Yohanes 4:12

4:12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor ¹  Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.” ² 

Yohanes 6:63

6:63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! ³  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁴ 

Yohanes 7:27

7:27 But we know where this man ⁵  comes from. ⁶  Whenever the Christ ⁷  comes, no one will know where he comes from.” ⁸ 

Yohanes 7:32

7:32 The Pharisees ⁹  heard the crowd ¹⁰  murmuring these things about Jesus, ¹¹  so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers ¹²  to arrest him. ¹³ 

[4:12]  ¹ tn Or “our forefather”; Grk “our father.”

[4:12]  ² 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 this instance all of v. 12 is one question. It has been broken into two sentences for the sake of English style (instead of “for he” the Greek reads “who”).

[6:63]  ³ tn Grk “the flesh counts for nothing.”

[6:63]  ⁴ tn Or “are spirit-giving and life-producing.”

[7:27]  ⁵ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:27]  ⁶ sn We know where this man comes from. The author apparently did not consider this objection worth answering. The true facts about Jesus’ origins were readily available for any reader who didn’t know already. Here is an instance where the author assumes knowledge about Jesus that is independent from the material he records.

[7:27]  ⁷ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:27]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[7:27]  ⁸ sn The view of these people regarding the Messiah that no one will know where he comes from reflects the idea that the origin of the Messiah is a mystery. In the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 97a) Rabbi Zera taught: “Three come unawares: Messiah, a found article, and a scorpion.” Apparently OT prophetic passages like Mal 3:1 and Dan 9:25 were interpreted by some as indicating a sudden appearance of Messiah. It appears that this was not a universal view: The scribes summoned by Herod at the coming of the Magi in Matt 2 knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. It is important to remember that Jewish messianic expectations in the early 1st century were not monolithic.

[7:32]  ⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[7:32]  ¹⁰ tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities like the Pharisees).

[7:32]  ¹¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:32]  ¹² tn Or “servants.” The “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. As “servants” or “officers” of the Sanhedrin their representatives should be distinguished from the Levites serving as temple police (perhaps John 7:30 and 44; also John 8:20; 10:39; 19:6; Acts 4:3). Even when performing “police” duties such as here, their “officers” are doing so only as part of their general tasks (see K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:540).

[7:32]  ¹³ tn Grk “to seize him.” In the context of a deliberate attempt by the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees to detain Jesus, the English verb “arrest” conveys the point more effectively.