Galatia 4:19

4:19 My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! ¹ 

Galatia 4:1

4:1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, ²  is no different from a slave, though he is the owner ³  of everything.

Yohanes 2:1

Turning Water into Wine

2:1 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana ⁴  in Galilee. ⁵  Jesus’ mother ⁶  was there,

Yohanes 4:4

Conversation With a Samaritan Woman

4:4 But he had ⁷  to pass through Samaria. ⁸ 

Yohanes 5:21

5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, ⁹  so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. ¹⁰ 

[4:19]  ¹ tn Grk “My children, for whom I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you.” The relative clauses in English do not pick up the emotional force of Paul’s language here (note “tone of voice” in v. 20, indicating that he is passionately concerned for them); hence, the translation has been altered slightly to capture the connotative power of Paul’s plea.

[4:19]  sn That is, until Christ’s nature or character is formed in them (see L&N 58.4).

[4:1]  ² tn Grk “a small child.” The Greek term νήπιος (nhpios) refers to a young child, no longer a helpless infant but probably not more than three or four years old (L&N 9.43). The point in context, though, is that this child is too young to take any responsibility for the management of his assets.

[4:1]  ³ tn Grk “master” or “lord” (κύριος, kurios).

[2:1]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother.”

[4:4]  ⁷ sn Travel through Samaria was not geographically necessary; the normal route for Jews ran up the east side of the Jordan River (Transjordan). Although some take the impersonal verb had to (δεῖ, dei) here to indicate logical necessity only, normally in John’s Gospel its use involves God’s will or plan (3:7, 3:14, 3:30, 4:4, 4:20, 4:24, 9:4, 10:16, 12:34, 20:9).

[4:4]  ⁸ sn Samaria. The Samaritans were descendants of 2 groups: (1) The remnant of native Israelites who were not deported after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 b.c.; (2) Foreign colonists brought in from Babylonia and Media by the Assyrian conquerors to settle the land with inhabitants who would be loyal to Assyria. There was theological opposition between the Samaritans and the Jews because the former refused to worship in Jerusalem. After the exile the Samaritans put obstacles in the way of the Jewish restoration of Jerusalem, and in the 2nd century b.c. the Samaritans helped the Syrians in their wars against the Jews. In 128 b.c. the Jewish high priest retaliated and burned the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim.

[5:21]  ⁹ tn Grk “and makes them live.”

[5:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”