Discovery BoxJohn 4:10 
Context4:10 Jesus answered 1 her, “If you had known 2 the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water 3 to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 4
John 6:27
Context6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, 5 but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food 6 which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” 7
John 6:51
Context6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread 8 that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
John 15:16
Context15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you 9 and appointed you to go and bear 10 fruit, fruit that remains, 11 so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
1 tn Grk “answered and said to her.”
2 tn Or “if you knew.”
3 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
4 tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.
sn The word translated living is used in Greek of flowing water, which leads to the woman’s misunderstanding in the following verse. She thought Jesus was referring to some unknown source of drinkable water.
5 tn Or “perishes” (this might refer to spoiling, but is more focused on the temporary nature of this kind of food).
sn Do not work for the food that disappears. Note the wordplay on “work” here. This does not imply “working” for salvation, since the “work” is later explained (in John 6:29) as “to believe in the one whom he (the Father) sent.”
6 tn The referent (the food) has been specified for clarity by repeating the word “food” from the previous clause.
7 tn Grk “on this one.”
8 tn Grk “And the bread.”
9 sn You did not choose me, but I chose you. If the disciples are now elevated in status from slaves to friends, they are friends who have been chosen by Jesus, rather than the opposite way round. Again this is true of all Christians, not just the twelve, and the theme that Christians are “chosen” by God appears frequently in other NT texts (e.g., Rom 8:33; Eph 1:4ff.; Col 3:12; and 1 Pet 2:4). Putting this together with the comments on 15:14 one may ask whether the author sees any special significance at all for the twelve. Jesus said in John 6:70 and 13:18 that he chose them, and 15:27 makes clear that Jesus in the immediate context is addressing those who have been with him from the beginning. In the Fourth Gospel the twelve, as the most intimate and most committed followers of Jesus, are presented as the models for all Christians, both in terms of their election and in terms of their mission.
10 tn Or “and yield.”
11 sn The purpose for which the disciples were appointed (“commissioned”) is to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains. The introduction of the idea of “going” at this point suggests that the fruit is something more than just character qualities in the disciples’ own lives, but rather involves fruit in the lives of others, i.e., Christian converts. There is a mission involved (cf. John 4:36). The idea that their fruit is permanent, however, relates back to vv. 7-8, as does the reference to asking the Father in Jesus’ name. It appears that as the imagery of the vine and the branches develops, the “fruit” which the branches produce shifts in emphasis from qualities in the disciples’ own lives in John 15:2, 4, 5 to the idea of a mission which affects the lives of others in John 15:16. The point of transition would be the reference to fruit in 15:8.
