Yohanes 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ¹  at night ²  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 ³  that you do unless God is with him.”

Yohanes 6:14

6:14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus ⁴  performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet ⁵  who is to come into the world.” ⁶ 

Yohanes 7:31

7:31 Yet many of the crowd ⁷  believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ ⁸  comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?” ⁹ 

Yohanes 8:30-31

8:30 While he was saying these things, many people ¹⁰  believed in him.

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ¹¹  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ¹²  you are really ¹³  my disciples

Yohanes 12:42-43

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ¹⁴  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ¹⁵  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ¹⁶  so that they would not be put out of ¹⁷  the synagogue. ¹⁸  12:43 For they loved praise ¹⁹  from men more than praise ²⁰  from God.

[3:2]  ¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ⁵ sn The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief.

[6:14]  ⁶ sn An allusion to Deut 18:15.

[7:31]  ⁷ tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities).

[7:31]  ⁸ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:31]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[7:31]  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 it is “will he?”).

[8:30]  ¹⁰ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity and smoothness in the translation.

[8:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), 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; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).

[8:31]  ¹² tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ¹³ tn Or “truly.”

[12:42]  ¹⁴ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ¹⁶ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[12:42]  ¹⁷ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ¹⁸ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[12:43]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the glory.”

[12:43]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the glory.”