Yohanes 5:35

5:35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, ¹  and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time ²  in his light.

Yohanes 7:10

7:10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus ³  himself also went up, not openly but in secret.

Yohanes 8:56

8:56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed ⁴  to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁵ 

Yohanes 12:20

Seekers

12:20 Now some Greeks ⁶  were among those who had gone up to worship at the feast.

[5:35]  ¹ sn He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah was “a flame like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.

[5:35]  ² tn Grk “for an hour.”

[7:10]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:56]  ⁴ tn Or “rejoiced greatly.”

[8:56]  ⁵ tn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement that the patriarch Abraham “saw” his day and rejoiced? The use of past tenses would seem to refer to something that occurred during the patriarch’s lifetime. Genesis Rabbah 44:25ff, (cf. 59:6) states that Rabbi Akiba, in a debate with Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, held that Abraham had been shown not this world only but the world to come (this would include the days of the Messiah). More realistically, it is likely that Gen 22:13-15 lies behind Jesus’ words. This passage, known to rabbis as the Akedah (“Binding”), tells of Abraham finding the ram which will replace his son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice – an occasion of certain rejoicing.

[12:20]  ⁶ sn These Greeks (῞Ελληνές τινες, {ellhne" tine") who had come up to worship at the feast were probably “God-fearers” rather than proselytes in the strict sense. Had they been true proselytes, they would probably not have been referred to as Greeks any longer. Many came to worship at the major Jewish festivals without being proselytes to Judaism, for example, the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27, who could not have been a proselyte if he were physically a eunuch.