Yohanes 3:17

3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, ¹  but that the world should be saved through him.

Yohanes 5:22

5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge ²  anyone, but has assigned ³  all judgment to the Son,

Yohanes 5:24

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴  the one who hears ⁵  my message ⁶  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, ⁷  but has crossed over from death to life.

Yohanes 5:27

5:27 and he has granted the Son ⁸  authority to execute judgment, ⁹  because he is the Son of Man.

Yohanes 5:30

5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. ¹⁰  Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, ¹¹  because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. ¹² 

Yohanes 7:24

7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance, ¹³  but judge with proper ¹⁴  judgment.”

Yohanes 8:15-16

8:15 You people ¹⁵  judge by outward appearances; ¹⁶  I do not judge anyone. ¹⁷  8:16 But if I judge, my evaluation is accurate, ¹⁸  because I am not alone when I judge, ¹⁹  but I and the Father who sent me do so together. ²⁰ 

Yohanes 8:26

8:26 I have many things to say and to judge ²¹  about you, but the Father ²²  who sent me is truthful, ²³  and the things I have heard from him I speak to the world.” ²⁴ 

Yohanes 8:50

8:50 I am not trying to get ²⁵  praise for myself. ²⁶  There is one who demands ²⁷  it, and he also judges. ²⁸ 

Yohanes 9:39

9:39 Jesus ²⁹  said,] ³⁰  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ³¹  and the ones who see may become blind.”

Yohanes 12:31

12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world ³²  will be driven out. ³³ 

Yohanes 12:47-48

12:47 If anyone ³⁴  hears my words and does not obey them, ³⁵  I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ³⁶  12:48 The one who rejects me and does not accept ³⁷  my words has a judge; ³⁸  the word ³⁹  I have spoken will judge him at the last day.

Yohanes 16:8

16:8 And when he ⁴⁰  comes, he will prove the world wrong ⁴¹  concerning sin and ⁴²  righteousness and ⁴³  judgment –

Yohanes 16:11

16:11 and concerning judgment, ⁴⁴  because ⁴⁵  the ruler of this world ⁴⁶  has been condemned. ⁴⁷ 

Yohanes 18:31

18:31 Pilate told them, ⁴⁸  “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him ⁴⁹  according to your own law!” ⁵⁰  The Jewish leaders ⁵¹  replied, ⁵²  “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” ⁵³ 

[3:17]  ¹ sn That is, “to judge the world to be guilty and liable to punishment.”

[5:22]  ² tn Or “condemn.”

[5:22]  ³ tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”

[5:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:24]  ⁵ tn Or “obeys.”

[5:24]  ⁶ tn Or “word.”

[5:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

[5:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “him.”

[5:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “authority to judge.”

[5:30]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “nothing from myself.”

[5:30]  ¹¹ tn Or “righteous,” or “proper.”

[5:30]  ¹² tn That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”

[7:24]  ¹³ tn Or “based on sight.”

[7:24]  ¹⁴ tn Or “honest”; Grk “righteous.”

[8:15]  ¹⁵ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the pronoun and verb (“judge”) in Greek are plural.

[8:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “judge according to external things”; Grk “according to the flesh.” These translations are given by BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 5.

[8:15]  ¹⁷ sn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement “I do not judge anyone”? It is clear that Jesus did judge (even in the next verse). The point is that he didn’t practice the same kind of judgment that the Pharisees did. Their kind of judgment was condemnatory. They tried to condemn people. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save it (3:17). Nevertheless, and not contradictory to this, the coming of Jesus did bring judgment, because it forced people to make a choice. Would they accept Jesus or reject him? Would they come to the light or shrink back into the darkness? As they responded, so were they judged – just as 3:19-21 previously stated. One’s response to Jesus determines one’s eternal destiny.

[8:16]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “my judgment is true.”

[8:16]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “when I judge” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.

[8:16]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “do so together” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.

[8:26]  ²¹ tn Or “I have many things to pronounce in judgment about you.” The two Greek infinitives could be understood as a hendiadys, resulting in one phrase.

[8:26]  ²² tn Grk “the one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:26]  ²³ tn Grk “true” (in the sense of one who always tells the truth).

[8:26]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and what things I have heard from him, these things I speak to the world.”

[8:50]  ²⁵ tn Grk “I am not seeking.”

[8:50]  ²⁶ tn Grk “my glory.”

[8:50]  ²⁷ tn Grk “who seeks.”

[8:50]  ²⁸ tn Or “will be the judge.”

[9:39]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[12:31]  ³² sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.

[12:31]  ³³ tn Or “will be thrown out.” This translation regards the future passive ἐκβληθήσεται (ekblhqhsetai) as referring to an event future to the time of speaking.

[12:31]  sn The phrase driven out must refer to Satan’s loss of authority over this world. This must be in principle rather than in immediate fact, since 1 John 5:19 states that the whole world (still) lies in the power of the evil one (a reference to Satan). In an absolute sense the reference is proleptic. The coming of Jesus’ hour (his crucifixion, death, resurrection, and exaltation to the Father) marks the end of Satan’s domain and brings about his defeat, even though that defeat has not been ultimately worked out in history yet and awaits the consummation of the age.

[12:47]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And if anyone”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

[12:47]  ³⁵ tn Or “guard them,” “keep them.”

[12:47]  ³⁶ sn Cf. John 3:17.

[12:48]  ³⁷ tn Or “does not receive.”

[12:48]  ³⁸ tn Grk “has one who judges him.”

[12:48]  ³⁹ tn Or “message.”

[16:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “when that one.”

[16:8]  ⁴¹ tn Or “will convict the world,” or “will expose the world.” The conjunction περί (peri) is used in 16:8-11 in the sense of “concerning” or “with respect to.” But what about the verb ἐλέγχω (elencw)? The basic meanings possible for this word are (1) “to convict or convince someone of something”; (2) “to bring to light or expose something; and (3) “to correct or punish someone.” The third possibility may be ruled out in these verses on contextual grounds since punishment is not implied. The meaning is often understood to be that the Paraclete will “convince” the world of its error, so that some at least will repent. But S. Mowinckel (“Die Vorstellungen des Spätjudentums vom heiligen Geist als Fürsprecher und der johanneische Paraklet,” ZNW 32 [1933]: 97-130) demonstrated that the verb ἐλέγχω did not necessarily imply the conversion or reform of the guilty party. This means it is far more likely that conviction in something of a legal sense is intended here (as in a trial). The only certainty is that the accused party is indeed proven guilty (not that they will acknowledge their guilt). Further confirmation of this interpretation is seen in John 14:17 where the world cannot receive the Paraclete and in John 3:20, where the evildoer deliberately refuses to come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed for what they really are (significantly, the verb in John 3:20 is also ἐλέγχω). However, if one wishes to adopt the meaning “prove guilty” for the use of ἐλέγχω in John 16:8 a difficulty still remains: While this meaning fits the first statement in 16:9 – the world is ‘proven guilty’ concerning its sin of refusing to believe in Jesus – it does not fit so well the second and third assertions in vv. 10-11. Thus R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:705) suggests the more general meaning “prove wrong” which would fit in all three cases. This may be so, but there may also be a developmental aspect to the meaning, which would then shift from v. 9 to v. 10 to v. 11.

[16:8]  ⁴² tn Grk “and concerning.”

[16:8]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and concerning.”

[16:11]  ⁴⁴ sn The world is proven wrong concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. Jesus’ righteousness before the Father, as proven by his return to the Father, his glorification, constitutes a judgment against Satan. This is parallel to the judgment of the world which Jesus provokes in 3:19-21: Jesus’ presence in the world as the Light of the world provokes the judgment of those in the world, because as they respond to the light (either coming to Jesus or rejecting him) so are they judged. That judgment is in a sense already realized. So it is here, where the judgment of Satan is already realized in Jesus’ glorification. This does not mean that Satan does not continue to be active in the world, and to exercise some power over it, just as in 3:19-21 the people in the world who have rejected Jesus and thus incurred judgment continue on in their opposition to Jesus for a time. In both cases the judgment is not immediately executed. But it is certain.

[16:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “that.”

[16:11]  ⁴⁶ sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.

[16:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “judged.”

[18:31]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “Then Pilate said to them.”

[18:31]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “judge him.” For the translation “pass judgment on him” see R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:848).

[18:31]  ⁵⁰ sn Pilate, as the sole representative of Rome in a troubled area, was probably in Jerusalem for the Passover because of the danger of an uprising (the normal residence for the Roman governor was in Caesarea as mentioned in Acts 23:35). At this time on the eve of the feast he would have been a busy and perhaps even a worried man. It is not surprising that he offered to hand Jesus back over to the Jewish authorities to pass judgment on him. It may well be that Pilate realized when no specific charge was mentioned that he was dealing with an internal dispute over some religious matter. Pilate wanted nothing to do with such matters, as the statement “Pass judgment on him according to your own law!” indicates. As far as the author is concerned, this points out who was really responsible for Jesus’ death: The Roman governor Pilate would have had nothing to do with it if he had not been pressured by the Jewish religious authorities, upon whom the real responsibility rested.

[18:31]  ⁵¹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12.

[18:31]  ⁵² tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:31]  ⁵³ tn Grk “It is not permitted to us to kill anyone.”

[18:31]  sn The historical background behind the statement We cannot legally put anyone to death is difficult to reconstruct. Scholars are divided over whether this statement in the Fourth Gospel accurately reflects the judicial situation between the Jewish authorities and the Romans in 1st century Palestine. It appears that the Roman governor may have given the Jews the power of capital punishment for specific offenses, some of them religious (the death penalty for Gentiles caught trespassing in the inner courts of the temple, for example). It is also pointed out that the Jewish authorities did carry out a number of executions, some of them specifically pertaining to Christians (Stephen, according to Acts 7:58-60; and James the Just, who was stoned in the 60s according to Josephus, Ant. 20.9.1 [20.200]). But Stephen’s death may be explained as a result of “mob violence” rather than a formal execution, and as Josephus in the above account goes on to point out, James was executed in the period between two Roman governors, and the high priest at the time was subsequently punished for the action. Two studies by A. N. Sherwin-White (Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, 1-47; and “The Trial of Christ,” Historicity and Chronology in the New Testament [SPCKTC], 97-116) have tended to support the accuracy of John’s account. He concluded that the Romans kept very close control of the death penalty for fear that in the hands of rebellious locals such power could be used to eliminate factions favorable or useful to Rome. A province as troublesome as Judea would not have been likely to be made an exception to this.