Yohanes 7:36

7:36 What did he mean by saying, ¹  ‘You will look for me ²  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

Yohanes 8:21

Where Jesus Came From and Where He is Going

8:21 Then Jesus ³  said to them again, ⁴  “I am going away, and you will look for me ⁵  but will die in your sin. ⁶  Where I am going you cannot come.”

Yohanes 13:33

13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, ⁷  and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ⁸  ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ ⁹  now I tell you the same. ¹⁰ 

Yohanes 15:5

15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains ¹¹  in me – and I in him – bears ¹²  much fruit, ¹³  because apart from me you can accomplish ¹⁴  nothing.

[7:36]  ¹ tn Grk “What is this word that he said.”

[7:36]  ² tn Grk “seek me.”

[8:21]  ³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:21]  ⁴ tn The expression οὖν πάλιν (oun palin) indicates some sort of break in the sequence of events, but it is not clear how long. The author does not mention the interval between 8:12-20 and this next recorded dialogue. The feast of Tabernacles is past, and the next reference to time is 10:22, where the feast of the Dedication is mentioned. The interval is two months, and these discussions could have taken place at any time within that interval, as long as one assumes something of a loose chronological framework. However, if the material in the Fourth Gospel is arranged theologically or thematically, such an assumption would not apply.

[8:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “you will seek me.”

[8:21]  ⁶ tn The expression ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖσθε (en th Jamartia Jumwn apoqaneisqe) is similar to an expression found in the LXX at Ezek 3:18, 20 and Prov 24:9. Note the singular of ἁμαρτία (the plural occurs later in v. 24). To die with one’s sin unrepented and unatoned would be the ultimate disaster to befall a person. Jesus’ warning is stern but to the point.

[13:33]  ⁷ tn Or “You will seek me.”

[13:33]  ⁸ tn Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.

[13:33]  ⁹ sn See John 7:33-34.

[13:33]  ¹⁰ tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[15:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “resides.”

[15:5]  ¹² tn Or “yields.”

[15:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “in him, this one bears much fruit.” The pronoun “this one” has been omitted from the translation because it is redundant according to contemporary English style.

[15:5]  sn Many interpret the imagery of fruit here and in 15:2, 4 in terms of good deeds or character qualities, relating it to passages elsewhere in the NT like Matt 3:8 and 7:20, Rom 6:22, Gal 5:22, etc. This is not necessarily inaccurate, but one must remember that for John, to have life at all is to bear fruit, while one who does not bear fruit shows that he does not have the life (once again, conduct is the clue to paternity, as in John 8:41; compare also 1 John 4:20).

[15:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “do.”