6:52 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus 7 began to argue with one another, 8 “How can this man 9 give us his flesh to eat?”
1 tn The words “Tell us” are not in the Greek but are implied.
2 tn Or “a reward”; see L&N 38.14 and 57.173. This is something of a wordplay.
3 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
4 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
5 tc Several early and important witnesses (Ì66,75 B W a b sa) lack θεοῦ (qeou, “God”) here, thus reading “the only one,” while most of the rest of the tradition, including some important
6 tn Or “attracts him,” or “pulls him.” The word is used of pulling or dragging, often by force. It is even used once of magnetic attraction (A. Oepke, TDNT 2:503).
sn The Father who sent me draws him. The author never specifically explains what this “drawing” consists of. It is evidently some kind of attraction; whether it is binding and irresistible or not is not mentioned. But there does seem to be a parallel with 6:65, where Jesus says that no one is able to come to him unless the Father has allowed it. This apparently parallels the use of Isaiah by John to reflect the spiritual blindness of the Jewish leaders (see the quotations from Isaiah in John 9:41 and 12:39-40).
7 tn Grk “Then the Jews began to argue.” Here the translation restricts the phrase to those Jews who were hostile to Jesus (cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.β), since the “crowd” mentioned in 6:22-24 was almost all Jewish (as suggested by their addressing Jesus as “Rabbi” (6:25). See also the note on the phrase “the Jews who were hostile to Jesus” in v. 41.
8 tn Grk “with one another, saying.”
9 tn Grk “this one,” “this person.”
10 tn Grk “And he said”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Grk “unless it has been permitted to him by the Father.”
12 tn Grk “We are the seed” (an idiom).
13 tn Grk “They answered to him.”
14 tn Or “How is it that you say.”
15 tn Or “can convict me.”
16 tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”
17 tn Or “if I tell you.”
18 tn Grk “We must work the works.”
19 tn Or “of him who sent me” (God).
20 tn Or “while.”
21 tn Grk “Then that one answered.”
22 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
23 tn Grk “you would not have sin.”
24 tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”
25 tn Or “your sin.”
26 sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).
27 tn Or “the sayings.”
28 tn Grk “open the eyes of the blind” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
29 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 “can it?”).
30 tn Or “is superior to all.”
31 tn Or “no one can seize.”
32 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
33 tn Or “I will die willingly for you.”