Yohanes 9:19

9:19 They asked the parents, ¹  “Is this your son, whom you say ²  was born blind? Then how does he now see?”

Yohanes 9:40

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ³  who were with him heard this ⁴  and asked him, ⁵  “We are not blind too, are we?” ⁶ 

Yohanes 11:12

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

Yohanes 11:17

Speaking with Martha and Mary

11:17 When ⁸  Jesus arrived, ⁹  he found that Lazarus ¹⁰  had been in the tomb four days already. ¹¹ 

Yohanes 15:8

15:8 My Father is honored ¹²  by this, that ¹³  you bear ¹⁴  much fruit and show that you are ¹⁵  my disciples.

Yohanes 15:25

15:25 Now this happened ¹⁶  to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’ ¹⁷ 

[9:19]  ¹ tn Grk “and they asked them, saying”; the referent (the parents) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:19]  ² tn The Greek pronoun and verb are both plural (both parents are addressed).

[9:40]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ⁴ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ⁵ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are we?”).

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

[11:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “Then when.”

[11:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “came.”

[11:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Lazarus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he had already had four days in the tomb” (an idiom).

[11:17]  sn There is no description of the journey itself. The author simply states that when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. He had died some time before this but probably not very long (cf. Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:6,10 who were buried immediately after they died, as was the common practice of the time). There is some later evidence (early 3rd century) of a rabbinic belief that the soul hovered near the body of the deceased for three days, hoping to be able to return to the body. But on the fourth day it saw the beginning of decomposition and finally departed (Leviticus Rabbah 18.1). If this belief is as old as the 1st century, it might suggest the significance of the four days: After this time, resurrection would be a first-order miracle, an unequivocal demonstration of the power of God. It is not certain if the tradition is this early, but it is suggestive. Certainly the author does not appear to attach any symbolic significance to the four days in the narrative.

[15:8]  ¹² tn Grk “glorified.”

[15:8]  ¹³ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause is best taken as substantival in apposition to ἐν τούτῳ (en toutw) at the beginning of the verse. The Father is glorified when the disciples bring forth abundant fruit. Just as Jesus has done the works which he has seen his Father doing (5:19-29) so also will his disciples.

[15:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “yield.”

[15:8]  ¹⁵ tc Most mss (א A Ψ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) read the future indicative γενήσεσθε (genhsesqe; perhaps best rendered as “[and show that] you will become”), while some early and good witnesses (Ì^66vid B D L Θ 0250 1 565 al) have the aorist subjunctive γένησθε (genhsqe; “[and show that] you are”). The original reading is difficult to determine because the external evidence is fairly evenly divided. On the basis of the external evidence alone the first reading has some credibility because of א and 33, but it is not enough to overthrow the Alexandrian and Western witnesses for the aorist. Some who accept the future indicative see a consecutive (or resultative) sequence between φέρητε (ferhte) in the ἵνα (Jina) clause and γενήσεσθε, so that the disciples’ bearing much fruit results in their becoming disciples. This alleviates the problem of reading a future indicative within a ἵνα clause (a grammatical solecism that is virtually unattested in Attic Greek), although such infrequently occurs in the NT, particularly in the Apocalypse (cf. Gal 2:4; Rev 3:9; 6:4, 11; 8:3; 9:4, 5, 20; 13:12; 14:13; 22:14; even here, however, the Byzantine mss, with א occasionally by their side, almost always change the future indicative to an aorist subjunctive). It seems more likely, however, that the second verb (regardless of whether it is read as aorist or future) is to be understood as coordinate in meaning with the previous verb φέρητε (So M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek §342). Thus the two actions are really one and the same: Bearing fruit and being Jesus’ disciple are not two different actions, but a single action. The first is the outward sign or proof of the second – in bearing fruit the disciples show themselves to be disciples indeed (cf. 15:5). Thus the translation followed here is, “that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.” As far as the textual reading is concerned, it appears somewhat preferable to accept the aorist subjunctive reading (γένησθε) on the basis of better external testimony.

[15:25]  ¹⁶ tn The words “this happened” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to complete an ellipsis.

[15:25]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 35:19 and Ps 69:4. As a technical term law (νόμος, nomos) is usually restricted to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT), but here it must have a broader reference, since the quotation is from Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4. The latter is the more likely source for the quoted words, since it is cited elsewhere in John’s Gospel (2:17 and 19:29, in both instances in contexts associated with Jesus’ suffering and death).