Discovery BoxJohn 2:11 
Context2:11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, 1 in Cana 2 of Galilee. In this way he revealed 3 his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 4
John 2:23
Context2:23 Now while Jesus 5 was in Jerusalem 6 at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. 7
John 7:31
Context7:31 Yet many of the crowd 8 believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ 9 comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?” 10
John 11:47
Context11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees 11 called the council 12 together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs.
1 tn This sentence in Greek involves an object-complement construction. The force can be either “Jesus did this as,” or possibly “Jesus made this to be.” The latter translation accents not only Jesus’ power but his sovereignty too. Cf. also 4:54 where the same construction occurs.
2 map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.
3 tn Grk “in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed.”
4 tn Or “his disciples trusted in him,” or “his disciples put their faith in him.”
5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
7 sn Because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. The issue here is not whether their faith was genuine or not, but what its object was. These individuals, after seeing the miracles, believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They most likely saw in him a political-eschatological figure of some sort. That does not, however, mean that their concept of “Messiah” was the same as Jesus’ own, or the author’s.
8 tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities).
9 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.
10 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?”).
11 tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.
12 tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The συνέδριον (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word συνέδριον in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning “councils.” The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as “one of them” supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities.
