Yohanes 1:4

1:4 In him was life, ¹  and the life was the light of mankind. ² 

Yohanes 1:12-13

1:12 But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name ³  – he has given the right to become God’s children 1:13 – children not born ⁴  by human parents ⁵  or by human desire ⁶  or a husband’s ⁷  decision, ⁸  but by God.

Yohanes 3:3-7

3:3 Jesus replied, ⁹  “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁰  unless a person is born from above, ¹¹  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ¹²  3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” ¹³ 

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁴  unless a person is born of water and spirit, ¹⁵  he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, ¹⁶  and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 3:7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all ¹⁷  be born from above.’ ¹⁸ 

Yohanes 3:16

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 

Yohanes 3:36

3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects ²³  the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath ²⁴  remains ²⁵  on him.

Yohanes 4:14

4:14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, ²⁶  but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain ²⁷  of water springing up ²⁸  to eternal life.”

Yohanes 4:36

4:36 The one who reaps receives pay ²⁹  and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together.

Yohanes 5:21

5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, ³⁰  so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. ³¹ 

Yohanes 5:24-29

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, ³²  the one who hears ³³  my message ³⁴  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, ³⁵  but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, ³⁶  a time ³⁷  is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, 5:27 and he has granted the Son ³⁸  authority to execute judgment, ³⁹  because he is the Son of Man.

5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time ⁴⁰  is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 5:29 and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. ⁴¹ 

Yohanes 6:27

6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, ⁴²  but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food ⁴³  which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” ⁴⁴ 

Yohanes 6:40

6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up ⁴⁵  at the last day.” ⁴⁶ 

Yohanes 6:47

6:47 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴⁷  the one who believes ⁴⁸  has eternal life. ⁴⁹ 

Yohanes 6:54

6:54 The one who eats ⁵⁰  my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵¹ 

Yohanes 6:57-58

6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes ⁵²  me will live because of me. 6:58 This ⁵³  is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ⁵⁴  ate, but then later died. ⁵⁵  The one who eats ⁵⁶  this bread will live forever.”

Yohanes 6:68

6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Yohanes 10:28

10:28 I give ⁵⁷  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ⁵⁸  no one will snatch ⁵⁹  them from my hand.

Yohanes 11:25

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ⁶⁰  even if he dies,

Yohanes 12:25

12:25 The one who loves his life ⁶¹  destroys ⁶²  it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards ⁶³  it for eternal life.

Yohanes 12:50

12:50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. ⁶⁴  Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.” ⁶⁵ 

Yohanes 17:2-3

17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, ⁶⁶  so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. ⁶⁷  17:3 Now this ⁶⁸  is eternal life ⁶⁹  – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, ⁷⁰  whom you sent.

[1:4]  ¹ tn John uses ζωή (zwh) 37 times: 17 times it occurs with αἰώνιος (aiwnios), and in the remaining occurrences outside the prologue it is clear from context that “eternal” life is meant. The two uses in 1:4, if they do not refer to “eternal” life, would be the only exceptions. (Also 1 John uses ζωή 13 times, always of “eternal” life.)

[1:4]  sn An allusion to Ps 36:9, which gives significant OT background: “For with you is the fountain of life; In your light we see light.” In later Judaism, Bar 4:2 expresses a similar idea. Life, especially eternal life, will become one of the major themes of John’s Gospel.

[1:4]  ² tn Or “humanity”; Grk “of men” (but ἄνθρωπος [anqrwpo"] is used in a generic sense here, not restricted to males only, thus “mankind,” “humanity”).

[1:12]  ³ tn On the use of the πιστεύω + εἰς (pisteuw + ei") construction in John: The verb πιστεύω occurs 98 times in John (compared to 11 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark [including the longer ending], and 9 times in Luke). One of the unsolved mysteries is why the corresponding noun form πίστις (pistis) is never used at all. Many have held the noun was in use in some pre-Gnostic sects and this rendered it suspect for John. It might also be that for John, faith was an activity, something that men do (cf. W. Turner, “Believing and Everlasting Life – A Johannine Inquiry,” ExpTim 64 [1952/53]: 50-52). John uses πιστεύω in 4 major ways: (1) of believing facts, reports, etc., 12 times; (2) of believing people (or the scriptures), 19 times; (3) of believing “in” Christ” (πιστεύω + εἰς + acc.), 36 times; (4) used absolutely without any person or object specified, 30 times (the one remaining passage is 2:24, where Jesus refused to “trust” himself to certain individuals). Of these, the most significant is the use of πιστεύω with εἰς + accusative. It is not unlike the Pauline ἐν Χριστῷ (en Cristw) formula. Some have argued that this points to a Hebrew (more likely Aramaic) original behind the Fourth Gospel. But it probably indicates something else, as C. H. Dodd observed: “πιστεύειν with the dative so inevitably connoted simple credence, in the sense of an intellectual judgment, that the moral element of personal trust or reliance inherent in the Hebrew or Aramaic phrase – an element integral to the primitive Christian conception of faith in Christ – needed to be otherwise expressed” (The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 183).

[1:13]  ⁴ tn The Greek term translated “born” here also involves conception.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “of blood(s).” The plural αἱμάτων (Jaimatwn) has seemed a problem to many interpreters. At least some sources in antiquity imply that blood was thought of as being important in the development of the fetus during its time in the womb: thus Wis 7:1: “in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, within the period of 10 months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.” In John 1:13, the plural αἱμάτων may imply the action of both parents. It may also refer to the “genetic” contribution of both parents, and so be equivalent to “human descent” (see BDAG 26 s.v. αἷμα 1.a). E. C. Hoskyns thinks John could not have used the singular here because Christians are in fact ‘begotten’ by the blood of Christ (The Fourth Gospel, 143), although the context would seem to make it clear that the blood in question is something other than the blood of Christ.

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Or “of the will of the flesh.” The phrase οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός (oude ek qelhmato" sarko") is more clearly a reference to sexual desire, but it should be noted that σάρξ (sarx) in John does not convey the evil sense common in Pauline usage. For John it refers to the physical nature in its weakness rather than in its sinfulness. There is no clearer confirmation of this than the immediately following verse, where the λόγος (logos) became σάρξ.

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Or “man’s.”

[1:13]  ⁸ tn The third phrase, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός (oude ek qelhmato" andros), means much the same as the second one. The word here (ἀνηρ, anhr) is often used for a husband, resulting in the translation “or a husband’s decision,” or more generally, “or of any human volition whatsoever.” L. Morris may be right when he sees here an emphasis directed at the Jewish pride in race and patriarchal ancestry, although such a specific reference is difficult to prove (John [NICNT], 101).

[3:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[3:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:3]  ¹¹ tn The word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.

[3:3]  sn Or born again. The Greek word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) can mean both “again” and “from above,” giving rise to Nicodemus’ misunderstanding about a second physical birth (v. 4).

[3:3]  ¹² sn What does Jesus’ statement about not being able to see the kingdom of God mean within the framework of John’s Gospel? John uses the word kingdom (βασιλεία, basileia) only 5 times (3:3, 5; 18:36 [3x]). Only here is it qualified with the phrase of God. The fact that John does not stress the concept of the kingdom of God does not mean it is absent from his theology, however. Remember the messianic implications found in John 2, both the wedding and miracle at Cana and the cleansing of the temple. For Nicodemus, the term must surely have brought to mind the messianic kingdom which Messiah was supposed to bring. But Nicodemus had missed precisely this point about who Jesus was. It was the Messiah himself with whom Nicodemus was speaking. Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to new spiritual birth.

[3:4]  ¹³ tn The grammatical structure of the question in Greek presupposes a negative reply.

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).

[3:5]  sn Jesus’ somewhat enigmatic statement points to the necessity of being born “from above,” because water and wind/spirit/Spirit come from above. Isaiah 44:3-5 and Ezek 37:9-10 are pertinent examples of water and wind as life-giving symbols of the Spirit of God in his work among people. Both occur in contexts that deal with the future restoration of Israel as a nation prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. It is therefore particularly appropriate that Jesus should introduce them in a conversation about entering the kingdom of God. Note that the Greek word πνεύματος is anarthrous (has no article) in v. 5. This does not mean that spirit in the verse should be read as a direct reference to the Holy Spirit, but that both water and wind are figures (based on passages in the OT, which Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel should have known) that represent the regenerating work of the Spirit in the lives of men and women.

[3:6]  ¹⁶ sn What is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e., what is born of physical heritage is physical. (It is interesting to compare this terminology with that of the dialogue in John 4, especially 4:23, 24.) For John the “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) emphasizes merely the weakness and mortality of the creature – a neutral term, not necessarily sinful as in Paul. This is confirmed by the reference in John 1:14 to the Logos becoming “flesh.” The author avoids associating sinfulness with the incarnate Christ.

[3:7]  ¹⁷ tn “All” has been supplied to indicate the plural pronoun in the Greek text.

[3:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “born again.” The same Greek word with the same double meaning occurs in v. 3.

[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.

[3:36]  ²³ tn Or “refuses to believe,” or “disobeys.”

[3:36]  ²⁴ tn Or “anger because of evil,” or “punishment.”

[3:36]  ²⁵ tn Or “resides.”

[4:14]  ²⁶ tn Grk “will never be thirsty forever.” The possibility of a later thirst is emphatically denied.

[4:14]  ²⁷ tn Or “well.” “Fountain” is used as the translation for πηγή (phgh) here since the idea is that of an artesian well that flows freely, but the term “artesian well” is not common in contemporary English.

[4:14]  ²⁸ tn The verb ἁλλομένου (Jallomenou) is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul. See Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Kgdms 10:2, 10 LXX (= 1 Sam 10:6, 10 ET); and Isa 35:6 (note context).

[4:36]  ²⁹ tn Or “a reward”; see L&N 38.14 and 57.173. This is something of a wordplay.

[5:21]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and makes them live.”

[5:21]  ³¹ tn Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”

[5:24]  ³² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:24]  ³³ tn Or “obeys.”

[5:24]  ³⁴ tn Or “word.”

[5:24]  ³⁵ tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

[5:25]  ³⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:25]  ³⁷ tn Grk “an hour.”

[5:27]  ³⁸ tn Grk “him.”

[5:27]  ³⁹ tn Grk “authority to judge.”

[5:28]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “an hour.”

[5:29]  ⁴¹ tn Or “a resurrection resulting in judgment.”

[6:27]  ⁴² tn Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food).

[6:27]  sn Do not work for the food that disappears. Note the wordplay on “work” here. This does not imply “working” for salvation, since the “work” is later explained (in John 6:29) as “to believe in the one whom he (the Father) sent.”

[6:27]  ⁴³ tn The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.

[6:27]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “on this one.”

[6:40]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

[6:40]  ⁴⁶ sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[6:47]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:47]  ⁴⁸ tc Most witnesses (A C² D Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat and other versions) have “in me” (εἰς ἐμέ, eis eme) here, while the Sinaitic and Curetonian Syriac versions read “in God.” These clarifying readings are predictable variants, being motivated by the scribal tendency toward greater explicitness. That the earliest and best witnesses (Ì^66,75vid א B C* L T W Θ 892 pc) lack any object is solid testimony to the shorter text’s authenticity.

[6:47]  ⁴⁹ tn Compare John 6:40.

[6:54]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “who chews”; Grk ὁ τρώγων (Jo trwgwn). The alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) may simply reflect a preference for one form over the other on the author’s part, rather than an attempt to express a slightly more graphic meaning. If there is a difference, however, the word used here (τρώγω) is the more graphic and vivid of the two (“gnaw” or “chew”).

[6:54]  ⁵¹ sn Notice that here the result (has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day) is produced by eating (Jesus’) flesh and drinking his blood. Compare John 6:40 where the same result is produced by “looking on the Son and believing in him.” This suggests that the phrase here (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood by the phrase in 6:40 (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[6:57]  ⁵² tn Or “who chews”; Grk “who eats.” Here the translation “consumes” is more appropriate than simply “eats,” because it is the internalization of Jesus by the individual that is in view. On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[6:58]  ⁵³ tn Or “This one.”

[6:58]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:58]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not just like your ancestors ate and died.” The cryptic Greek expression has been filled out in the translation for clarity.

[6:58]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[10:28]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[11:25]  ⁶⁰ tn That is, will come to life.

[12:25]  ⁶¹ tn Or “soul.”

[12:25]  ⁶² tn Or “loses.” Although the traditional English translation of ἀπολλύει (apolluei) in John 12:25 is “loses,” the contrast with φυλάξει (fulaxei, “keeps” or “guards”) in the second half of the verse favors the meaning “destroy” here.

[12:25]  ⁶³ tn Or “keeps.”

[12:50]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “his commandment results in eternal life.”

[12:50]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “The things I speak, just as the Father has spoken to me, thus I speak.”

[17:2]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “all people”; Grk “all flesh.”

[17:2]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “so that to everyone whom you have given to him, he may give to them eternal life.”

[17:3]  ⁶⁸ tn Using αὕτη δέ (Jauth de) to introduce an explanation is typical Johannine style; it was used before in John 1:19, 3:19, and 15:12.

[17:3]  ⁶⁹ sn This is eternal life. The author here defines eternal life for the readers, although it is worked into the prayer in such a way that many interpreters do not regard it as another of the author’s parenthetical comments. It is not just unending life in the sense of prolonged duration. Rather it is a quality of life, with its quality derived from a relationship with God. Having eternal life is here defined as being in relationship with the Father, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom the Father sent. Christ (Χριστός, Cristos) is not characteristically attached to Jesus’ name in John’s Gospel; it occurs elsewhere primarily as a title and is used with Jesus’ name only in 1:17. But that is connected to its use here: The statement here in 17:3 enables us to correlate the statement made in 1:18 of the prologue, that Jesus has fully revealed what God is like, with Jesus’ statement in 10:10 that he has come that people might have life, and have it abundantly. These two purposes are really one, according to 17:3, because (abundant) eternal life is defined as knowing (being in relationship with) the Father and the Son. The only way to gain this eternal life, that is, to obtain this knowledge of the Father, is through the Son (cf. 14:6). Although some have pointed to the use of know (γινώσκω, ginwskw) here as evidence of Gnostic influence in the Fourth Gospel, there is a crucial difference: For John this knowledge is not intellectual, but relational. It involves being in relationship.

[17:3]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “and Jesus the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).