9:18 Now the Jewish religious leaders 20 refused to believe 21 that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned 22 the parents of the man who had become able to see. 23
12:9 Now a large crowd of Judeans 24 learned 25 that Jesus 26 was there, and so they came not only because of him 27 but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.
12:40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart, 28
so that they would not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart, 29
and turn to me, 30 and I would heal them.” 31
17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, 35 so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world 36 .
1 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Grk “said to them.”
3 tn Grk “about the tenth hour.”
sn About four o’clock in the afternoon. What system of time reckoning is the author using? B. F. Westcott thought John, unlike the synoptic gospels, was using Roman time, which started at midnight (St. John, 282). This would make the time 10 a.m., which would fit here. But later in the Gospel’s Passover account (John 19:42, where the sixth hour is on the “eve of the Passover”) it seems clear the author had to be using Jewish reckoning, which began at 6 a.m. This would make the time here in 1:39 to be 4 p.m. This may be significant: If the hour was late, Andrew and the unnamed disciple probably spent the night in the same house where Jesus was staying, and the events of 1:41-42 took place on the next day. The evidence for Westcott’s view, that the Gospel is using Roman time, is very slim. The Roman reckoning which started at midnight was only used by authorities as legal time (for contracts, official documents, etc.). Otherwise, the Romans too reckoned time from 6 a.m. (e.g., Roman sundials are marked VI, not XII, for noon).
4 tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
5 tn The recitative ὅτι (Joti) after λέγετε (legete) has not been translated.
6 tn Grk “lift up your eyes” (an idiom). BDAG 357 s.v. ἐπαίρω 1 has “look up” here.
7 tn That is, “ripe.”
8 tn Grk “That one answered.”
9 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
10 tn Grk “and smeared.” Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when obvious from the context.
11 tn Grk “said to me.”
12 tn Or “and I gained my sight.”
13 tn Or “how he had become able to see.”
sn So the Pharisees asked him. Note the subtlety here: On the surface, the man is being judged. But through him, Jesus is being judged. Yet in reality (as the discerning reader will realize) it is ironically the Pharisees themselves who are being judged by their response to Jesus who is the light of the world (cf. 3:17-21).
14 tn Grk “And he said to them.”
15 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
16 tn The word “now” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate the contrast between the man’s former state (blind) and his present state (able to see).
17 tn Grk “the blind man.”
18 tn Grk “since he opened your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
19 tn Grk “And he said, ‘He is a prophet.’”
sn At this point the man, pressed by the Pharisees, admitted there was something special about Jesus. But here, since prophet is anarthrous (is not accompanied by the Greek article) and since in his initial reply in 9:11-12 the man showed no particular insight into the true identity of Jesus, this probably does not refer to the prophet of Deut 18:15, but merely to an unusual person who is capable of working miracles. The Pharisees had put this man on the spot, and he felt compelled to say something about Jesus, but he still didn’t have a clear conception of who Jesus was, so he labeled him a “prophet.”
20 tn Or “the Jewish religious authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers mainly to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. References in this context to Pharisees and to the synagogue (v. 22) suggest an emphasis on the religious nature of the debate which is brought out by the translation “the Jewish religious leaders.”
21 tn The Greek text contains the words “about him” at this point: “the Jewish authorities did not believe about him…”
22 tn Grk “they called.”
23 tn Or “the man who had gained his sight.”
24 tn Grk “of the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e), the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding area who by this time had heard about the resurrection of Lazarus and were curious to see him.
25 tn Grk “knew.”
26 tn Grk “he”; normal English clause structure specifies the referent first and substitutes the pronoun in subsequent references to the same individual, so the referent (Jesus) has been specified here.
27 tn Grk “Jesus”; normal English clause structure specifies the referent first and substitutes the pronoun in subsequent references to the same individual, so the pronoun (“him”) has been substituted here.
28 tn Or “closed their mind.”
29 tn Or “their mind.”
30 tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
31 sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.
32 tn Or “cannot receive.”
33 tn Or “he remains.”
34 tc Some early and important witnesses (Ì66* B D* W 1 565 it) have ἐστιν (estin, “he is”) instead of ἔσται (estai, “he will be”) here, while other weighty witnesses ({Ì66c,75vid א A D1 L Θ Ψ Ë13 33vid Ï as well as several versions and fathers}), read the future tense. When one considers transcriptional evidence, ἐστιν is the more difficult reading and better explains the rise of the future tense reading, but it must be noted that both Ì66 and D were corrected from the present tense to the future. If ἐστιν were the original reading, one would expect a few manuscripts to be corrected to read the present when they originally read the future, but that is not the case. When one considers what the author would have written, the future is on much stronger ground. The immediate context (both in 14:16 and in the chapter as a whole) points to the future, and the theology of the book regards the advent of the Spirit as a decidedly future event (see, e.g., 7:39 and 16:7). The present tense could have arisen from an error of sight on the part of some scribes or more likely from an error of thought as scribes reflected upon the present role of the Spirit. Although a decision is difficult, the future tense is most likely authentic. For further discussion on this textual problem, see James M. Hamilton, Jr., “He Is with You and He Will Be in You” (Ph.D. diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003), 213-20.
35 tn Grk “the ones you have given me, I want these to be where I am with me.”
36 tn Grk “before the foundation of the world.”
37 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
38 sn This incident is recounted in v. 10.
39 tn Or “garden.”
40 tn This question, prefaced with οὐκ (ouk) in Greek, anticipates a positive answer.