Yohanes 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ¹  at night ²  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ³  that you do unless God is with him.”

Yohanes 3:26

3:26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, ⁴  about whom you testified – see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”

Yohanes 4:14

4:14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, ⁵  but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain ⁶  of water springing up ⁷  to eternal life.”

Yohanes 6:4

6:4 (Now the Jewish feast of the Passover ⁸  was near.) ⁹ 

Yohanes 6:20

6:20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Yohanes 6:27

6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, ¹⁰  but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food ¹¹  which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” ¹² 

Yohanes 14:9

14:9 Jesus replied, ¹³  “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known ¹⁴  me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Yohanes 16:9

16:9 concerning sin, because ¹⁵  they do not believe in me; ¹⁶ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ² tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  sn Possibly Nicodemus came…at night because he was afraid of public association with Jesus, or he wanted a lengthy discussion without interruptions; no explanation for the timing of the interview is given by the author. But the timing is significant for John in terms of the light-darkness motif – compare John 9:4, 11:10, 13:30 (especially), 19:39, and 21:3. Out of the darkness of his life and religiosity Nicodemus came to the Light of the world. The author probably had multiple meanings or associations in mind here, as is often the case.

[3:2]  ³ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

[3:26]  ⁴ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[4:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “will never be thirsty forever.” The possibility of a later thirst is emphatically denied.

[4:14]  ⁶ tn Or “well.” “Fountain” is used as the translation for πηγή (phgh) here since the idea is that of an artesian well that flows freely, but the term “artesian well” is not common in contemporary English.

[4:14]  ⁷ tn The verb ἁλλομένου (Jallomenou) is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul. See Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Kgdms 10:2, 10 LXX (= 1 Sam 10:6, 10 ET); and Isa 35:6 (note context).

[6:4]  ⁸ sn Passover. According to John’s sequence of material, considerable time has elapsed since the feast of 5:1. If the feast in 5:1 was Pentecost of a.d. 31, then this feast would be the Passover of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion.

[6:4]  ⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[6:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food).

[6:27]  sn Do not work for the food that disappears. Note the wordplay on “work” here. This does not imply “working” for salvation, since the “work” is later explained (in John 6:29) as “to believe in the one whom he (the Father) sent.”

[6:27]  ¹¹ tn The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.

[6:27]  ¹² tn Grk “on this one.”

[14:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “recognized.”

[16:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “that.” It is very difficult to determine whether ὅτι (Joti; 3 times in 16:9, 10, 11) should be understood as causal or appositional/explanatory: Brown and Bultmann favor appositional or explanatory, while Barrett and Morris prefer a causal sense. A causal idea is preferable here, since it also fits the parallel statements in vv. 10-11 better than an appositional or explanatory use would. In this case Jesus is stating in each instance the reason why the world is proven guilty or wrong by the Spirit-Paraclete.

[16:9]  ¹⁶ sn Here (v. 9) the world is proven guilty concerning sin, and the reason given is their refusal to believe in Jesus. In 3:19 the effect of Jesus coming into the world as the Light of the world was to provoke judgment, by forcing people to choose up sides for or against him, and they chose darkness rather than light. In 12:37, at the very end of Jesus’ public ministry in John’s Gospel, people were still refusing to believe in him.