¹ tn Or “has a higher rank than I.”

² sn John 3:16-21 provides an introduction to the (so-called) “realized” eschatology of the Fourth Gospel: Judgment has come; eternal life may be possessed now, in the present life, as well as in the future. The terminology “realized eschatology” was originally coined by E. Haenchen and used by J. Jeremias in discussion with C. H. Dodd, but is now characteristically used to describe Dodd’s own formulation. See L. Goppelt, Theology of the New Testament, 1:54, note 10, and R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:cxvii-cxviii) for further discussion. Especially important to note is the element of choice portrayed in John’s Gospel. If there is a twofold reaction to Jesus in John’s Gospel, it should be emphasized that that reaction is very much dependent on a person’s choice, a choice that is influenced by his way of life, whether his deeds are wicked or are done in God (John 3:20-21). For John there is virtually no trace of determinism at the surface. Only when one looks beneath the surface does one find statements like “no one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

³ tn Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “the one who has been anointed.”

sn The one called Christ. This is a parenthetical statement by the author. See the note on Christ in 1:20.

⁴ tn Grk “that one.”

⁵ tn Or “he will announce to us.”

⁶ tn Grk “all things.”

⁷ tn Or “you do not receive.”

⁸ tn Or “you will receive.”

⁹ tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).

¹⁰ tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).

¹¹ tc Several early and important witnesses (Ì^66,75 B W a b sa) lack θεοῦ (qeou, “God”) here, thus reading “the only one,” while most of the rest of the tradition, including some important mss, has the name ({א A D L Θ Ψ 33 Ï}). Internally, it could be argued that the name of God was not used here, in keeping with the NT practice of suppressing the name of God at times for rhetorical effect, drawing the reader inexorably to the conclusion that the one being spoken of is God himself. On the other hand, never is ὁ μόνος (Jo mono") used absolutely in the NT (i.e., without a noun or substantive with it), and always the subject of the adjunct is God (cf. Matt 24:36; John 17:3; 1 Tim 6:16). What then is to explain the shorter reading? In uncial script, with θεοῦ written as a nomen sacrum, envisioning accidental omission of the name by way of homoioteleuton requires little imagination, largely because of the succession of words ending in -ου: toumonouqMuou. It is thus preferable to retain the word in the text.

¹² tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”

¹³ sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.

¹⁴ tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”

¹⁵ tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities).

¹⁶ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

¹⁷ 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 it is “will he?”).

¹⁸ tn Grk “is from the seed” (an idiom for human descent).

¹⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 89:4.

²⁰ sn An allusion to Mic 5:2.

map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

²¹ tn Grk “the village where David was.”

²² tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

²³ 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?”).

²⁴ tc At least one early and important ms (Ì^66*) places the article before “prophet” (ὁ προφήτης, Jo profhths), making this a reference to the “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Deut 18:15.

tn This claim by the leaders presents some difficulty, because Jonah had been from Gath Hepher, in Galilee (2 Kgs 14:25). Also the Babylonian Talmud later stated, “There was not a tribe in Israel from which there did not come prophets” (b. Sukkah 27b). Two explanations are possible: (1) In the heat of anger the members of the Sanhedrin overlooked the facts (this is perhaps the easiest explanation). (2) This anarthrous noun is to be understood as a reference to the prophet of Deut 18:15 (note the reading of Ì⁶⁶ which is articular), by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief. This would produce in the text of John’s Gospel a high sense of irony indeed, since the religious authorities by their insistence that “the Prophet” could not come from Galilee displayed their true ignorance of where Jesus came from on two levels at once (Bethlehem, his birthplace, the fulfillment of Mic 5:2, but also heaven, from which he was sent by the Father). The author does not even bother to refute the false attestation of Jesus’ place of birth as Galilee (presumably Christians knew all too well where Jesus came from).

²⁵ tn Grk “The man answered and said to them.” This has been simplified in the translation to “The man replied.”

²⁶ tn Grk “For in this is a remarkable thing.”

²⁷ tn Grk “and he opened my eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

²⁸ tn That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).

²⁹ tn That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.

³⁰ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

³¹ tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”

³² tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for discussion of how this word is translated.

³³ tn Grk “that one.”