¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “during the night.”

sn Possibly Nicodemus came…at night because he was afraid of public association with Jesus, or he wanted a lengthy discussion without interruptions; no explanation for the timing of the interview is given by the author. But the timing is significant for John in terms of the light-darkness motif – compare John 9:4, 11:10, 13:30 (especially), 19:39, and 21:3. Out of the darkness of his life and religiosity Nicodemus came to the Light of the world. The author probably had multiple meanings or associations in mind here, as is often the case.

³ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

⁴ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

⁵ tn The direct object of ἠρώτα (hrwta) is supplied from context. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

⁶ tn Grk “the hour.”

⁷ tn BDAG 558 s.v. κομψότερον translates the idiom κομψότερον ἔχειν (komyoteron ecein) as “begin to improve.”

⁸ tn The second οὖν (oun) in 4:52 has been translated as “and” to improve English style by avoiding redundancy.

⁹ tn Grk “at the seventh hour.”

¹⁰ tn Or “knew.”

¹¹ tn Grk “he.” The referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Since this is a prohibition with a present imperative, the translation “stop sinning” is sometimes suggested. This is not likely, however, since the present tense is normally used in prohibitions involving a general condition (as here) while the aorist tense is normally used in specific instances. Only when used opposite the normal usage (the present tense in a specific instance, for example) would the meaning “stop doing what you are doing” be appropriate.

¹³ tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

¹⁴ sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).

¹⁵ tn Grk “who speaks from himself.”

¹⁶ tn Or “seeks.”

¹⁷ tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”

¹⁸ tn Or “seeks.”

¹⁹ tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”

²⁰ tn Or “is truthful”; Grk “is true.”

²¹ tn Grk “so that they could accuse.”

²² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author of 7:53–8:11.

²³ tn Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagrafw) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).

²⁴ tn Grk “who opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

²⁵ tn Or “he is of age.”

²⁶ sn Many have wondered how Lazarus got out of the tomb if his hands and feet were still tied up with strips of cloth. The author does not tell, and with a miracle of this magnitude, this is not an important fact to know. If Lazarus’ decomposing body was brought back to life by the power of God, then it could certainly have been moved out of the tomb by that same power. Others have suggested that the legs were bound separately, which would remove the difficulty, but the account gives no indication of this. What may be of more significance for the author is the comparison which this picture naturally evokes with the resurrection of Jesus, where the graveclothes stayed in the tomb neatly folded (20:6-7). Jesus, unlike Lazarus, would never need graveclothes again.

²⁷ tn Grk “and his face tied around with cloth.”

²⁸ tn Grk “Loose him.”

²⁹ tn Or “did not understand these things at first”; Grk “formerly.”

³⁰ 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.

³¹ 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).

³² 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).

³³ tn Or “keeps.”

³⁴ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

³⁵ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

³⁶ tn Or “will disclose.”

³⁷ tn Grk “to them.” The words “the Jewish leaders” are supplied from John 18:38 for clarity.

³⁸ tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”