John 16:16

16:16 In a little while you ¹  will see me no longer; again after a little while, you ²  will see me.” ³ 

John 16:19

16:19 Jesus could see ⁴  that they wanted to ask him about these things, ⁵  so ⁶  he said to them, “Are you asking ⁷  each other about this – that I said, ‘In a little while you ⁸  will not see me; again after a little while, you ⁹  will see me’?

John 16:22-23

16:22 So also you have sorrow ¹⁰  now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ¹¹  16:23 At that time ¹²  you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth, ¹³  whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. ¹⁴ 

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¹ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

² tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

³ sn The phrase after a little while, you will see me is sometimes taken to refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus departs, but (as at 14:19) it is much more probable that it refers to the postresurrection appearances of Jesus to the disciples. There is no indication in the context that the disciples will see Jesus only with “spiritual” sight, as would be the case if the coming of the Spirit is in view.

⁴ tn Grk “knew.”

sn Jesus could see. Supernatural knowledge of what the disciples were thinking is not necessarily in view here. Given the disciples’ confused statements in the preceding verses, it was probably obvious to Jesus that they wanted to ask what he meant.

⁵ tn The words “about these things” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

⁶ tn Καί (kai) has been translated as “so” here to indicate the following statement is a result of Jesus’ observation in v. 19a.

⁷ tn Grk “inquiring” or “seeking.”

⁸ tn Grk “A little while, and you.”

⁹ tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”

¹⁰ tn Or “distress.”

¹¹ sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will be indignant toward his enemies.” The change from “you will see [me]” to I will see you places more emphasis on Jesus as the one who reinitiates the relationship with the disciples after his resurrection, but v. 16 (you will see me) is more like Isa 66:14. Further support for seeing this allusion as intentional is found in Isa 66:7, which uses the same imagery of the woman giving birth found in John 16:21. In the context of Isa 66 the passages refer to the institution of the messianic kingdom, and in fact the last clause of 66:14 along with the following verses (15-17) have yet to be fulfilled. This is part of the tension of present and future eschatological fulfillment that runs throughout the NT, by virtue of the fact that there are two advents. Some prophecies are fulfilled or partially fulfilled at the first advent, while other prophecies or parts of prophecies await fulfillment at the second.

¹² tn Grk “And in that day.”

¹³ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

¹⁴ sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.