Yohanes 7:47-49

7:47 Then the Pharisees answered, ¹  “You haven’t been deceived too, have you? ²  7:48 None of the rulers ³  or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they? ⁴  7:49 But this rabble ⁵  who do not know the law are accursed!”

Yohanes 9:39

9:39 Jesus ⁶  said,] ⁷  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ⁸  and the ones who see may become blind.”

Yohanes 9:41

9:41 Jesus replied, ⁹  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ¹⁰  but now because you claim that you can see, ¹¹  your guilt ¹²  remains.” ¹³ 

Yohanes 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ¹⁴ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ¹⁵ 

and turn to me, ¹⁶  and I would heal them.” ¹⁷ 

[7:47]  ¹ tn Grk “answered them.”

[7:47]  ² 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 “have you?”).

[7:48]  ³ sn The chief priests and Pharisees (John 7:45) is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. Likewise the term ruler here denotes a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in John 3:1, and Nicodemus also speaks up in this episode (John 7:50).

[7:48]  ⁴ 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 “have they?”).

[7:49]  ⁵ tn Grk “crowd.” “Rabble” is a good translation here because the remark by the Pharisees is so derogatory.

[9:39]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[9:41]  ⁹ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ¹¹ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ¹² tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ¹³ 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).

[12:40]  ¹⁴ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹⁵ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.