Discovery BoxJohn 12:16 
Context12:16 (His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened, 1 but when Jesus was glorified, 2 then they remembered that these things were written about him and that these things had happened 3 to him.) 4
John 12:33-34
Context12:33 (Now he said this to indicate clearly what kind of death he was going to die.) 5
12:34 Then the crowd responded, 6 “We have heard from the law that the Christ 7 will remain forever. 8 How 9 can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
1 tn Or “did not understand these things at first”; Grk “formerly.”
2 sn When Jesus was glorified, that is, glorified through his resurrection, exaltation, and return to the Father. Jesus’ glorification is consistently portrayed this way in the Gospel of John.
3 tn Grk “and that they had done these things,” though the referent is probably indefinite and not referring to the disciples; as such, the best rendering is as a passive (see ExSyn 402-3; R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:458).
4 sn The comment His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened (a parenthetical note by the author) informs the reader that Jesus’ disciples did not at first associate the prophecy from Zechariah with the events as they happened. This came with the later (postresurrection) insight which the Holy Spirit would provide after Jesus’ resurrection and return to the Father. Note the similarity with John 2:22, which follows another allusion to a prophecy in Zechariah (14:21).
5 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
6 tn Grk “Then the crowd answered him.”
7 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.
8 tn Probably an allusion to Ps 89:35-37. It is difficult to pinpoint the passage in the Mosaic law to which the crowd refers. The ones most often suggested are Ps 89:36-37, Ps 110:4, Isa 9:7, Ezek 37:25, and Dan 7:14. None of these passages are in the Pentateuch per se, but “law” could in common usage refer to the entire OT (compare Jesus’ use in John 10:34). Of the passages mentioned, Ps 89:36-37 is the most likely candidate. This verse speaks of David’s “seed” remaining forever. Later in the same psalm, v. 51 speaks of the “anointed” (Messiah), and the psalm was interpreted messianically in both the NT (Acts 13:22, Rev 1:5, 3:14) and in the rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 97).
9 tn Grk “And how”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.
