John 19:2

19:2 The soldiers ¹  braided ²  a crown of thorns ³  and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. ⁴ 

John 20:12

20:12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet.

John 16:29

16:29 His disciples said, “Look, now you are speaking plainly ⁵  and not in obscure figures of speech! ⁶ 

John 13:12

13:12 So when Jesus ⁷  had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table ⁸  again and said to them, “Do you understand ⁹  what I have done for you?

John 19:5

19:5 So Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. ¹⁰  Pilate ¹¹  said to them, “Look, here is the man!” ¹² 

John 21:7

21:7 Then the disciple whom ¹³  Jesus loved ¹⁴  said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” So Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, tucked in his outer garment (for he had nothing on underneath it), ¹⁵  and plunged ¹⁶  into the sea.

John 19:23-24

19:23 Now when the soldiers crucified ¹⁷  Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, ¹⁸  and the tunic ¹⁹  remained. (Now the tunic ²⁰  was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) ²¹  19:24 So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice ²²  to see who will get it.” ²³  This took place ²⁴  to fulfill the scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” ²⁵  So the soldiers did these things.

John 13:29

13:29 Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him to buy whatever they needed for the feast, ²⁶  or to give something to the poor.) ²⁷ 

John 16:25

16:25 “I have told you these things in obscure figures of speech; ²⁸  a time ²⁹  is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figures, but will tell you ³⁰  plainly ³¹  about the Father.

John 13:4

13:4 he got up from the meal, removed ³²  his outer clothes, ³³  took a towel and tied it around himself. ³⁴ 

John 19:41

19:41 Now at the place where Jesus ³⁵  was crucified ³⁶  there was a garden, ³⁷  and in the garden ³⁸  was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. ³⁹ 

John 2:6

2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ⁴⁰  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁴¹ 

John 11:13

11:13 (Now Jesus had been talking about ⁴²  his death, but they ⁴³  thought he had been talking about real sleep.) ⁴⁴ 

[19:2]  ¹ tn Grk “And the soldiers.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:2]  ² tn Or “wove.”

[19:2]  ³ sn The crown of thorns was a crown plaited of some thorny material, intended as a mockery of Jesus’ “kingship.” Traditionally it has been regarded as an additional instrument of torture, but it seems more probable the purpose of the thorns was not necessarily to inflict more physical suffering but to imitate the spikes of the “radiant corona,” a type of crown portrayed on ruler’s heads on many coins of the period; the spikes on this type of crown represented rays of light pointing outward (the best contemporary illustration is the crown on the head of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor).

[19:2]  ⁴ sn The purple color of the robe indicated royal status. This was further mockery of Jesus, along with the crown of thorns.

[16:29]  ⁵ tn Or “openly.”

[16:29]  ⁶ tn Or “not in parables.” or “not in metaphors.”

[13:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he reclined at the table.” The phrase reflects the normal 1st century Near Eastern practice of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position.

[13:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Do you know.”

[19:5]  ¹³ sn See the note on the purple robe in 19:2.

[19:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Pilate) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:5]  ¹⁵ sn Look, here is the man! Pilate may have meant no more than something like “Here is the accused!” or in a contemptuous way, “Here is your king!” Others have taken Pilate’s statement as intended to evoke pity from Jesus’ accusers: “Look at this poor fellow!” (Jesus would certainly not have looked very impressive after the scourging). For the author, however, Pilate’s words constituted an unconscious allusion to Zech 6:12, “Look, here is the man whose name is the Branch.” In this case Pilate (unknowingly and ironically) presented Jesus to the nation under a messianic title.

[21:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the disciple, that one whom.”

[21:7]  ¹⁸ sn On the disciple whom Jesus loved see 13:23-26.

[21:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “for he was naked.” Peter’s behavior here has been puzzling to many interpreters. It is usually understood that the Greek word γυμνός (gumnos, usually translated “naked”) does not refer to complete nudity (as it could), since this would have been offensive to Jewish sensibilities in this historical context. It is thus commonly understood to mean “stripped for work” here (cf. NASB, NLT), that is, with one’s outer clothing removed, and Peter was wearing either a loincloth or a loose-fitting tunic (a long shirt-like garment worn under a cloak, cf. NAB, “for he was lightly clad”). Believing himself inadequately dressed to greet the Lord, Peter threw his outer garment around himself and dived into the sea. C. K. Barrett (St. John, 580-81) offered the explanation that a greeting was a religious act and thus could not be performed unless one was clothed. This still leaves the improbable picture of a person with much experience around the water putting on his outer garment before diving in. R. E. Brown’s suggestion (John [AB], 2:1072) seems much more probable here: The Greek verb used (διαζώννυμι, diazwnnumi) does not necessarily mean putting clothing on, but rather tying the clothing around oneself (the same verb is used in 13:4-5 of Jesus tying the towel around himself). The statement that Peter was “naked” could just as well mean that he was naked underneath the outer garment, and thus could not take it off before jumping into the water. But he did pause to tuck it up and tie it with the girdle before jumping in, to allow himself more freedom of movement. Thus the clause that states Peter was naked is explanatory (note the use of for), explaining why Peter girded up his outer garment rather than taking it off – he had nothing on underneath it and so could not remove it.

[21:7]  ²⁰ tn Grk “threw himself.”

[19:23]  ²¹ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:23]  ²² sn Four shares, one for each soldier. The Gospel of John is the only one to specify the number of soldiers involved in the crucifixion. This was a quaternion, a squad of four soldiers. It was accepted Roman practice for the soldiers who performed a crucifixion to divide the possessions of the person executed among themselves.

[19:23]  ²³ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[19:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). See the note on the same word earlier in this verse.

[19:23]  ²⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:24]  ²⁵ tn Grk “but choose by lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throw dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling.

[19:24]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to see whose it will be.”

[19:24]  ²⁷ tn The words “This took place” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[19:24]  ²⁸ tn Grk “cast lots.” See the note on “throw dice” earlier in the verse.

[13:29]  ²⁹ tn Grk “telling him, ‘Buy whatever we need for the feast.’” The first clause is direct discourse and the second clause indirect discourse. For smoothness of English style, the first clause has been converted to indirect discourse to parallel the second (the meaning is left unchanged).

[13:29]  ³⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[16:25]  ³³ tn Or “in parables”; or “in metaphors.” There is some difficulty in defining παροιμίαις (paroimiai") precisely: A translation like “parables” does not convey accurately the meaning. BDAG 779-80 s.v. παροιμία suggests in general “proverb, saw, maxim,” but for Johannine usage “veiled saying, figure of speech, in which esp. lofty ideas are concealed.” In the preceding context of the Farewell Discourse, Jesus has certainly used obscure language and imagery at times: John 13:8-11; 13:16; 15:1-17; and 16:21 could all be given as examples. In the LXX this word is used to translate the Hebrew mashal which covers a wide range of figurative speech, often containing obscure or enigmatic elements.

[16:25]  ³⁴ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:25]  ³⁵ tn Or “inform you.”

[16:25]  ³⁶ tn Or “openly.”

[13:4]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and removed”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

[13:4]  ³⁸ tn The plural τὰ ἱμάτια (ta Jimatia) is probably a reference to more than one garment (cf. John 19:23-24). If so, this would indicate that Jesus stripped to a loincloth, like a slave. The translation “outer clothes” is used to indicate that Jesus was not completely naked, since complete nudity would have been extremely offensive to Jewish sensibilities in this historical context.

[13:4]  ³⁹ tn Grk “taking a towel he girded himself.” Jesus would have wrapped the towel (λέντιον, lention) around his waist (διέζωσεν ἑαυτόν, diezwsen Jeauton) for use in wiping the disciples’ feet. The term λέντιον is a Latin loanword (linteum) which is also found in the rabbinic literature (see BDAG 592 s.v.). It would have been a long piece of linen cloth, long enough for Jesus to have wrapped it about his waist and still used the free end to wipe the disciples’ feet.

[19:41]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:41]  ⁴² sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:41]  ⁴³ tn Or “an orchard.”

[19:41]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “orchard.”

[19:41]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “been placed.”

[2:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”

[2:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrhtai). A μετρητῆς (metrhths) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18-27 gallons (80-120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108-162 gallons (480-720 liters).

[11:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “speaking about.”

[11:13]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “these.”

[11:13]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “the sleep of slumber”; this is a redundant expression to emphasize physical sleep as opposed to death.