Yohanes 15:22-24

15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. ¹  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 ²  among them the miraculous deeds ³  that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. ⁴  But now they have seen the deeds ⁵  and have hated both me and my Father. ⁶ 

Amsal 26:12

26:12 Do you see ⁷  a man wise in his own eyes? ⁸ 

There is more hope for a fool ⁹  than for him.

Yesaya 5:21

5:21 Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, ¹⁰ 

those who think they possess understanding. ¹¹ 

Yeremia 2:35

2:35 you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong,

so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’

But, watch out! ¹²  I will bring down judgment on you

because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’

Lukas 12:47

12:47 That ¹³  servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked ¹⁴  will receive a severe beating.

Lukas 18:14

18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified ¹⁵  rather than the Pharisee. ¹⁶  For everyone who exalts ¹⁷  himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Ibrani 10:26

10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, ¹⁸ 

Ibrani 10:1

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. ¹⁹ 

Yohanes 1:8-10

1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify ²⁰  about the light. 1:9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, ²¹  was coming into the world. ²²  1:10 He was in the world, and the world was created ²³  by him, but ²⁴  the world did not recognize ²⁵  him.

[15:22]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “If I had not done.”

[15:24]  ³ tn Grk “the works.”

[15:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:24]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[26:12]  ⁷ tn The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.

[26:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[26:12]  sn The subject matter of the verse is the person who is wise in his own opinion. Self-conceit is actually part of the folly that the book of Proverbs criticizes; those who think they are wise even though they are not are impossible to help. For someone to think he is wise when he is not makes him a conceited ignoramus (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 268).

[26:12]  ⁹ sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool – he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.

[5:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes.” See the note at v. 8.

[5:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[who] before their faces are understanding.”

[5:21]  sn Verses 18-21 contain three “woe-sayings” that are purely accusatory and have no formal announcement of judgment attached (as in the “woe-sayings” recorded in vv. 8-17). While this lack of symmetry is odd, it has a clear rhetorical purpose. Having established a pattern in vv. 8-17, the prophet deviates from it in vv. 18-21 to grab his audience’s attention. By placing the “woes” in rapid succession and heaping up the accusatory elements, he highlights the people’s guilt and introduces an element of tension and anticipation. One is reasonably certain that judgment will come, and when it does, it will be devastating. This anticipated devastation is described in frightening detail after the sixth and final woe (see vv. 22-30).

[2:35]  ¹² tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle often translated “behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh) in a meaningful way in this context. See further the translator’s note on the word “really” in 1:6.

[12:47]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ¹⁴ 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.

[18:14]  ¹⁵ sn The prayer that was heard and honored was the one given with humility; in a surprising reversal it was the tax collector who went down to his home justified.

[18:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the other”; the referent (the Pharisee, v. 10) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:14]  ¹⁷ sn Everyone who exalts himself. See Luke 14:11. Jesus often called for humility and condemned those who sought honor.

[10:26]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.

[10:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “those who approach.”

[1:8]  ²⁰ tn Or “to bear witness.”

[1:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “every man” (but in a generic sense, “every person,” or “every human being”).

[1:9]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Or “was made”; Grk “came into existence.”

[1:10]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

[1:10]  ²⁵ tn Or “know.”