Yohanes 7:37

Teaching About the Spirit

7:37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, ¹  Jesus stood up and shouted out, ²  “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and

Yohanes 8:41

8:41 You people ³  are doing the deeds of your father.”

Then ⁴  they said to Jesus, ⁵  “We were not born as a result of immorality! ⁶  We have only one Father, God himself.”

Yohanes 11:49

11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, ⁷  “You know nothing at all!

[7:37]  ¹ sn There is a problem with the identification of this reference to the last day of the feast, the greatest day: It appears from Deut 16:13 that the feast went for seven days. Lev 23:36, however, makes it plain that there was an eighth day, though it was mentioned separately from the seven. It is not completely clear whether the seventh or eighth day was the climax of the feast, called here by the author the “last great day of the feast.” Since according to the Mishnah (m. Sukkah 4.1) the ceremonies with water and lights did not continue after the seventh day, it seems more probable that this is the day the author mentions.

[7:37]  ² tn Grk “Jesus stood up and cried out, saying.”

[8:41]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:41]  ⁶ 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.

[11:49]  ⁷ tn Grk “said to them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.