Yohanes 1:27

1:27 who is coming after me. I am not worthy ¹  to untie the strap ²  of his sandal!”

Yohanes 4:32

4:32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Yohanes 8:3

8:3 The experts in the law ³  and the Pharisees ⁴  brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them

Yohanes 11:2

11:2 (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil ⁵  and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) ⁶ 

Yohanes 11:12

11:12 Then the disciples replied, ⁷  “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”

Yohanes 12:23

12:23 Jesus replied, ⁸  “The time ⁹  has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ¹⁰ 

Yohanes 16:29

16:29 His disciples said, “Look, now you are speaking plainly ¹¹  and not in obscure figures of speech! ¹² 

Yohanes 19:3

19:3 They ¹³  came up to him again and again ¹⁴  and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁵  And they struck him repeatedly ¹⁶  in the face.

Yohanes 19:18

19:18 There they ¹⁷  crucified ¹⁸  him along with two others, ¹⁹  one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.

Yohanes 20:16

20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She ²⁰  turned and said to him in Aramaic, ²¹  “Rabboni” ²²  (which means Teacher). ²³ 

[1:27]  ¹ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[1:27]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[1:27]  ² tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[8:3]  ³ tn Or “The scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[8:3]  ⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Or “perfume,” “ointment.”

[11:2]  ⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. It is a bit surprising that the author here identifies Mary as the one who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, since this event is not mentioned until later, in 12:3. Many see this “proleptic” reference as an indication that the author expected his readers to be familiar with the story already, and go on to assume that in general the author in writing the Fourth Gospel assumed his readers were familiar with the other three gospels. Whether the author assumed actual familiarity with the synoptic gospels or not, it is probable that he did assume some familiarity with Mary’s anointing activity.

[11:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “Then the disciples said to him.”

[12:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “Jesus answered them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “the hour.”

[12:23]  ¹⁰ sn Jesus’ reply, the time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, is a bit puzzling. As far as the author’s account is concerned, Jesus totally ignores these Greeks and makes no further reference to them whatsoever. It appears that his words are addressed to Andrew and Philip, but in fact they must have had a wider audience, including possibly the Greeks who had wished to see him in the first place. The words the time has come recall all the previous references to “the hour” throughout the Fourth Gospel (see the note on time in 2:4). There is no doubt, in light of the following verse, that Jesus refers to his death here. On his pathway to glorification lies the cross, and it is just ahead.

[16:29]  ¹¹ tn Or “openly.”

[16:29]  ¹² tn Or “not in parables.” or “not in metaphors.”

[16:29]  sn How is the disciples’ reply to Jesus now you are speaking plainly and not in obscure figures of speech to be understood? Their claim to understand seems a bit impulsive. It is difficult to believe that the disciples have really understood the full implications of Jesus’ words, although it is true that he spoke to them plainly and not figuratively in 16:26-28. The disciples will not fully understand all that Jesus has said to them until after his resurrection, when the Holy Spirit will give them insight and understanding (16:13).

[19:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:3]  ¹⁴ tn The words “again and again” are implied by the (iterative) imperfect verb ἤρχοντο (hrconto).

[19:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[19:3]  sn The greeting used by the soldiers, “Hail, King of the Jews!”, is a mockery based on the standard salutation for the Roman emperor, “Ave, Caesar!” (“Hail to Caesar!”).

[19:3]  ¹⁶ tn The word “repeatedly” is implied by the (iterative) imperfect verb ἐδιδοσαν (edidosan).

[19:18]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “where they.” This is a continuation of the previous verse in Greek, but contemporary English style tends toward shorter sentences. A literal translation would result in a lengthy and awkward English sentence.

[19:18]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and with him two others.”

[20:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “That one.”

[20:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[20:16]  ²² sn The Aramaic Rabboni means “my teacher” (a title of respect).

[20:16]  ²³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.