John 4:6

4:6 Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside ¹  the well. It was about noon. ² 

John 6:10

6:10 Jesus said, “Have ³  the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.) ⁴  So the men ⁵  sat down, about five thousand in number.

John 8:2

8:2 Early in the morning he came to the temple courts again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach ⁶  them.

John 19:13

19:13 When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat ⁷  in the place called “The Stone Pavement” ⁸  (Gabbatha in ⁹  Aramaic). ¹⁰ 

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¹ tn Grk “on (ἐπί, epi) the well.” There may have been a low stone rim encircling the well, or the reading of Ì⁶⁶ (“on the ground”) may be correct.

² tn Grk “the sixth hour.”

sn It was about noon. The suggestion has been made by some that time should be reckoned from midnight rather than sunrise. This would make the time 6 a.m. rather than noon. That would fit in this passage but not in John 19:14 which places the time when Jesus is condemned to be crucified at “the sixth hour.”

³ tn Grk “Make.”

⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author (suggesting an eyewitness recollection).

⁵ tn Here “men” has been used in the translation because the following number, 5,000, probably included only adult males (see the parallel in Matt 14:21).

⁶ tn An ingressive sense for the imperfect fits well here following the aorist participle.

⁷ tn Or “the judge’s seat.”

sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and usually furnished with a seat. It was used by officials in addressing an assembly or making official pronouncements, often of a judicial nature.

⁸ sn The precise location of the place called ‘The Stone Pavement’ is still uncertain, although a paved court on the lower level of the Fortress Antonia has been suggested. It is not certain whether it was laid prior to a.d. 135, however.

⁹ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

sn The author does not say that Gabbatha is the Aramaic (or Hebrew) translation for the Greek term Λιθόστρωτον (Liqostrwton). He simply points out that in Aramaic (or Hebrew) the place had another name. A number of meanings have been suggested, but the most likely appears to mean “elevated place.” It is possible that this was a term used by the common people for the judgment seat itself, which always stood on a raised platform.

¹⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.