Yohanes 1:31-33
Konteks1:31 I did not recognize 1 him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” 2
1:32 Then 3 John testified, 4 “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove 5 from heaven, 6 and it remained on him. 7 1:33 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining – this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
Yohanes 3:5
Konteks3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, 8 unless a person is born of water and spirit, 9 he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Yohanes 4:10
Konteks4:10 Jesus answered 10 her, “If you had known 11 the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water 12 to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 13
Yohanes 4:14
Konteks4:14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, 14 but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain 15 of water springing up 16 to eternal life.”
Yohanes 7:38-39
Konteks7:38 let the one who believes in me drink. 17 Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him 18 will flow rivers of living water.’” 19 7:39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, 20 because Jesus was not yet glorified.) 21
[1:31] 2 sn John the Baptist, who has been so reluctant to elaborate his own role, now more than willingly gives his testimony about Jesus. For the author, the emphasis is totally on John the Baptist as a witness to Jesus. No attention is given to the Baptist’s call to national repentance and very little to his baptizing. Everything is focused on what he has to say about Jesus: so that he could be revealed to Israel.
[1:32] 3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the narrative. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.
[1:32] 4 tn Grk “testified, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[1:32] 5 sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.
[1:32] 6 tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
[1:32] 7 sn John says the Spirit remained on Jesus. The Greek verb μένω (menw) is a favorite Johannine word, used 40 times in the Gospel and 27 times in the Epistles (67 together) against 118 times total in the NT. The general significance of the verb μένω for John is to express the permanency of relationship between Father and Son and Son and believer. Here the use of the word implies that Jesus permanently possesses the Holy Spirit, and because he does, he will dispense the Holy Spirit to others in baptism. Other notes on the dispensation of the Spirit occur at John 3:5 and following (at least implied by the wordplay), John 3:34, 7:38-39, numerous passages in John 14-16 (the Paraclete passages) and John 20:22. Note also the allusion to Isa 42:1 – “Behold my servant…my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit on him.”
[3:5] 8 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
[3:5] 9 tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).
[3:5] sn Jesus’ somewhat enigmatic statement points to the necessity of being born “from above,” because water and wind/spirit/Spirit come from above. Isaiah 44:3-5 and Ezek 37:9-10 are pertinent examples of water and wind as life-giving symbols of the Spirit of God in his work among people. Both occur in contexts that deal with the future restoration of Israel as a nation prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. It is therefore particularly appropriate that Jesus should introduce them in a conversation about entering the kingdom of God. Note that the Greek word πνεύματος is anarthrous (has no article) in v. 5. This does not mean that spirit in the verse should be read as a direct reference to the Holy Spirit, but that both water and wind are figures (based on passages in the OT, which Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel should have known) that represent the regenerating work of the Spirit in the lives of men and women.
[4:10] 10 tn Grk “answered and said to her.”
[4:10] 11 tn Or “if you knew.”
[4:10] 12 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
[4:10] 13 tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.
[4:10] sn The word translated living is used in Greek of flowing water, which leads to the woman’s misunderstanding in the following verse. She thought Jesus was referring to some unknown source of drinkable water.
[4:14] 14 tn Grk “will never be thirsty forever.” The possibility of a later thirst is emphatically denied.
[4:14] 15 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] 16 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).
[7:38] 17 tn An alternate way of punctuating the Greek text of vv. 37-38 results in this translation: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Certainly Jesus picks up on the literal water used in the ceremony and uses it figuratively. But what does the figure mean? According to popular understanding, it refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believer. There is some difficulty in locating an OT text which speaks of rivers of water flowing from within such a person, but Isa 58:11 is often suggested: “The
[7:38] 18 tn Or “out of the innermost part of his person”; Grk “out of his belly.”
[7:38] 19 sn An OT quotation whose source is difficult to determine; Isa 44:3, 55:1, 58:11, and Zech 14:8 have all been suggested.
[7:39] 20 tn Grk “for the Spirit was not yet.” Although only B and a handful of other NT