John 4:47

4:47 When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him ¹  to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.

John 5:7

5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, ²  I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, ³  someone else ⁴  goes down there ⁵  before me.”

John 6:42

6:42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

John 6:51

6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread ⁶  that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John 6:58

6:58 This ⁷  is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ⁸  ate, but then later died. ⁹  The one who eats ¹⁰  this bread will live forever.”

John 8:6

8:6 (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against ¹¹  him.) ¹²  Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. ¹³ 

John 21:25

21:25 There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, ¹⁴  I suppose the whole world ¹⁵  would not have room for the books that would be written. ¹⁶ 

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¹ tn The direct object of ἠρώτα (hrwta) is supplied from context. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

² tn Or “Lord.” The Greek κύριος (kurios) means both “Sir” and “Lord.” In this passage the paralytic who was healed by Jesus never acknowledges Jesus as Lord – he rather reports Jesus to the authorities.

³ tn Grk “while I am going.”

⁴ tn Grk “another.”

⁵ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

⁶ tn Grk “And the bread.”

⁷ tn Or “This one.”

⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

⁹ tn Grk “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not just like your ancestors ate and died.” The cryptic Greek expression has been filled out in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

¹¹ tn Grk “so that they could accuse.”

¹² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author of 7:53–8:11.

¹³ tn Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagrafw) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).

¹⁴ tn Grk “written”; the word “down” is supplied in keeping with contemporary English idiom.

¹⁵ tn Grk “the world itself.”

¹⁶ tc Although the majority of mss (C² Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat) conclude this Gospel with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”), such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, excellent and early witnesses, as well as a few others (א A B C*^,3 D W 1 33 pc it), lack the particle, rendering no doubt as to how this Gospel originally ended.

sn The author concludes the Gospel with a note concerning his selectivity of material. He makes it plain that he has not attempted to write an exhaustive account of the words and works of Jesus, for if one attempted to do so, “the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” This is clearly hyperbole, and as such bears some similarity to the conclusion of the Book of Ecclesiastes (12:9-12). As it turns out, the statement seems more true of the Fourth Gospel itself, which is the subject of an ever-lengthening bibliography. The statement in v. 25 serves as a final reminder that knowledge of Jesus, no matter how well-attested it may be, is still partial. Everything that Jesus did during his three and one-half years of earthly ministry is not known. This supports the major theme of the Fourth Gospel: Jesus is repeatedly identified as God, and although he may be truly known on the basis of his self-disclosure, he can never be known exhaustively. There is far more to know about Jesus than could ever be written down, or even known. On this appropriate note the Gospel of John ends.