8:9 Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, 5 until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
1 tn Grk “the hour.”
2 tn BDAG 558 s.v. κομψότερον translates the idiom κομψότερον ἔχειν (komyoteron ecein) as “begin to improve.”
3 tn The second οὖν (oun) in 4:52 has been translated as “and” to improve English style by avoiding redundancy.
4 tn Grk “at the seventh hour.”
5 tn Or “beginning from the eldest.”
6 tn Grk “an hour.”
7 tn Grk “each one to his own”; the word “home” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The phrase “each one to his own” may be completed in a number of different ways: “each one to his own property”; “each one to his own family”; or “each one to his own home.” The last option seems to fit most easily into the context and so is used in the translation.
8 sn The proof of Jesus’ negative evaluation of the disciples’ faith is now given: Jesus foretells their abandonment of him at his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (I will be left alone). This parallels the synoptic accounts in Matt 26:31 and Mark 14:27 when Jesus, after the last supper and on the way to Gethsemane, foretold the desertion of the disciples as a fulfillment of Zech 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Yet although the disciples would abandon Jesus, he reaffirmed that he was not alone, because the Father was still with him.
9 tn Grk “And” (but with some contrastive force).
10 tn Grk “the Father.”
11 tn Grk “spoke to the doorkeeper”; her description as a slave girl is taken from the following verse. The noun θυρωρός (qurwro") may be either masculine or feminine, but the article here indicates that it is feminine.