Yesaya 30:21

30:21 You ¹  will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,

“This is the correct ²  way, walk in it,”

whether you are heading to the right or the left.

Mazmur 19:7

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ³ 

The rules set down by the Lord ⁴  are reliable ⁵ 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ⁶ 

Mazmur 25:8-9

25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; ⁷ 

that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. ⁸ 

25:9 May he show ⁹  the humble what is right! ¹⁰ 

May he teach ¹¹  the humble his way!

Mazmur 119:130

119:130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. ¹² 

They give ¹³  insight to the untrained. ¹⁴ 

Amsal 4:18

4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, ¹⁵ 

growing brighter and brighter ¹⁶  until full day. ¹⁷ 

Amsal 8:20

8:20 I walk in the path of righteousness,

in the pathway of justice,

Yeremia 32:39-40

32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ¹⁸  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ¹⁹  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ²⁰  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ²¹  they will never again turn ²²  away from me.

Yeremia 50:4-5

50:4 “When that time comes,” says the Lord, ²³ 

“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.

They will come back with tears of repentance

as they seek the Lord their God. ²⁴ 

50:5 They will ask the way to Zion;

they will turn their faces toward it.

They will come ²⁵  and bind themselves to the Lord

in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten. ²⁶ 

Yohanes 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ²⁷  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ²⁸ 

Yohanes 7:1

The Feast of Tabernacles

7:1 After this ²⁹  Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. ³⁰  He ³¹  stayed out of Judea ³²  because the Jewish leaders ³³  wanted ³⁴  to kill him.

Yohanes 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ³⁵  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ³⁶  for forty-six years, ³⁷  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

Yohanes 2:1

Turning Water into Wine

2:1 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana ³⁸  in Galilee. ³⁹  Jesus’ mother ⁴⁰  was there,

[30:21]  ¹ tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:21]  ² tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[19:7]  ³ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ⁵ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ⁶ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.

[25:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “good and just.”

[25:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”

[25:9]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive; the psalmist expresses his prayer.

[25:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “may he guide the humble into justice.” The Hebrew term עֲנָוִים (’anavim, “humble”) usually refers to the oppressed, but in this context, where the psalmist confesses his sin and asks for moral guidance, it apparently refers to sinners who humble themselves before God and seek deliverance from their sinful condition.

[25:9]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is interpreted as a jussive (it stands parallel to the jussive form, “may he guide”).

[119:130]  ¹² tn Heb “the doorway of your words gives light.” God’s “words” refer here to the instructions in his law (see vv. 9, 57).

[119:130]  ¹³ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doorway] gives.”

[119:130]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Pss 19:7; 116:6.

[4:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like light of brightness.” This construction is an attributive genitive: “bright light.” The word “light” (אוֹר, ’or) refers to the early morning light or the dawn (BDB 21 s.v.). The point of the simile is that the course of life that the righteous follow is like the clear, bright morning light. It is illumined, clear, easy to follow, and healthy and safe – the opposite of what darkness represents.

[4:18]  ¹⁶ tn The construction uses the Qal active participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) in a metaphorical sense to add the idea of continuance or continually to the participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh). Here the path was growing light, but the added participle signifies continually.

[4:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.

[32:39]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[32:39]  sn Other passages also speak about the “single-minded purpose” (Heb “one heart”) and “living in a way that shows respect for me.” Deut 30:6-8 speaks of a circumcised heart that will love him, obey him, and keep his commands. Ezek 11:20-21 speaks of the removal of a stony heart and the giving of a single-minded, “fleshy” heart and a new spirit that will follow his decrees and keep his laws. Ezek 36:26-27 speaks of the removal of a stony heart and the giving of a new, “fleshy” heart and a new spirit and an infusion of God’s own spirit so that they will be able to follow his decrees and keep his laws. Jer 24:7 speaks of the giving of a (new) heart so that they might “know” him. And Jer 31:33 speaks of God writing his law on their hearts. All this shows that there is a new motivation and a new enablement for fulfilling the old stipulations, especially that of whole-hearted devotion to him (cf. Deut 6:4-6).

[32:40]  ¹⁹ 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]  sn For other references to the lasting (or everlasting) nature of the new covenant see Isa 55:3; 61:8; Jer 50:5; Ezek 16:60; 37:26. The new covenant appears to be similar to the ancient Near Eastern covenants of grants whereby a great king gave a loyal vassal a grant of land or dynastic dominion over a realm in perpetuity in recognition of past loyalty. The right to such was perpetual as long as the great king exercised dominion, but the actual enjoyment could be forfeited by individual members of the vassal’s dynasty. The best example of such an covenant in the OT is the Davidic covenant where the dynasty was given perpetual right to rule over Israel. Individual kings might be disciplined and their right to enjoy dominion taken away, but the dynasty still maintained the right to rule (see 2 Sam 23:5; Ps 89:26-37 and note especially 1 Kgs 11:23-39). The new covenant appears to be the renewal of God’s promise to Abraham to always be the God of his descendants and for his descendants to be his special people (Gen 17:7) something they appear to have forfeited by their disobedience (see Hos 1:9). However, under the new covenant he promises to never stop doing them good and grants them a new heart, a new spirit, the infusion of his own spirit, and the love and reverence necessary to keep from turning away from him. The new covenant is not based on their past loyalty but on his gracious forgiveness and his gifts.

[32:40]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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.

[50:4]  ²³ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[50:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together. They shall go, weeping as they go, and they will seek the Lord their God.” The concept of “seeking” the Lord often has to do with seeking the Lord in worship (by sacrifice [Hos 5:6; 2 Chr 11:16]; prayer [Zech 8:21, 22; 2 Sam 12:16; Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:4]). In Hos 7:10 it is in parallel with returning to the Lord. In Ps 69:6 it is in parallel with hoping in or trusting in the Lord. Perhaps the most helpful parallels here, however, are Hos 3:5 (in comparison with Jer 30:9) and 2 Chr 15:15 where it is in the context of a covenant commitment to be loyal to the Lord which is similar to the context here (see the next verse). The translation is admittedly paraphrastic but “seeking the Lord” does not mean here looking for God as though he were merely a person to be found.

[50:5]  ²⁵ tc The translation here assumes that the Hebrew בֹּאוּ (bo’u; a Qal imperative masculine plural) should be read בָּאוּ (ba’u; a Qal perfect third plural). This reading is presupposed by the Greek version of Aquila, the Latin version, and the Targum (see BHS note a, which mistakenly assumes that the form must be imperfect).

[50:5]  ²⁶ sn See Jer 32:40 and the study note there for the nature of this lasting agreement.

[7:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ²⁸ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[7:1]  ²⁹ sn Again, the transition is indicated by the imprecise temporal indicator After this. Clearly, though, the author has left out much of the events of Jesus’ ministry, because chap. 6 took place near the Passover (6:4). This would have been the Passover between winter/spring of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion (assuming a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), or the Passover of winter/spring a.d. 29, assuming a date of a.d. 30 for the crucifixion.

[7:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Jesus was traveling around in Galilee.”

[7:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “For he.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[7:1]  ³² tn Grk “he did not want to travel around in Judea.”

[7:1]  ³³ 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 should be restricted to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents.

[7:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “were seeking.”

[2:20]  ³⁵ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ³⁶ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ³⁷ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.

[2:1]  ³⁸ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:1]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother.”