Yohanes 10:35

10:35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken), ¹ 

Yohanes 12:38-40

12:38 so that the word ²  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ³  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ⁴  been revealed?” ⁵  12:39 For this reason they could not believe, ⁶  because again Isaiah said,

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ⁷ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ⁸ 

and turn to me, ⁹  and I would heal them.” ¹⁰ 

Yohanes 15:25

15:25 Now this happened ¹¹  to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’ ¹² 

Yohanes 17:12

17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe ¹³  and watched over them ¹⁴  in your name ¹⁵  that you have given me. Not one ¹⁶  of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, ¹⁷  so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ¹⁸ 

Yohanes 18:9

18:9 He said this ¹⁹  to fulfill the word he had spoken, ²⁰  “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” ²¹ 

[10:35]  ¹ sn The parenthetical note And the scripture cannot be broken belongs to Jesus’ words rather than the author’s. Not only does Jesus appeal to the OT to defend himself against the charge of blasphemy, but he also adds that the scripture cannot be “broken.” In this context he does not explain precisely what is meant by “broken,” but it is not too hard to determine. Jesus’ argument depended on the exact word used in the context of Ps 82:6. If any other word for “judge” had been used in the psalm, his argument would have been meaningless. Since the scriptures do use this word in Ps 82:6, the argument is binding, because they cannot be “broken” in the sense of being shown to be in error.

[12:38]  ² tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ³ tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ⁴ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[12:39]  ⁶ sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.

[12:40]  ⁷ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁸ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁹ tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[15:25]  ¹¹ tn The words “this happened” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to complete an ellipsis.

[15:25]  ¹² 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).

[17:12]  ¹³ tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

[17:12]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and guarded them.”

[17:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

[17:12]  sn The one destined to destruction refers to Judas. Clearly in John’s Gospel Judas is portrayed as a tool of Satan. He is described as “the devil” in 6:70. In 13:2 Satan put into Judas’ heart the idea of betraying Jesus, and 13:27 Satan himself entered Judas. Immediately after this Judas left the company of Jesus and the other disciples and went out into the realm of darkness (13:30). Cf. 2 Thess 2:3, where this same Greek phrase (“the son of destruction”; see tn above) is used to describe the man through whom Satan acts to rebel against God in the last days.

[17:12]  ¹⁸ sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.

[18:9]  ¹⁹ tn The words “He said this” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. There is an ellipsis in the Greek text that must be supplied for the modern English reader at this point.

[18:9]  ²⁰ sn This expression is similar to John 6:39 and John 17:12.

[18:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “Of the ones whom you gave me, I did not lose one of them.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.

[18:9]  sn This action of Jesus on behalf of his disciples is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of Jesus’ own words: “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” Here it is Jesus’ own words, rather than the OT scriptures, which are quoted. This same formula will be used by the author again of Jesus’ words in 18:32, but the verb is used elsewhere in the Fourth Gospel to describe the NT fulfillment of OT passages (12:38, 13:18, 15:25, 17:12, 19:24, and 19:36). It is a bit difficult to determine the exact referent, since the words of Jesus quoted in this verse are not an exact reproduction of a saying of Jesus elsewhere in John’s Gospel. Although some have identified the saying with John 6:39, the closest parallel is in 17:12, where the betrayer, Judas, is specifically excluded. The words quoted here in 18:9 appear to be a free rendition of 17:12.