Mazmur 25:6

25:6 Remember ¹  your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord,

for you have always acted in this manner. ² 

Yesaya 63:7

A Prayer for Divine Intervention

63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,

of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.

I will tell about all ³  the Lord did for us,

the many good things he did for the family of Israel, ⁴ 

because of ⁵  his compassion and great faithfulness.

Yesaya 63:15

63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,

from your holy, majestic palace!

Where are your zeal ⁶  and power?

Do not hold back your tender compassion! ⁷ 

Yohanes 3:16

3:16 For this is the way ⁸  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ⁹  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ¹⁰  but have eternal life. ¹¹ 

Efesus 2:4-5

2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ¹²  –

Filipi 1:8

1:8 For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Filipi 2:1

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ¹³  any affection or mercy, ¹⁴ 

Kolose 3:12

Exhortation to Unity and Love

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, ¹⁵  kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

Kolose 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Yohanes 3:17

3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, ¹⁶  but that the world should be saved through him.

Yohanes 4:9-10

4:9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew ¹⁷  – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water ¹⁸  to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common ¹⁹  with Samaritans.) ²⁰ 

4:10 Jesus answered ²¹  her, “If you had known ²²  the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water ²³  to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ²⁴ 

[25:6]  ¹ tn That is, “remember” with the intention of repeating.

[25:6]  ² tn Heb “for from antiquity [are] they.”

[63:7]  ³ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[63:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”

[63:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to.”

[63:15]  ⁶ tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.

[63:15]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (Joutws) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16,” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (Jwste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.

[3:16]  ⁹ tn Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).

[3:16]  ¹⁰ tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.

[3:16]  ¹¹ sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

[2:5]  ¹² tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[2:1]  ¹³ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[3:12]  ¹⁵ tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.

[3:17]  ¹⁶ sn That is, “to judge the world to be guilty and liable to punishment.”

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “a Judean.” Here BDAG 478 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαίος 2.a states, “Judean (with respect to birth, nationality, or cult).” The same term occurs in the plural later in this verse. In one sense “Judean” would work very well in the translation here, since the contrast is between residents of the two geographical regions. However, since in the context of this chapter the discussion soon becomes a religious rather than a territorial one (cf. vv. 19-26), the translation “Jew” has been retained here and in v. 22.

[4:9]  ¹⁸ tn “Water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:9]  ¹⁹ tn D. Daube (“Jesus and the Samaritan Woman: the Meaning of συγχράομαι [Jn 4:7ff],” JBL 69 [1950]: 137-47) suggests this meaning.

[4:9]  sn The background to the statement use nothing in common is the general assumption among Jews that the Samaritans were ritually impure or unclean. Thus a Jew who used a drinking vessel after a Samaritan had touched it would become ceremonially unclean.

[4:9]  ²⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[4:10]  ²¹ tn Grk “answered and said to her.”

[4:10]  ²² tn Or “if you knew.”

[4:10]  ²³ tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:10]  ²⁴ tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.

[4:10]  sn The word translated living is used in Greek of flowing water, which leads to the woman’s misunderstanding in the following verse. She thought Jesus was referring to some unknown source of drinkable water.