John 4:45

4:45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem ¹  at the feast ²  (for they themselves had gone to the feast). ³ 

John 8:52

8:52 Then ⁴  the Judeans ⁵  responded, ⁶  “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! ⁷  Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet ⁸  you say, ‘If anyone obeys ⁹  my teaching, ¹⁰  he will never experience ¹¹  death.’ ¹² 

John 21:20

Peter and the Disciple Jesus Loved

21:20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. ¹³  (This was the disciple ¹⁴  who had leaned back against Jesus’ ¹⁵  chest at the meal and asked, ¹⁶  “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”) ¹⁷ 

[4:45]  ¹ sn All the things he had done in Jerusalem probably refers to the signs mentioned in John 2:23.

[4:45]  ² sn See John 2:23-25.

[4:45]  ³ sn John 4:44-45. The last part of v. 45 is a parenthetical note by the author. The major problem in these verses concerns the contradiction between the proverb stated by Jesus in v. 44 and the reception of the Galileans in v. 45. Origen solved the problem by referring his own country to Judea (which Jesus had just left) and not Galilee. But this runs counter to the thrust of John’s Gospel, which takes pains to identify Jesus with Galilee (cf. 1:46) and does not even mention his Judean birth. R. E. Brown typifies the contemporary approach: He regards v. 44 as an addition by a later redactor who wanted to emphasize Jesus’ unsatisfactory reception in Galilee. Neither expedient is necessary, though, if honor is understood in its sense of attributing true worth to someone. The Galileans did welcome him, but their welcome was to prove a superficial response based on what they had seen him do at the feast. There is no indication that the signs they saw brought them to place their faith in Jesus any more than Nicodemus did on the basis of the signs. But a superficial welcome based on enthusiasm for miracles is no real honor at all.

[8:52]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “said to him.”

[8:52]  ⁷ tn Grk “you have a demon.”

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

[8:52]  ⁹ tn Grk “If anyone keeps.”

[8:52]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:52]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Grk “he will never taste of death forever.” The Greek negative here is emphatic.

[21:20]  ¹³ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[21:20]  ¹⁴ tn The words “This was the disciple” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity.

[21:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and said.”

[21:20]  ¹⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.