Galatia 6:2

6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatia 6:1

Support One Another

6:1 Brothers and sisters, ¹  if a person ²  is discovered in some sin, ³  you who are spiritual ⁴  restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. ⁵  Pay close attention ⁶  to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.

Yohanes 2:8-10

2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” ⁷  and they did. 2:9 When ⁸  the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from ⁹  (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he ¹⁰  called the bridegroom 2:10 and said to him, “Everyone ¹¹  serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper ¹²  wine when the guests ¹³  are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!”

Yohanes 3:14-18

3:14 Just as ¹⁴  Moses lifted up the serpent ¹⁵  in the wilderness, ¹⁶  so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁷  3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ¹⁸ 

3:16 For this is the way ¹⁹  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ²⁰  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ²¹  but have eternal life. ²²  3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, ²³  but that the world should be saved through him. 3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. ²⁴  The one who does not believe has been condemned ²⁵  already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only ²⁶  Son of God.

Yohanes 3:23

3:23 John ²⁷  was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, ²⁸  because water was plentiful there, and people were coming ²⁹  to him ³⁰  and being baptized.

Yohanes 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ³¹  at night ³²  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ³³  that you do unless God is with him.”

Yohanes 1:5

1:5 And the light shines on ³⁴  in the darkness, ³⁵  but ³⁶  the darkness has not mastered it. ³⁷ 

[6:1]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[6:1]  ² tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

[6:1]  ³ tn Or “some transgression” (L&N 88.297).

[6:1]  ⁴ sn Who are spiritual refers to people who are controlled and directed by God’s Spirit.

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Or “with a gentle spirit” or “gently.”

[6:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “taking careful notice.”

[2:8]  ⁷ tn Or “the master of ceremonies.”

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[2:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “and he did not know where it came from.”

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the head steward”; here the repetition of the phrase is somewhat redundant in English and the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[2:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “every man” (in a generic sense).

[2:10]  ¹² tn Or “poorer.”

[2:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “when they”; the referent (the guests) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And just as.”

[3:14]  ¹⁵ sn Or the snake, referring to the bronze serpent mentioned in Num 21:9.

[3:14]  ¹⁶ sn An allusion to Num 21:5-9.

[3:14]  ¹⁷ sn So must the Son of Man be lifted up. This is ultimately a prediction of Jesus’ crucifixion. Nicodemus could not have understood this, but John’s readers, the audience to whom the Gospel is addressed, certainly could have (compare the wording of John 12:32). In John, being lifted up refers to one continuous action of ascent, beginning with the cross but ending at the right hand of the Father. Step 1 is Jesus’ death; step 2 is his resurrection; and step 3 is the ascension back to heaven. It is the upward swing of the “pendulum” which began with the incarnation, the descent of the Word become flesh from heaven to earth (cf. Paul in Phil 2:5-11). See also the note on the title Son of Man in 1:51.

[3:15]  ¹⁸ tn This is the first use of the term ζωὴν αἰώνιον (zwhn aiwnion) in the Gospel, although ζωή (zwh) in chap. 1 is to be understood in the same way without the qualifying αἰώνιος (aiwnios).

[3:15]  sn Some interpreters extend the quotation of Jesus’ words through v. 21.

[3:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (Joutws) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16,” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (Jwste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.

[3:16]  ²⁰ tn Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).

[3:16]  ²¹ tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.

[3:16]  ²² sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

[3:17]  ²³ sn That is, “to judge the world to be guilty and liable to punishment.”

[3:18]  ²⁴ tn Grk “judged.”

[3:18]  ²⁵ tn Grk “judged.”

[3:18]  ²⁶ tn See the note on the term “one and only” in 3:16.

[3:23]  ²⁷ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[3:23]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Or “people were continually coming.”

[3:23]  ³⁰ tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[3:2]  ³¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ³² tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  sn Possibly Nicodemus came…at night because he was afraid of public association with Jesus, or he wanted a lengthy discussion without interruptions; no explanation for the timing of the interview is given by the author. But the timing is significant for John in terms of the light-darkness motif – compare John 9:4, 11:10, 13:30 (especially), 19:39, and 21:3. Out of the darkness of his life and religiosity Nicodemus came to the Light of the world. The author probably had multiple meanings or associations in mind here, as is often the case.

[3:2]  ³³ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

[1:5]  ³⁴ tn To this point the author has used past tenses (imperfects, aorists); now he switches to a present. The light continually shines (thus the translation, “shines on”). Even as the author writes, it is shining. The present here most likely has gnomic force (though it is possible to take it as a historical present); it expresses the timeless truth that the light of the world (cf. 8:12, 9:5, 12:46) never ceases to shine.

[1:5]  sn The light shines on. The question of whether John has in mind here the preincarnate Christ or the incarnate Christ is probably too specific. The incarnation is not really introduced until v. 9, but here the point is more general: It is of the very nature of light, that it shines.

[1:5]  ³⁵ sn The author now introduces what will become a major theme of John’s Gospel: the opposition of light and darkness. The antithesis is a natural one, widespread in antiquity. Gen 1 gives considerable emphasis to it in the account of the creation, and so do the writings of Qumran. It is the major theme of one of the most important extra-biblical documents found at Qumran, the so-called War Scroll, properly titled The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness. Connections between John and Qumran are still an area of scholarly debate and a consensus has not yet emerged. See T. A. Hoffman, “1 John and the Qumran Scrolls,” BTB 8 (1978): 117-25.

[1:5]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and,” but the context clearly indicates a contrast, so this has been translated as an adversative use of καί (kai).

[1:5]  ³⁷ tn Or “comprehended it,” or “overcome it.” The verb κατέλαβεν (katelaben) is not easy to translate. “To seize” or “to grasp” is possible, but this also permits “to grasp with the mind” in the sense of “to comprehend” (esp. in the middle voice). This is probably another Johannine double meaning – one does not usually think of darkness as trying to “understand” light. For it to mean this, “darkness” must be understood as meaning “certain people,” or perhaps “humanity” at large, darkened in understanding. But in John’s usage, darkness is not normally used of people or a group of people. Rather it usually signifies the evil environment or ‘sphere’ in which people find themselves: “They loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). Those who follow Jesus do not walk in darkness (8:12). They are to walk while they have light, lest the darkness “overtake/overcome” them (12:35, same verb as here). For John, with his set of symbols and imagery, darkness is not something which seeks to “understand (comprehend)” the light, but represents the forces of evil which seek to “overcome (conquer)” it. The English verb “to master” may be used in both sorts of contexts, as “he mastered his lesson” and “he mastered his opponent.”