claim Jesus made in 8:12, I am the light of the world. This is in fact the probable theological motivation behind the juxtaposition of these two incidents in the narrative. The second serves as an illustration of the first, and as a concrete example of the victory of light over darkness. One other thing which should be pointed out about the miracle recorded in chap. 9 is its messianic significance. In the OT it is God himself who is associated with the giving of sight to the blind (Exod 4:11, Ps 146:8). In a number of passages in Isa (29:18, 35:5, 42:7) it is considered to be a messianic activity.
[9:2] 147 tn Grk “asked him, saying.”
[9:2] 149 tn Grk “in order that he should be born blind.”
[9:2] sn The disciples assumed that sin (regardless of who committed it) was the cause of the man’s blindness. This was a common belief in Judaism; the rabbis used Ezek 18:20 to prove there was no death without sin, and Ps 89:33 to prove there was no punishment without guilt (the Babylonian Talmud, b. Shabbat 55a, although later than the NT, illustrates this). Thus in this case the sin must have been on the part of the man’s parents, or during his own prenatal existence. Song Rabbah 1:41 (another later rabbinic work) stated that when a pregnant woman worshiped in a heathen temple the unborn child also committed idolatry. This is only one example of how, in rabbinic Jewish thought, an unborn child was capable of sinning.
[9:3] 151 tn Grk “but so that.” There is an ellipsis that must be supplied: “but [he was born blind] so that” or “but [it happened to him] so that.”
[9:3] 152 tn Or “deeds”; Grk “works.”
[9:3] 153 tn Or “manifested,” “brought to light.”
[9:4] 155 tn Grk “We must work the works.”
[9:4] 156 tn Or “of him who sent me” (God).
[9:5] 158 sn Jesus’ statement I am the light of the world connects the present account with 8:12. Here (seen more clearly than at 8:12) it is obvious what the author sees as the significance of Jesus’ statement. “Light” is not a metaphysical definition of the person of Jesus but a description of his effect on the world, forcing everyone in the world to ‘choose up sides’ for or against him (cf. 3:19-21).
[9:6] 159 tn Grk “said these things.”
[9:6] 160 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency). The textual variant preserved in the Syriac text of Ephraem’s commentary on the Diatessaron (“he made eyes from his clay”) probably arose from the interpretation given by Irenaeus in Against Heresies: “that which the Artificer, the Word, had omitted to form in the womb, he then supplied in public.” This involves taking the clay as an allusion to Gen 2:7, which is very unlikely.
[9:6] 161 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) was replaced by a third person pronoun and a new sentence started here in the translation.
[9:7] 163 tn The pool’s name in Hebrew is shiloah from the Hebrew verb “to send.” In Gen 49:10 the somewhat obscure shiloh was interpreted messianically by later Jewish tradition, and some have seen a lexical connection between the two names (although this is somewhat dubious). It is known, however, that it was from the pool of Siloam that the water which was poured out at the altar during the feast of Tabernacles was drawn.
[9:7] 164 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Why does he comment on the meaning of the name of the pool? Here, the significance is that the Father sent the Son, and the Son sent the man born blind. The name of the pool is applicable to the man, but also to Jesus himself, who was sent from heaven.
[9:7] 165 tn Grk “So he”; the referent (the blind man) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:8] 167 tn An ingressive force (“began saying”) is present here because the change in status of the blind person provokes this new response from those who knew him.
[9:9] 169 tn Grk “Others were saying.”
[9:9] 170 tn Grk “This is the one.”
[9:9] 171 tn Grk “No, but he is like him.”
[9:9] 172 tn Grk “That one”; the referent (the man himself) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:10] 174 tn Grk “So they were saying to him.”
[9:10] 175 tn Grk “How then were your eyes opened” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[9:11] 176 tn Grk “That one answered.”
[9:11] 177 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
[9:11] 178 tn Grk “and smeared.” Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when obvious from the context.
[9:11] 179 tn Grk “said to me.”
[9:11] 180 tn Or “and I gained my sight.”
[9:12] 181 tn Grk “And they said.”
[9:12] 182 tn Grk “that one.” “Man” is more normal English style for the referent.
[9:13] 184 tn Grk “who was formerly blind.”
[9:13] 185 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
[9:14] 186 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
[9:14] 187 tn Grk “and opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[9:14] 188 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[9:15] 189 tn Or “how he had become able to see.”
[9:15] sn So the Pharisees asked him. Note the subtlety here: On the surface, the man is being judged. But through him, Jesus is being judged. Yet in reality (as the discerning reader will realize) it is ironically the Pharisees themselves who are being judged by their response to Jesus who is the light of the world (cf. 3:17-21).
[9:15] 190 tn Grk “And he said to them.”
[9:15] 191 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
[9:15] 192 tn The word “now” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate the contrast between the man’s former state (blind) and his present state (able to see).
[9:16] 193 tn As a response to the answers of the man who used to be blind, the use of the imperfect tense in the reply of the Pharisees is best translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to say” or “started saying”).
[9:16] 194 tn Grk “he does not keep.”
[9:16] 195 sn The Jewish religious leaders considered the work involved in making the mud to be a violation of the Sabbath.
[9:16] 197 tn Or “So there was discord.”
[9:17] 198 tn Grk “the blind man.”
[9:17] 199 tn Grk “since he opened your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[9:17] 200 tn Grk “And he said, ‘He is a prophet.’”
[9:17] sn At this point the man, pressed by the Pharisees, admitted there was something special about Jesus. But here, since prophet is anarthrous (is not accompanied by the Greek article) and since in his initial reply in 9:11-12 the man showed no particular insight into the true identity of Jesus, this probably does not refer to the prophet of Deut 18:15, but merely to an unusual person who is capable of working miracles. The Pharisees had put this man on the spot, and he felt compelled to say something about Jesus, but he still didn’t have a clear conception of who Jesus was, so he labeled him a “prophet.”
[9:18] 201 tn Or “the Jewish religious 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 mainly to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. References in this context to Pharisees and to the synagogue (v. 22) suggest an emphasis on the religious nature of the debate which is brought out by the translation “the Jewish religious leaders.”
[9:18] 202 tn The Greek text contains the words “about him” at this point: “the Jewish authorities did not believe about him…”
[9:18] 203 tn Grk “they called.”
[9:18] 204 tn Or “the man who had gained his sight.”
[9:19] 205 tn Grk “and they asked them, saying”; the referent (the parents) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:19] 206 tn The Greek pronoun and verb are both plural (both parents are addressed).
[9:20] 207 tn Grk “So his parents answered and said.”
[9:21] 208 tn Grk “who opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[9:21] 209 tn Or “he is of age.”
[9:22] 210 tn Or “the Jewish religious authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Twice in this verse the phrase refers to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. The second occurrence is shortened to “the Jewish leaders” for stylistic reasons. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish religious leaders” in v. 18.
[9:22] 211 tn Grk “confessed him.”
[9:22] 212 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
[9:22] sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
[9:22] 213 tn Or “would be expelled from.”
[9:22] 214 sn This reference to excommunication from the Jewish synagogue for those who had made some sort of confession about Jesus being the Messiah is dismissed as anachronistic by some (e.g., Barrett) and nonhistorical by others. In later Jewish practice there were at least two forms of excommunication: a temporary ban for thirty days, and a permanent ban. But whether these applied in NT times is far from certain. There is no substantial evidence for a formal ban on Christians until later than this Gospel could possibly have been written. This may be a reference to some form of excommunication adopted as a contingency to deal with those who were proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah. If so, there is no other record of the procedure than here. It was probably local, limited to the area around Jerusalem. See also the note on synagogue in 6:59.
[9:23] 215 tn Or “he is of age.”
[9:23] 216 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author explaining the parents’ response.
[9:24] 217 tn Grk “they called.”
[9:24] 218 tn Grk “who was blind.”
[9:24] 219 tn Grk “Give glory to God” (an idiomatic formula used in placing someone under oath to tell the truth).
[9:24] 220 tn The phrase “this man” is a reference to Jesus.
[9:25] 221 tn Grk “Then that one answered.”
[9:26] 222 tn Grk “open your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[9:27] 223 tn Grk “He answered them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[9:27] 224 tn Grk “you did not hear.”
[9:27] 225 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] 226 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
[9:28] 227 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] 228 tn The Greek word means “to insult strongly” or “slander.”
[9:28] 230 tn Grk “You are that one’s disciple.”
[9:29] 231 tn Grk “where this one.”
[9:30] 232 tn Grk “The man answered and said to them.” This has been simplified in the translation to “The man replied.”
[9:30] 233 tn Grk “For in this is a remarkable thing.”
[9:30] 234 tn Grk “and he opened my eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[9:31] 235 tn Grk “God does not hear.”
[9:31] 237 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:32] 240 tn Or “Never from the beginning of time,” Grk “From eternity.”
[9:32] 241 tn Grk “someone opening the eyes of a man born blind” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[9:34] 243 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”
[9:34] 244 tn Or “From birth you have been evil.” The implication of this insult, in the context of John 9, is that the man whom Jesus caused to see had not previously adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Thus he had no right to instruct them about who Jesus was.
[9:34] 245 tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”
[9:35] 246 tn Grk “found him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:35] 247 tc Although most witnesses (A L Θ Ψ 070 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat) have θεοῦ (qeou, “of God”) instead of ἀνθρώπου (anqrwpou, “of man”) here, the better witnesses (Ì66,75 א B D W sys) have ἀνθρώπου. Not only is the external evidence decidedly on the side of ἀνθρώπου, but it is difficult to see such early and diverse witnesses changing θεοῦ to ἀνθρώπου. The wording “Son of Man” is thus virtually certain.
[9:36] 249 tn Grk answered and said.” This has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”
[9:36] 250 tn Or “And who is he, sir? Tell me so that…” Some translations supply elliptical words like “Tell me” (NIV, NRSV) following the man’s initial question, but the shorter form given in the translation is clear enough.
[9:37] 252 tn The καί – καί (kai – kai) construction would normally be translated “both – and”: “You have both seen him, and he is the one speaking with you.” In this instance the English semicolon was used instead because it produces a smoother and more emphatic effect in English.
[9:38] 253 sn Assuming the authenticity of John 9:38-39a (see the tc note following the bracket in v. 39), the man’s response after Jesus’ statement of v. 37 is extremely significant: He worshiped Jesus. In the Johannine context the word would connote its full sense: This was something due God alone. Note also that Jesus did not prevent the man from doing this. The verb προσκυνέω (proskunew) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. This would be the only place in John’s Gospel where anyone is said to have worshiped Jesus using this term. As such, it forms the climax of the story of the man born blind, but the uniqueness of the concept of worshiping Jesus at this point in John's narrative (which reaches its ultimate climax in the confession of Thomas in John 20:28) may suggest it is too early for such a response and it represents a later scribal addition.
[9:39] 254 tn Grk “And Jesus.” 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.
[9:39] 255 tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì75 א* W b sams ac2 mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì75 here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other
[9:39] 256 tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”
[9:40] 257 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
[9:40] 258 tn Grk “heard these things.”
[9:40] 259 tn Grk “and said to him.”
[9:40] 260 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 “are we?”).
[9:41] 261 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
[9:41] 262 tn Grk “you would not have sin.”
[9:41] 263 tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”
[9:41] 265 sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).
[10:1] 266 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[10:1] 267 sn There was more than one type of sheepfold in use in Palestine in Jesus’ day. The one here seems to be a courtyard in front of a house (the Greek word used for the sheepfold here, αὐλή [aulh] frequently refers to a courtyard), surrounded by a stone wall (often topped with briars for protection).
[10:3] 269 tn Or “porter” (British English).
[10:3] sn There have been many attempts to identify who the doorkeeper represents, none of which are convincing. More likely there are some details in this parable that are included for the sake of the story, necessary as parts of the overall picture but without symbolic significance.
[10:3] 270 tn The words “the door” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
[10:3] 271 tn Grk “For this one.”
[10:3] 272 tn Grk “And he.” 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.
[10:3] 273 sn He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Some interpreters have suggested that there was more than one flock in the fold, and there would be a process of separation where each shepherd called out his own flock. This may also be suggested by the mention of a doorkeeper in v. 3 since only the larger sheepfolds would have such a guard. But the Gospel of John never mentions a distinction among the sheep in this fold; in fact (10:16) there are other sheep which are to be brought in, but they are to be one flock and one shepherd.
[10:4] 274 tn The word “sheep” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
[10:4] 275 tn Grk “because they know.”
[10:5] 276 tn Or “someone whom they do not know.”
[10:5] 278 tn Or “the voice of someone they do not know.”
[10:6] 279 sn A parable is a fairly short narrative that has symbolic meaning. The Greek word παροιμίαν (paroimian) is used again in 16:25, 29. This term does not occur in the synoptic gospels, where παραβολή (parabolh) is used. Nevertheless it is similar, denoting a short narrative with figurative or symbolic meaning.
[10:6] 281 tn Or “comprehend.”
[10:7] 282 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[10:7] 283 tn Or “I am the sheep’s door.”
[10:8] 284 tn Grk “are” (present tense).
[10:8] 285 tn Or “the sheep did not hear them.”
[10:9] 286 tn Since the Greek phrase εἰσέρχομαι καὶ ἐξέρχομαι (eisercomai kai exercomai, “come in and go out”) is in some places an idiom for living or conducting oneself in relationship to some community (“to live with, to live among” [cf. Acts 1:21; see also Num 27:17; 2 Chr 1:10]), it may well be that Jesus’ words here look forward to the new covenant community of believers. Another significant NT text is Luke 9:4, where both these verbs occur in the context of the safety and security provided by a given household for the disciples. See also BDAG 294 s.v. εἰσέρχομαι 1.b.β.
[10:9] 287 sn That is, pasture land in contrast to cultivated land.
[10:10] 288 tn That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).
[10:10] 289 tn That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.
[10:11] 290 tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).
[10:11] 291 tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”
[10:11] sn Jesus speaks openly of his vicarious death twice in this section (John 10:11, 15). Note the contrast: The thief takes the life of the sheep (10:10), the good shepherd lays down his own life for the sheep. Jesus is not speaking generally here, but specifically: He has his own substitutionary death on the cross in view. For a literal shepherd with a literal flock, the shepherd’s death would have spelled disaster for the sheep; in this instance it spells life for them (Compare the worthless shepherd of Zech 11:17, by contrast).
[10:12] 292 sn Jesus contrasts the behavior of the shepherd with that of the hired hand. This is a worker who is simply paid to do a job; he has no other interest in the sheep and is certainly not about to risk his life for them. When they are threatened, he simply runs away.
[10:12] 295 tn Or “seizes.” The more traditional rendering, “snatches,” has the idea of seizing something by force and carrying it off, which is certainly possible here. However, in the sequence in John 10:12, this action precedes the scattering of the flock of sheep, so “attacks” is preferable.
[10:13] 296 tn Grk “does not have a care for the sheep.”
[10:13] 297 tc The phrase “he runs away” is lacking in several important
[10:14] 298 tn Grk “And I.” 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.
[10:14] 299 tn The direct object is frequently omitted in Greek and must be supplied from the context. Here it could be “sheep,” but Jesus was ultimately talking about “people.”
[10:15] 300 tn Or “I die willingly.”
[10:15] 301 tn Or “on behalf of” or “for the sake of.”
[10:16] 302 tn Grk “And I have.” 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.
[10:16] 303 tn Or “that do not belong to”; Grk “that are not of.”
[10:16] 304 sn The statement I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold almost certainly refers to Gentiles. Jesus has sheep in the fold who are Jewish; there are other sheep which, while not of the same fold, belong to him also. This recalls the mission of the Son in 3:16-17, which was to save the world – not just the nation of Israel. Such an emphasis would be particularly appropriate to the author if he were writing to a non-Palestinian and primarily non-Jewish audience.
[10:16] 305 tn Grk “they will hear my voice.”
[10:16] 306 tn Grk “voice, and.”
[10:16] 307 tn The word “and” is not in the Greek text, but must be supplied to conform to English style. In Greek it is an instance of asyndeton (omission of a connective), usually somewhat emphatic.
[10:17] 308 tn Grk “Because of this the Father loves me.”
[10:17] 309 tn Or “die willingly.”
[10:18] 310 tn Or “give it up.”
[10:18] 311 tn Or “of my own accord.” “Of my own free will” is given by BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμαυτοῦ c.
[10:18] 312 tn Or “I have the right.”
[10:18] 313 tn Or “I have the right.”
[10:19] 315 tn Or perhaps “the Jewish religious leaders”; 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 could be taken to refer to the Jewish religious leaders, since the Pharisees were the last to be mentioned specifically by name, in John 9:40. However, in light of the charge about demon possession, which echoes 8:48, it is more likely that Jewish people in general (perhaps in Jerusalem, if that is understood to be the setting of the incident) are in view here.
[10:20] 316 tn Or “is insane.” To translate simply “he is mad” (so KJV, ASV, RSV; “raving mad” NIV) could give the impression that Jesus was angry, while the actual charge was madness or insanity.
[10:21] 317 tn Or “the sayings.”
[10:21] 318 tn Grk “open the eyes of the blind” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[10:21] 319 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 “can it?”).
[10:22] 320 tn That is, Hanukkah or the ‘Festival of Lights.’ The Greek name for the feast, τὰ ἐγκαίνια (ta enkainia), literally means “renewal” and was used to translate Hanukkah which means “dedication.” The Greek noun, with its related verbs, was the standard term used in the LXX for the consecration of the altar of the Tabernacle (Num 7:10-11), the altar of the temple of Solomon (1 Kgs 8:63; 2 Chr 7:5), and the altar of the second temple (Ezra 6:16). The word is thus connected with the consecration of all the houses of God in the history of the nation of Israel.
[10:22] sn The feast of the Dedication (also known as Hanukkah) was a feast celebrating annually the Maccabean victories of 165-164
[10:22] 321 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[10:23] 322 sn It was winter. The feast began on 25 Kislev, in November-December of the modern Gregorian calendar.
[10:23] 323 tn Grk “in the temple.”
[10:23] 324 tn Or “portico,” “colonnade”; Grk “stoa.”
[10:23] sn Solomon’s Portico was a covered walkway formed by rows of columns supporting a roof and open on the inner side facing the center of the temple complex.
[10:24] 325 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. The question they ask Jesus (“Are you the Christ?”) is the same one they sent and asked of John the Baptist in the desert (see John 1:19-34). See also the note on the phrase “the Jewish people” in v. 19.
[10:24] 326 tn Grk “said to him.” This has been translated as “asked” for stylistic reasons.
[10:24] 327 tn Grk “How long will you take away our life?” (an idiom which meant to keep one from coming to a conclusion about something). The use of the phrase τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν αἴρεις (thn yuchn Jhmwn airei") meaning “to keep in suspense” is not well attested, although it certainly fits the context here. In modern Greek the phrase means “to annoy, bother.”
[10:24] 328 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
[10:24] sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
[10:25] 330 tn Grk “answered them.”
[10:25] 331 tn Or “the works.”
[10:28] 332 tn Grk “And I give.”
[10:28] 333 tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”
[10:28] 334 tn Or “no one will seize.”
[10:29] 335 tn Or “is superior to all.”
[10:29] 336 tn Or “no one can seize.”
[10:30] 337 tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.
[10:30] 338 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).
[10:31] 339 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the notes on the phrases “Jewish people” in v. 19 and “Jewish leaders” in v. 24.
[10:32] 340 tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”
[10:32] 341 tn Or “good works.”
[10:33] 342 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here again the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the notes on the phrase “Jewish people” in v. 19 and “Jewish leaders” in vv. 24, 31.
[10:33] 343 tn Grk “answered him.”
[10:33] 344 tn Or “good work.”
[10:33] 345 sn This is the first time the official charge of blasphemy is voiced openly in the Fourth Gospel (although it was implicit in John 8:59).
[10:33] 346 tn Grk “and because.”
[10:33] 347 tn Grk “you, a man, make yourself to be God.”
[10:34] 348 tn Grk “answered them.”
[10:34] 349 sn A quotation from Ps 82:6. Technically the Psalms are not part of the OT “law” (which usually referred to the five books of Moses), but occasionally the term “law” was applied to the entire OT, as here. The problem in this verse concerns the meaning of Jesus’ quotation from Ps 82:6. It is important to look at the OT context: The whole line reads “I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.” Jesus will pick up on the term “sons of the Most High” in 10:36, where he refers to himself as the Son of God. The psalm was understood in rabbinic circles as an attack on unjust judges who, though they have been given the title “gods” because of their quasi-divine function of exercising judgment, are just as mortal as other men. What is the argument here? It is often thought to be as follows: If it was an OT practice to refer to men like the judges as gods, and not blasphemy, why did the Jewish authorities object when this term was applied to Jesus? This really doesn’t seem to fit the context, however, since if that were the case Jesus would not be making any claim for “divinity” for himself over and above any other human being – and therefore he would not be subject to the charge of blasphemy. Rather, this is evidently a case of arguing from the lesser to the greater, a common form of rabbinic argument. The reason the OT judges could be called gods is because they were vehicles of the word of God (cf. 10:35). But granting that premise, Jesus deserves much more than they to be called God. He is the Word incarnate, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world to save the world (10:36). In light of the prologue to the Gospel of John, it seems this interpretation would have been most natural for the author. If it is permissible to call men “gods” because they were the vehicles of the word of God, how much more permissible is it to use the word “God” of him who is the Word of God?
[10:35] 350 sn The parenthetical note And the scripture cannot be broken belongs to Jesus’ words rather than the author’s. Not only does Jesus appeal to the OT to defend himself against the charge of blasphemy, but he also adds that the scripture cannot be “broken.” In this context he does not explain precisely what is meant by “broken,” but it is not too hard to determine. Jesus’ argument depended on the exact word used in the context of Ps 82:6. If any other word for “judge” had been used in the psalm, his argument would have been meaningless. Since the scriptures do use this word in Ps 82:6, the argument is binding, because they cannot be “broken” in the sense of being shown to be in error.
[10:36] 351 tn Or “dedicated.”
[10:38] sn Jesus says that in the final analysis, the deeds he did should indicate whether he was truly from the Father. If the authorities could not believe in him, it would be better to believe in the deeds he did than not to believe at all.
[10:38] 355 tn Or “so that you may learn.”
[10:39] 356 tc It is difficult to decide between ἐζήτουν οὖν (ezhtoun oun, “then they were seeking”; Ì66 א A L W Ψ Ë1,13 33 pm lat), ἐζήτουν δέ (ezhtoun de, “now they were seeking”; Ì45 and a few versional witnesses), καὶ ἐζήτουν (kai ezhtoun, “and they were seeking”; D), and ἐζήτουν (Ì75vid B Γ Θ 700 pm). Externally, the most viable readings are ἐζήτουν οὖν and ἐζήτουν. Transcriptionally, the οὖν could have dropped out via haplography since the verb ends in the same three letters. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain the readings with δέ or καί if ἐζήτουν οὖν is original; such readings would more likely have arisen from the simple ἐζήτουν. Intrinsically, John is fond of οὖν, using it some 200 times. Further, this Gospel begins relatively few sentences without some conjunction. The minimal support for the δέ and καί readings suggests that they arose either from the lone verb reading (which would thus be prior to their respective Vorlagen but not necessarily the earliest reading) or through carelessness on the part of the scribes. Indeed, the ancestors of Ì45 and D may have committed haplography, leaving later scribes in the chain to guess at the conjunction needed. In sum, the best reading appears to be ἐζήτουν οὖν.
[10:39] 357 tn Grk “they were seeking.”
[10:39] 358 tn Grk “he departed out of their hand.”
[10:39] sn It is not clear whether the authorities simply sought to “arrest” him, or were renewing their attempt to stone him (cf. John 10:31) by seizing him and taking him out to be stoned. In either event, Jesus escaped their clutches. Nor is it clear whether Jesus’ escape is to be understood as a miracle. If so, the text gives little indication and even less description. What is clear is that until his “hour” comes, Jesus is completely safe from the hands of men: His enemies are powerless to touch him until they are permitted to do so.
[10:40] 359 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:40] 360 tn The word “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
[10:40] 361 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
[10:40] 362 tn Grk “formerly.”
[10:40] sn This refers to the city of Bethany across the Jordan River (see John 1:28).
[10:41] 363 tn Grk “And many.” 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.
[10:41] 364 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
