Yohanes 2:12

Cleansing the Temple

2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum ¹  with his mother and brothers ²  and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

Yohanes 4:9

4:9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew ³  – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water ⁴  to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common ⁵  with Samaritans.) ⁶ 

Yohanes 6:11

6:11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish, ⁷  as much as they wanted.

Yohanes 6:26

6:26 Jesus replied, ⁸  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹  you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted. ¹⁰ 

Yohanes 6:42

6:42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Yohanes 8:39

8:39 They answered him, ¹¹  “Abraham is our father!” ¹²  Jesus replied, ¹³  “If you are ¹⁴  Abraham’s children, you would be doing ¹⁵  the deeds of Abraham.

Yohanes 8:41

8:41 You people ¹⁶  are doing the deeds of your father.”

Then ¹⁷  they said to Jesus, ¹⁸  “We were not born as a result of immorality! ¹⁹  We have only one Father, God himself.”

Yohanes 9:21

9:21 But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see. ²⁰  Ask him, he is a mature adult. ²¹  He will speak for himself.”

Yohanes 11:37

11:37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! ²²  Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus ²³  from dying?”

Yohanes 12:19

12:19 Thus the Pharisees ²⁴  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

Yohanes 12:34

12:34 Then the crowd responded, ²⁵  “We have heard from the law that the Christ ²⁶  will remain forever. ²⁷  How ²⁸  can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

Yohanes 14:31

14:31 but I am doing just what the Father commanded me, so that the world may know ²⁹  that I love the Father. ³⁰  Get up, let us go from here.” ³¹ 

Yohanes 16:30

16:30 Now we know that you know everything ³²  and do not need anyone ³³  to ask you anything. ³⁴  Because of this ³⁵  we believe that you have come from God.”

Yohanes 19:11

19:11 Jesus replied, “You would have no authority ³⁶  over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you ³⁷  is guilty of greater sin.” ³⁸ 

[2:12]  ¹ sn Verse 12 is merely a transitional note in the narrative (although Capernaum does not lie on the direct route to Jerusalem from Cana). Nothing is mentioned in John’s Gospel at this point about anything Jesus said or did there (although later his teaching is mentioned, see 6:59). From the synoptics it is clear that Capernaum was a center of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and might even be called “his own town” (Matt 9:1). The royal official whose son Jesus healed (John 4:46-54) was from Capernaum. He may have heard Jesus speak there, or picked up the story about the miracle at Cana from one of Jesus’ disciples.

[2:12]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[2:12]  ² sn With respect to Jesus’ brothers, the so-called Helvidian view is to be preferred (named after Helvidius, a 4th-century theologian). This view holds that the most natural way to understand the phrase is as a reference to children of Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus. Other views are that of Epiphanius (they were children of Joseph by a former marriage) or Jerome (they were cousins). The tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity appeared in the 2nd century and is difficult to explain (as J. H. Bernard, St. John [ICC], 1:85, points out) if some of her other children were prominent members of the early church (e.g., James of Jerusalem). But this is outweighed by the natural sense of the words.

[4:9]  ³ tn Or “a Judean.” Here BDAG 478 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαίος 2.a states, “Judean (with respect to birth, nationality, or cult).” The same term occurs in the plural later in this verse. In one sense “Judean” would work very well in the translation here, since the contrast is between residents of the two geographical regions. However, since in the context of this chapter the discussion soon becomes a religious rather than a territorial one (cf. vv. 19-26), the translation “Jew” has been retained here and in v. 22.

[4:9]  ⁴ tn “Water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:9]  ⁵ tn D. Daube (“Jesus and the Samaritan Woman: the Meaning of συγχράομαι [Jn 4:7ff],” JBL 69 [1950]: 137-47) suggests this meaning.

[4:9]  sn The background to the statement use nothing in common is the general assumption among Jews that the Samaritans were ritually impure or unclean. Thus a Jew who used a drinking vessel after a Samaritan had touched it would become ceremonially unclean.

[4:9]  ⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[6:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “likewise also (he distributed) from the fish.”

[6:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[6:26]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “because you ate of the loaves of bread and were filled.”

[8:39]  ¹¹ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[8:39]  ¹² tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”

[8:39]  ¹³ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:39]  ¹⁴ tc Although most mss (C W Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï) have the imperfect ἦτε (hte, “you were”) here, making this sentence a proper second class condition, the harder reading, ἐστε (este, “you are”), is found in the better witnesses (Ì^66,75 א B D L 070 pc lat).

[8:39]  ¹⁵ tc Some important mss (Ì⁶⁶ B* [700]) have the present imperative ποιεῖτε (poieite) here: “If you are Abraham’s children, then do,” while many others (א² C K L N Δ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 565 579 892 pm) add the contingent particle ἄν (an) to ἐποιεῖτε (epoieite) making it a more proper second class condition by Attic standards. The simple ἐποιεῖτε without the ἄν is the hardest reading, and is found in some excellent witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* B² D W Γ Θ 070 0250 1424 pm).

[8:39]  tn Or “you would do.”

[8:41]  ¹⁶ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[8:41]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sy^s,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì^66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 ˹³ 33 Ï). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 52). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁷ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:41]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:41]  ¹⁹ sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.

[9:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “who opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[9:21]  ²¹ tn Or “he is of age.”

[11:37]  ²² tn Grk “who opened the eyes of the blind man” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[11:37]  ²³ tn Grk “this one”; the second half of 11:37 reads Grk “Could not this one who opened the eyes of the blind have done something to keep this one from dying?” In the Greek text the repetition of “this one” in 11:37b referring to two different persons (first Jesus, second Lazarus) could confuse a modern reader. Thus the first reference, to Jesus, has been translated as “he” to refer back to the beginning of v. 37, where the reference to “the man who caused the blind man to see” is clearly a reference to Jesus. The second reference, to Lazarus, has been specified (“Lazarus”) in the translation for clarity.

[12:19]  ²⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:34]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Then the crowd answered him.”

[12:34]  ²⁶ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[12:34]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[12:34]  ²⁷ tn Probably an allusion to Ps 89:35-37. It is difficult to pinpoint the passage in the Mosaic law to which the crowd refers. The ones most often suggested are Ps 89:36-37, Ps 110:4, Isa 9:7, Ezek 37:25, and Dan 7:14. None of these passages are in the Pentateuch per se, but “law” could in common usage refer to the entire OT (compare Jesus’ use in John 10:34). Of the passages mentioned, Ps 89:36-37 is the most likely candidate. This verse speaks of David’s “seed” remaining forever. Later in the same psalm, v. 51 speaks of the “anointed” (Messiah), and the psalm was interpreted messianically in both the NT (Acts 13:22, Rev 1:5, 3:14) and in the rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 97).

[12:34]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And how”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

[14:31]  ²⁹ tn Or “may learn.”

[14:31]  ³⁰ tn Grk “But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and just as the Father commanded me, thus I do.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation to conform to contemporary English style.

[14:31]  ³¹ sn Some have understood Jesus’ statement Get up, let us go from here to mean that at this point Jesus and the disciples got up and left the room where the meal was served and began the journey to the garden of Gethsemane. If so, the rest of the Farewell Discourse took place en route. Others have pointed to this statement as one of the “seams” in the discourse, indicating that the author used preexisting sources. Both explanations are possible, but not really necessary. Jesus could simply have stood up at this point (the disciples may or may not have stood with him) to finish the discourse before finally departing (in 18:1). In any case it may be argued that Jesus refers not to a literal departure at this point, but to preparing to meet the enemy who is on the way already in the person of Judas and the soldiers with him.

[16:30]  ³² tn Grk “all things.”

[16:30]  ³³ tn Grk “and have no need of anyone.”

[16:30]  ³⁴ tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:30]  ³⁵ tn Or “By this.”

[19:11]  ³⁶ tn Or “power.”

[19:11]  ³⁷ tn Or “who delivered me over to you.”

[19:11]  sn The one who handed me over to you appears to be a reference to Judas at first; yet Judas did not deliver Jesus up to Pilate, but to the Jewish authorities. The singular may be a reference to Caiaphas, who as high priest was representative of all the Jewish authorities, or it may be a generic singular referring to all the Jewish authorities directly. In either case the end result is more or less the same.

[19:11]  ³⁸ tn Grk “has the greater sin” (an idiom).

[19:11]  sn Because Pilate had no authority over Jesus except what had been given to him from God, the one who handed Jesus over to Pilate was guilty of greater sin. This does not absolve Pilate of guilt; it simply means his guilt was less than those who handed Jesus over to him, because he was not acting against Jesus out of deliberate hatred or calculated malice, like the Jewish religious authorities. These were thereby guilty of greater sin.