Yohanes 1:4

1:4 In him was life, ¹  and the life was the light of mankind. ² 

Yohanes 1:9-11

1:9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, ³  was coming into the world. ⁴  1:10 He was in the world, and the world was created ⁵  by him, but ⁶  the world did not recognize ⁷  him. 1:11 He came to what was his own, ⁸  but ⁹  his own people ¹⁰  did not receive him. ¹¹ 

Yohanes 8:12

Jesus as the Light of the World

8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, ¹²  “I am the light of the world. ¹³  The one who follows me will never ¹⁴  walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Yohanes 9:39-41

9:39 Jesus ¹⁵  said,] ¹⁶  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ¹⁷  and the ones who see may become blind.”

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ¹⁸  who were with him heard this ¹⁹  and asked him, ²⁰  “We are not blind too, are we?” ²¹  9:41 Jesus replied, ²²  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ²³  but now because you claim that you can see, ²⁴  your guilt ²⁵  remains.” ²⁶ 

Yohanes 15:22-25

15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. ²⁷  But they no longer have any excuse for their sin. 15:23 The one who hates me hates my Father too. 15:24 If I had not performed ²⁸  among them the miraculous deeds ²⁹  that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. ³⁰  But now they have seen the deeds ³¹  and have hated both me and my Father. ³²  15:25 Now this happened ³³  to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’ ³⁴ 

Matius 11:20-24

Woes on Unrepentant Cities

11:20 Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities ³⁵  in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent. 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ³⁶  Woe to you, Bethsaida! If ³⁷  the miracles ³⁸  done in you had been done in Tyre ³⁹  and Sidon, ⁴⁰  they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 11:22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! 11:23 And you, Capernaum, ⁴¹  will you be exalted to heaven? ⁴²  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ⁴³  For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. 11:24 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom ⁴⁴  on the day of judgment than for you!”

Lukas 10:11-16

10:11 ‘Even the dust of your town ⁴⁵  that clings to our feet we wipe off ⁴⁶  against you. ⁴⁷  Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come.’ ⁴⁸  10:12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom ⁴⁹  than for that town! ⁵⁰ 

10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ⁵¹  Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if ⁵²  the miracles ⁵³  done in you had been done in Tyre ⁵⁴  and Sidon, ⁵⁵  they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 10:14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you! 10:15 And you, Capernaum, ⁵⁶  will you be exalted to heaven? ⁵⁷  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ⁵⁸ 

10:16 “The one who listens ⁵⁹  to you listens to me, ⁶⁰  and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects ⁶¹  the one who sent me.” ⁶² 

Lukas 12:47

12:47 That ⁶³  servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked ⁶⁴  will receive a severe beating.

Roma 1:32

1:32 Although they fully know ⁶⁵  God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, ⁶⁶  they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. ⁶⁷ 

Roma 1:2

1:2 This gospel ⁶⁸  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Kolose 2:15-16

2:15 Disarming ⁶⁹  the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ⁷⁰ 

2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days –

Kolose 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ⁷¹  their hearts, having been knit together ⁷²  in love, may be encouraged, and that ⁷³  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ⁷⁴ 

Kolose 2:12

2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your ⁷⁵  faith in the power ⁷⁶  of God who raised him from the dead.

Ibrani 3:12-13

3:12 See to it, ⁷⁷  brothers and sisters, ⁷⁸  that none of you has ⁷⁹  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ⁸⁰  the living God. ⁸¹  3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception.

[1:4]  ¹ tn John uses ζωή (zwh) 37 times: 17 times it occurs with αἰώνιος (aiwnios), and in the remaining occurrences outside the prologue it is clear from context that “eternal” life is meant. The two uses in 1:4, if they do not refer to “eternal” life, would be the only exceptions. (Also 1 John uses ζωή 13 times, always of “eternal” life.)

[1:4]  sn An allusion to Ps 36:9, which gives significant OT background: “For with you is the fountain of life; In your light we see light.” In later Judaism, Bar 4:2 expresses a similar idea. Life, especially eternal life, will become one of the major themes of John’s Gospel.

[1:4]  ² tn Or “humanity”; Grk “of men” (but ἄνθρωπος [anqrwpo"] is used in a generic sense here, not restricted to males only, thus “mankind,” “humanity”).

[1:9]  ³ tn Grk “every man” (but in a generic sense, “every person,” or “every human being”).

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Or “He was the true light, who gives light to everyone who comes into the world.” The participle ἐρχόμενον (ercomenon) may be either (1) neuter nominative, agreeing with τὸ φῶς (to fw"), or (2) masculine accusative, agreeing with ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon). Option (1) results in a periphrastic imperfect with ἦν (hn), ἦν τὸ φῶς… ἐρχόμενον, referring to the incarnation. Option (2) would have the participle modifying ἄνθρωπον and referring to the true light as enlightening “every man who comes into the world.” Option (2) has some rabbinic parallels: The phrase “all who come into the world” is a fairly common expression for “every man” (cf. Leviticus Rabbah 31.6). But (1) must be preferred here, because: (a) In the next verse the light is in the world; it is logical for v. 9 to speak of its entering the world; (b) in other passages Jesus is described as “coming into the world” (6:14, 9:39, 11:27, 16:28) and in 12:46 Jesus says: ἐγὼ φῶς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐλήλυθα (egw fw" ei" ton kosmon elhluqa); (c) use of a periphrastic participle with the imperfect tense is typical Johannine style: 1:28, 2:6, 3:23, 10:40, 11:1, 13:23, 18:18 and 25. In every one of these except 13:23 the finite verb is first and separated by one or more intervening words from the participle.

[1:9]  sn In v. 9 the world (κόσμος, kosmos) is mentioned for the first time. This is another important theme word for John. Generally, the world as a Johannine concept does not refer to the totality of creation (the universe), although there are exceptions at 11:9. 17:5, 24, 21:25, but to the world of human beings and human affairs. Even in 1:10 the world created through the Logos is a world capable of knowing (or reprehensibly not knowing) its Creator. Sometimes the world is further qualified as this world (ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, Jo kosmos Joutos) as in 8:23, 9:39, 11:9, 12:25, 31; 13:1, 16:11, 18:36. This is not merely equivalent to the rabbinic phrase “this present age” (ὁ αἰών οὗτος, Jo aiwn Joutos) and contrasted with “the world to come.” For John it is also contrasted to a world other than this one, already existing; this is the lower world, corresponding to which there is a world above (see especially 8:23, 18:36). Jesus appears not only as the Messiah by means of whom an eschatological future is anticipated (as in the synoptic gospels) but also as an envoy from the heavenly world to this world.

[1:10]  ⁵ tn Or “was made”; Grk “came into existence.”

[1:10]  ⁶ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

[1:10]  ⁷ tn Or “know.”

[1:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “to his own things.”

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn “People” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[1:11]  ¹¹ sn His own people did not receive him. There is a subtle irony here: When the λόγος (logos) came into the world, he came to his own (τὰ ἴδια, ta idia, literally “his own things”) and his own people (οἱ ἴδιοι, Joi idioi), who should have known and received him, but they did not. This time John does not say that “his own” did not know him, but that they did not receive him (παρέλαβον, parelabon). The idea is one not of mere recognition, but of acceptance and welcome.

[8:12]  ¹² tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”

[8:12]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.

[9:39]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* W b sa^ms 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 mss, however, include these words. The omission may have been occasioned by parablepsis (both vv. 37 and 39 begin with “Jesus said to him”), though it is difficult to account for such an error across such a wide variety of witnesses. On the other hand, the longer reading appears to be motivated by liturgical concerns (so R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:375), since the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew, “I worship”) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. If these words were authentic here, this would be the only place in John’s Gospel where Jesus is the explicit object of προσκυνέω. Even if these words are not authentic, such an omission would nevertheless hardly diminish John’s high Christology (cf. 1:1; 5:18-23; 14:6-10; 20:28), nor the implicit worship of him by Thomas (20:28). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult, and the included words may reflect a very early tradition about the blind man’s response to Jesus.

[9:39]  ¹⁷ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[9:40]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ²³ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ²⁴ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ²⁵ tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ²⁶ 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).

[15:22]  ²⁷ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:22]  sn Jesus now describes the guilt of the world. He came to these people with both words (15:22) and sign-miracles (15:24), yet they remained obstinate in their unbelief, and this sin of unbelief was without excuse. Jesus was not saying that if he had not come and spoken to these people they would be sinless; rather he was saying that if he had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of the sin of rejecting him and the Father he came to reveal. Rejecting Jesus is the one ultimate sin for which there can be no forgiveness, because the one who has committed this sin has at the same time rejected the only cure that exists. Jesus spoke similarly to the Pharisees in 9:41: “If you were blind, you would have no sin (same phrase as here), but now you say ‘We see’ your sin remains.”

[15:24]  ²⁸ tn Or “If I had not done.”

[15:24]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the works.”

[15:24]  ³⁰ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:24]  ³¹ tn The words “the deeds” are supplied to clarify from context what was seen. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[15:24]  ³² tn Or “But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.” It is possible to understand both the “seeing” and the “hating” to refer to both Jesus and the Father, but this has the world “seeing” the Father, which seems alien to the Johannine Jesus. (Some point out John 14:9 as an example, but this is addressed to the disciples, not to the world.) It is more likely that the “seeing” refers to the miraculous deeds mentioned in the first half of the verse. Such an understanding of the first “both – and” construction is apparently supported by BDF §444.3.

[15:25]  ³³ tn The words “this happened” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to complete an ellipsis.

[15:25]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 35:19 and Ps 69:4. As a technical term law (νόμος, nomos) is usually restricted to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT), but here it must have a broader reference, since the quotation is from Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4. The latter is the more likely source for the quoted words, since it is cited elsewhere in John’s Gospel (2:17 and 19:29, in both instances in contexts associated with Jesus’ suffering and death).

[11:20]  ³⁵ tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis) which can be translated “city” or “town.” “Cities” was chosen here to emphasize the size of the places Jesus’ mentions in the following verses.

[11:21]  ³⁶ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[11:21]  ³⁷ tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[11:21]  ³⁸ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[11:21]  ³⁹ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:21]  ⁴⁰ sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[11:21]  map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:23]  ⁴¹ sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[11:23]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[11:23]  ⁴² tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

[11:23]  ⁴³ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Luke 10:15; 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).

[11:24]  ⁴⁴ sn The allusion to Sodom, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious, and will result in more severe punishment, than the worst sins of the old era. The phrase region of Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[10:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “city.”

[10:11]  ⁴⁶ sn See Luke 9:5, where the verb is different but the meaning is the same. This was a sign of rejection.

[10:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Here ὑμῖν (Jumin) has been translated as a dative of disadvantage.

[10:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “has come near.” As in v. 9 (see above), the combination of ἐγγίζω (engizw) with the preposition ἐπί (epi) is decisive in showing that the sense is “has come” (see BDAG 270 s.v. ἐγγίζω 2, and W. R. Hutton, “The Kingdom of God Has Come,” ExpTim 64 [Dec 1952]: 89-91).

[10:12]  ⁴⁹ sn The allusion to Sodom, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment. The noun Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[10:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “city.”

[10:13]  ⁵¹ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[10:13]  ⁵² tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[10:13]  ⁵³ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[10:13]  ⁵⁴ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:13]  ⁵⁵ sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[10:13]  map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:15]  ⁵⁶ sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[10:15]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[10:15]  ⁵⁷ tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

[10:15]  ⁵⁸ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).

[10:16]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “hears you”; but as the context of vv. 8-9 makes clear, it is response that is the point. In contemporary English, “listen to” is one way to express this function (L&N 31.56).

[10:16]  ⁶⁰ sn Jesus linked himself to the disciples’ message: Responding to the disciples (listens to you) counts as responding to him.

[10:16]  ⁶¹ tn The double mention of rejection in this clause – ἀθετῶν ἀθετεῖ (aqetwn aqetei) in the Greek text – keeps up the emphasis of the section.

[10:16]  ⁶² sn The one who sent me refers to God.

[12:47]  ⁶³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “or do according to his will”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This example deals with the slave who knew what the command was and yet failed to complete it.

[1:32]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “who, knowing…, not only do them but also approve…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:32]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “are worthy of death.”

[1:32]  ⁶⁷ sn “Vice lists” like vv. 28-32 can be found elsewhere in the NT in Matt 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and 1 Pet 4:3. An example from the intertestamental period can be found in Wis 14:25-26.

[1:2]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

[2:15]  ⁶⁹ tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.

[2:15]  ⁷⁰ tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tw staurw) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrhsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph – the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).

[2:2]  ⁷¹ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ⁷² tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ⁷³ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ⁷⁴ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[2:12]  ⁷⁵ tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:12]  ⁷⁶ tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”

[3:12]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “take care.”

[3:12]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:12]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”

[3:12]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”

[3:12]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”