Then 11 they said to Jesus, 12 “We were not born as a result of immorality! 13 We have only one Father, God himself.”
18:25 Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard 21 warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” 22 Peter 23 denied it: “I am not!”
1 tn Or “our forefather”; Grk “our father.”
2 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 this instance all of v. 12 is one question. It has been broken into two sentences for the sake of English style (instead of “for he” the Greek reads “who”).
3 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.
4 tn Grk “who speaks from himself.”
5 tn Or “seeks.”
6 tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
7 tn Or “seeks.”
8 tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
9 tn Or “is truthful”; Grk “is true.”
10 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
11 tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sys,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë13 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.
12 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
13 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.
14 tn Grk “who opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
15 tn Or “he is of age.”
16 tn The idiom “sons of light” means essentially “people characterized by light,” that is, “people of God.”
sn The expression sons of light refers to men and women to whom the truth of God has been revealed and who are therefore living according to that truth, thus, “people of God.”
17 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
18 tn That is, the “guards of the chief priests” as distinguished from the household slaves of Annas.
19 tn Grk “because it was cold, and they were warming themselves.”
20 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
21 tn The words “in the courtyard” are not in the Greek text. They are supplied for the benefit of the modern reader, to link this scene to the preceding one in John 18:15-18.
22 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 you?”).
23 tn Grk “That one denied it and said”; the referent of the pronoun (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.