Yohanes 3:3

3:3 Jesus replied, ¹  “I tell you the solemn truth, ²  unless a person is born from above, ³  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ 

Yohanes 3:23

3:23 John ⁵  was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, ⁶  because water was plentiful there, and people were coming ⁷  to him ⁸  and being baptized.

Yohanes 6:24

6:24 So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats ⁹  and came to Capernaum ¹⁰  looking for Jesus.

Yohanes 7:1

The Feast of Tabernacles

7:1 After this ¹¹  Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. ¹²  He ¹³  stayed out of Judea ¹⁴  because the Jewish leaders ¹⁵  wanted ¹⁶  to kill him.

Yohanes 9:22

9:22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. ¹⁷  For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus ¹⁸  to be the Christ ¹⁹  would be put out ²⁰  of the synagogue. ²¹ 

Yohanes 9:34

9:34 They replied, ²²  “You were born completely in sinfulness, ²³  and yet you presume to teach us?” ²⁴  So they threw him out.

Yohanes 12:42

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ²⁵  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ²⁶  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ²⁷  so that they would not be put out of ²⁸  the synagogue. ²⁹ 

Yohanes 18:11

18:11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” ³⁰ 

Yohanes 21:6

21:6 He told them, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” ³¹  So they threw the net, ³²  and were not able to pull it in because of the large number of fish.

[3:3]  ¹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[3:3]  ² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:3]  ³ tn The word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.

[3:3]  sn Or born again. The Greek word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) can mean both “again” and “from above,” giving rise to Nicodemus’ misunderstanding about a second physical birth (v. 4).

[3:3]  ⁴ sn What does Jesus’ statement about not being able to see the kingdom of God mean within the framework of John’s Gospel? John uses the word kingdom (βασιλεία, basileia) only 5 times (3:3, 5; 18:36 [3x]). Only here is it qualified with the phrase of God. The fact that John does not stress the concept of the kingdom of God does not mean it is absent from his theology, however. Remember the messianic implications found in John 2, both the wedding and miracle at Cana and the cleansing of the temple. For Nicodemus, the term must surely have brought to mind the messianic kingdom which Messiah was supposed to bring. But Nicodemus had missed precisely this point about who Jesus was. It was the Messiah himself with whom Nicodemus was speaking. Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to new spiritual birth.

[3:23]  ⁵ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[3:23]  ⁶ tn The precise locations of Αἰνών (Ainwn) and Σαλείμ (Saleim) are unknown. Three possibilities are suggested: (1) In Perea, which is in Transjordan (cf. 1:28). Perea is just across the river from Judea. (2) In the northern Jordan Valley, on the west bank some 8 miles [13 km] south of Scythopolis. But with the Jordan River so close, the reference to abundant water (3:23) seems superfluous. (3) Thus Samaria has been suggested. 4 miles (6.6 km) east of Shechem is a town called Salim, and 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Salim lies modern Ainun. In the general vicinity are many springs. Because of the meanings of the names (Αἰνών = “springs” in Aramaic and Σαλείμ = Salem, “peace”) some have attempted to allegorize here that John the Baptist is near salvation. Obviously there is no need for this. It is far more probable that the author has in mind real places, even if their locations cannot be determined with certainty.

[3:23]  ⁷ tn Or “people were continually coming.”

[3:23]  ⁸ tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[6:24]  ⁹ tn Or “embarked in the boats.”

[6:24]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[7:1]  ¹¹ sn Again, the transition is indicated by the imprecise temporal indicator After this. Clearly, though, the author has left out much of the events of Jesus’ ministry, because chap. 6 took place near the Passover (6:4). This would have been the Passover between winter/spring of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion (assuming a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), or the Passover of winter/spring a.d. 29, assuming a date of a.d. 30 for the crucifixion.

[7:1]  ¹² tn Grk “Jesus was traveling around in Galilee.”

[7:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “For he.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[7:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he did not want to travel around in Judea.”

[7:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; 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 should be restricted to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents.

[7:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “were seeking.”

[9:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the Jewish religious authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Twice in this verse the phrase refers to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. The second occurrence is shortened to “the Jewish leaders” for stylistic reasons. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish religious leaders” in v. 18.

[9:22]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “confessed him.”

[9:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[9:22]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[9:22]  ²⁰ tn Or “would be expelled from.”

[9:22]  ²¹ sn This reference to excommunication from the Jewish synagogue for those who had made some sort of confession about Jesus being the Messiah is dismissed as anachronistic by some (e.g., Barrett) and nonhistorical by others. In later Jewish practice there were at least two forms of excommunication: a temporary ban for thirty days, and a permanent ban. But whether these applied in NT times is far from certain. There is no substantial evidence for a formal ban on Christians until later than this Gospel could possibly have been written. This may be a reference to some form of excommunication adopted as a contingency to deal with those who were proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah. If so, there is no other record of the procedure than here. It was probably local, limited to the area around Jerusalem. See also the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[9:34]  ²² tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”

[9:34]  ²³ tn Or “From birth you have been evil.” The implication of this insult, in the context of John 9, is that the man whom Jesus caused to see had not previously adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Thus he had no right to instruct them about who Jesus was.

[9:34]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”

[12:42]  ²⁵ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ²⁷ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[12:42]  ²⁸ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ²⁹ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[18:11]  ³⁰ tn Grk “The cup that the Father has given me to drink, shall I not drink it?” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.

[18:11]  sn Jesus continues with what most would take to be a rhetorical question expecting a positive reply: “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” The cup is also mentioned in Gethsemane in the synoptics (Matt 26:39, Mark 14:36, and Luke 22:42). In connection with the synoptic accounts it is mentioned in Jesus’ prayer; this occurrence certainly complements the synoptic accounts if Jesus had only shortly before finished praying about this. Only here in the Fourth Gospel is it specifically said that the cup is given to Jesus to drink by the Father, but again this is consistent with the synoptic mention of the cup in Jesus’ prayer: It is the cup of suffering which Jesus is about to undergo.

[21:6]  ³¹ tn The word “some” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[21:6]  ³² tn The words “the net” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.