Yohanes 5:16

Responding to Jewish Leaders

5:16 Now because Jesus was doing these things ¹  on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders ²  began persecuting ³  him.

Yohanes 7:12

7:12 There was ⁴  a lot of grumbling ⁵  about him among the crowds. ⁶  Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people.” ⁷ 

Yohanes 8:13

8:13 So the Pharisees ⁸  objected, ⁹  “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!” ¹⁰ 

Yohanes 8:48-49

8:48 The Judeans ¹¹  replied, ¹²  “Aren’t we correct in saying ¹³  that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” ¹⁴  8:49 Jesus answered, “I am not possessed by a demon, ¹⁵  but I honor my Father – and yet ¹⁶  you dishonor me.

Yohanes 8:52

8:52 Then ¹⁷  the Judeans ¹⁸  responded, ¹⁹  “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! ²⁰  Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet ²¹  you say, ‘If anyone obeys ²²  my teaching, ²³  he will never experience ²⁴  death.’ ²⁵ 

Yohanes 8:59

8:59 Then they picked up ²⁶  stones to throw at him, ²⁷  but Jesus hid himself and went out from the temple area. ²⁸ 

Yohanes 9:40

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ²⁹  who were with him heard this ³⁰  and asked him, ³¹  “We are not blind too, are we?” ³² 

Yohanes 10:20

10:20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind! ³³  Why do you listen to him?”

Yohanes 10:31-39

10:31 The Jewish leaders ³⁴  picked up rocks again to stone him to death. 10:32 Jesus said to them, ³⁵  “I have shown you many good deeds ³⁶  from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 10:33 The Jewish leaders ³⁷  replied, ³⁸  “We are not going to stone you for a good deed ³⁹  but for blasphemy, ⁴⁰  because ⁴¹  you, a man, are claiming to be God.” ⁴² 

10:34 Jesus answered, ⁴³  “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ⁴⁴  10:35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken), ⁴⁵  10:36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart ⁴⁶  and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 10:37 If I do not perform ⁴⁷  the deeds ⁴⁸  of my Father, do not believe me. 10:38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, ⁴⁹  so that you may come to know ⁵⁰  and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 10:39 Then ⁵¹  they attempted ⁵²  again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches. ⁵³ 

Yohanes 12:9

12:9 Now a large crowd of Judeans ⁵⁴  learned ⁵⁵  that Jesus ⁵⁶  was there, and so they came not only because of him ⁵⁷  but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.

[5:16]  ¹ sn Note the plural phrase these things which seems to indicate that Jesus healed on the Sabbath more than once (cf. John 20:30). The synoptic gospels show this to be true; the incident in 5:1-15 has thus been chosen by the author as representative.

[5:16]  ² tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.

[5:16]  ³ tn Or “harassing.”

[7:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “And there was.”

[7:12]  ⁵ tn Or “complaining.”

[7:12]  ⁶ tn Or “among the common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities mentioned in the previous verse).

[7:12]  ⁷ tn Or “the crowd.”

[8:13]  ⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[8:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “Then the Pharisees said to him.”

[8:13]  ¹⁰ sn Compare the charge You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true! to Jesus’ own statement about his testimony in 5:31.

[8:48]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31). They had become increasingly hostile as Jesus continued to teach. Now they were ready to say that Jesus was demon-possessed.

[8:48]  ¹² tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[8:48]  ¹³ tn Grk “Do we not say rightly.”

[8:48]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and have a demon.” It is not clear what is meant by the charge Σαμαρίτης εἶ σὺ καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις (Samarith" ei su kai daimonion ecei"). The meaning could be “you are a heretic and are possessed by a demon.” Note that the dual charge gets one reply (John 8:49). Perhaps the phrases were interchangeable: Simon Magus (Acts 8:14-24) and in later traditions Dositheus, the two Samaritans who claimed to be sons of God, were regarded as mad, that is, possessed by demons.

[8:49]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “I do not have a demon.”

[8:49]  ¹⁶ tn “Yet” is supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.

[8:52]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ א B C W Θ 579 it) lack the conjunction here, while other witnesses read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì⁷⁵ D L Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the most important Johannine papyrus (Ì⁷⁵) has the conjunction, the combination of Ì⁶⁶ א B for the omission is even stronger. Further, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 41). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁷ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:52]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here, as in vv. 31 and 48, the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31).

[8:52]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “said to him.”

[8:52]  ²⁰ tn Grk “you have a demon.”

[8:52]  ²¹ tn “Yet” has been supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.

[8:52]  ²² tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:52]  ²³ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:52]  ²⁴ tn Grk “will never taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[8:52]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he will never taste of death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.

[8:59]  ²⁶ tn Grk “they took up.”

[8:59]  ²⁷ sn Jesus’ Jewish listeners understood his claim to deity, rejected it, and picked up stones to throw at him for what they considered blasphemy.

[8:59]  ²⁸ tc Most later witnesses (A Θ^c Ë^1,13 Ï) have at the end of the verse “passing through their midst, he went away in this manner” (διελθὼν διὰ μέσου καὶ παρῆγεν οὕτως, dielqwn dia mesou kai parhgen {outw"), while many others have similar permutations (so א^1,2 C L N Ψ 070 33 579 892 1241 al). The wording is similar to two other texts: Luke 4:30 (διελθὼν διὰ μέσου; in several mss αὐτῶν ἐπορεύετο καί [autwn eporeueto kai] is found between this phrase and παρῆγεν, strengthening the parallel with Luke 4:30) and John 9:1 (παρῆγεν; cf. παράγων [paragwn] there). The effect is to signal Jesus’ departure as a miraculous cloaking. As such, the additional statement has all the earmarks of scribal amplification. Further, the best and earliest witnesses (Ì^66,75 א* B D W Θ* lat sa) lack these words, rendering the shorter text virtually certain.

[8:59]  tn Grk “from the temple.”

[9:40]  ²⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ³⁰ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ³¹ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ³² 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 “are we?”).

[10:20]  ³³ tn Or “is insane.” To translate simply “he is mad” (so KJV, ASV, RSV; “raving mad” NIV) could give the impression that Jesus was angry, while the actual charge was madness or insanity.

[10:31]  ³⁴ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the notes on the phrases “Jewish people” in v. 19 and “Jewish leaders” in v. 24.

[10:32]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”

[10:32]  ³⁶ tn Or “good works.”

[10:33]  ³⁷ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here again the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the notes on the phrase “Jewish people” in v. 19 and “Jewish leaders” in vv. 24, 31.

[10:33]  ³⁸ tn Grk “answered him.”

[10:33]  ³⁹ tn Or “good work.”

[10:33]  ⁴⁰ sn This is the first time the official charge of blasphemy is voiced openly in the Fourth Gospel (although it was implicit in John 8:59).

[10:33]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “and because.”

[10:33]  ⁴² tn Grk “you, a man, make yourself to be God.”

[10:34]  ⁴³ tn Grk “answered them.”

[10:34]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 82:6. Technically the Psalms are not part of the OT “law” (which usually referred to the five books of Moses), but occasionally the term “law” was applied to the entire OT, as here. The problem in this verse concerns the meaning of Jesus’ quotation from Ps 82:6. It is important to look at the OT context: The whole line reads “I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.” Jesus will pick up on the term “sons of the Most High” in 10:36, where he refers to himself as the Son of God. The psalm was understood in rabbinic circles as an attack on unjust judges who, though they have been given the title “gods” because of their quasi-divine function of exercising judgment, are just as mortal as other men. What is the argument here? It is often thought to be as follows: If it was an OT practice to refer to men like the judges as gods, and not blasphemy, why did the Jewish authorities object when this term was applied to Jesus? This really doesn’t seem to fit the context, however, since if that were the case Jesus would not be making any claim for “divinity” for himself over and above any other human being – and therefore he would not be subject to the charge of blasphemy. Rather, this is evidently a case of arguing from the lesser to the greater, a common form of rabbinic argument. The reason the OT judges could be called gods is because they were vehicles of the word of God (cf. 10:35). But granting that premise, Jesus deserves much more than they to be called God. He is the Word incarnate, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world to save the world (10:36). In light of the prologue to the Gospel of John, it seems this interpretation would have been most natural for the author. If it is permissible to call men “gods” because they were the vehicles of the word of God, how much more permissible is it to use the word “God” of him who is the Word of God?

[10:35]  ⁴⁵ sn The parenthetical note And the scripture cannot be broken belongs to Jesus’ words rather than the author’s. Not only does Jesus appeal to the OT to defend himself against the charge of blasphemy, but he also adds that the scripture cannot be “broken.” In this context he does not explain precisely what is meant by “broken,” but it is not too hard to determine. Jesus’ argument depended on the exact word used in the context of Ps 82:6. If any other word for “judge” had been used in the psalm, his argument would have been meaningless. Since the scriptures do use this word in Ps 82:6, the argument is binding, because they cannot be “broken” in the sense of being shown to be in error.

[10:36]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “dedicated.”

[10:37]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “do.”

[10:37]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “works.”

[10:38]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “works.”

[10:38]  sn Jesus says that in the final analysis, the deeds he did should indicate whether he was truly from the Father. If the authorities could not believe in him, it would be better to believe in the deeds he did than not to believe at all.

[10:38]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “so that you may learn.”

[10:39]  ⁵¹ tc It is difficult to decide between ἐζήτουν οὖν (ezhtoun oun, “then they were seeking”; Ì⁶⁶ א A L W Ψ Ë^1,13 33 pm lat), ἐζήτουν δέ (ezhtoun de, “now they were seeking”; Ì⁴⁵ and a few versional witnesses), καὶ ἐζήτουν (kai ezhtoun, “and they were seeking”; D), and ἐζήτουν (Ì^75vid B Γ Θ 700 pm). Externally, the most viable readings are ἐζήτουν οὖν and ἐζήτουν. Transcriptionally, the οὖν could have dropped out via haplography since the verb ends in the same three letters. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain the readings with δέ or καί if ἐζήτουν οὖν is original; such readings would more likely have arisen from the simple ἐζήτουν. Intrinsically, John is fond of οὖν, using it some 200 times. Further, this Gospel begins relatively few sentences without some conjunction. The minimal support for the δέ and καί readings suggests that they arose either from the lone verb reading (which would thus be prior to their respective Vorlagen but not necessarily the earliest reading) or through carelessness on the part of the scribes. Indeed, the ancestors of Ì⁴⁵ and D may have committed haplography, leaving later scribes in the chain to guess at the conjunction needed. In sum, the best reading appears to be ἐζήτουν οὖν.

[10:39]  ⁵² tn Grk “they were seeking.”

[10:39]  ⁵³ tn Grk “he departed out of their hand.”

[10:39]  sn It is not clear whether the authorities simply sought to “arrest” him, or were renewing their attempt to stone him (cf. John 10:31) by seizing him and taking him out to be stoned. In either event, Jesus escaped their clutches. Nor is it clear whether Jesus’ escape is to be understood as a miracle. If so, the text gives little indication and even less description. What is clear is that until his “hour” comes, Jesus is completely safe from the hands of men: His enemies are powerless to touch him until they are permitted to do so.

[12:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “of the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e), 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 and the surrounding area who by this time had heard about the resurrection of Lazarus and were curious to see him.

[12:9]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “knew.”

[12:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “he”; normal English clause structure specifies the referent first and substitutes the pronoun in subsequent references to the same individual, so the referent (Jesus) has been specified here.

[12:9]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “Jesus”; normal English clause structure specifies the referent first and substitutes the pronoun in subsequent references to the same individual, so the pronoun (“him”) has been substituted here.