Yohanes 1:48

1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, ¹  “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, ²  I saw you.”

Yohanes 6:5

6:5 Then Jesus, when he looked up ³  and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?”

Yohanes 10:12

10:12 The hired hand, ⁴  who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons ⁵  the sheep and runs away. ⁶  So the wolf attacks ⁷  the sheep and scatters them.

Yohanes 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ⁸ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ⁹ 

and turn to me, ¹⁰  and I would heal them.” ¹¹ 

[1:48]  ¹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”

[1:48]  ² sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)

[6:5]  ³ tn Grk “when he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).

[10:12]  ⁴ sn Jesus contrasts the behavior of the shepherd with that of the hired hand. This is a worker who is simply paid to do a job; he has no other interest in the sheep and is certainly not about to risk his life for them. When they are threatened, he simply runs away.

[10:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “leaves.”

[10:12]  ⁶ tn Or “flees.”

[10:12]  ⁷ tn Or “seizes.” The more traditional rendering, “snatches,” has the idea of seizing something by force and carrying it off, which is certainly possible here. However, in the sequence in John 10:12, this action precedes the scattering of the flock of sheep, so “attacks” is preferable.

[12:40]  ⁸ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁹ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹⁰ tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.