Yohanes 6:60

6:60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, ¹  said, “This is a difficult ²  saying! ³  Who can understand it?” ⁴ 

Yohanes 7:35-36

7:35 Then the Jewish leaders ⁵  said to one another, “Where is he ⁶  going to go that we cannot find him? ⁷  He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed ⁸  among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? ⁹  7:36 What did he mean by saying, ¹⁰  ‘You will look for me ¹¹  but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

[6:60]  ¹ tn The words “these things” are not present in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the English reader.

[6:60]  ² tn Or “hard,” “demanding.”

[6:60]  ³ tn Or “teaching”; Grk “word.”

[6:60]  ⁴ tn Or “obey it”; Grk “hear it.” The Greek word ἀκούω (akouw) could imply hearing with obedience here, in the sense of “obey.” It could also point to the acceptance of what Jesus had just said, (i.e., “who can accept what he said?” However, since the context contains several replies by those in the crowd of hearers that suggest uncertainty or confusion over the meaning of what Jesus had said (6:42; 6:52), the meaning “understand” is preferred here.

[7:35]  ⁵ 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 is understood to refer to the Jewish authorities or leaders, since the Jewish leaders are mentioned in this context both before and after the present verse (7:32, 45).

[7:35]  ⁶ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:35]  ⁷ tn Grk “will not find him.”

[7:35]  ⁸ sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.

[7:35]  ⁹ 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 “is he?”).

[7:35]  sn Note the Jewish opponents’ misunderstanding of Jesus’ words, as made clear in vv. 35-36. They didn’t realize he spoke of his departure out of the world. This is another example of the author’s use of misunderstanding as a literary device to emphasize a point.

[7:36]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “What is this word that he said.”

[7:36]  ¹¹ tn Grk “seek me.”