Discovery BoxJohn 4:35 
Context4:35 Don’t you say, 1 ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up 2 and see that the fields are already white 3 for harvest!
John 5:14
Context5:14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, 4 lest anything worse happen to you.”
John 8:21
Context8:21 Then Jesus 5 said to them again, 6 “I am going away, and you will look for me 7 but will die in your sin. 8 Where I am going you cannot come.”
John 13:33
Context13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, 9 and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, 10 ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ 11 now I tell you the same. 12
John 16:32
Context16:32 Look, a time 13 is coming – and has come – when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, 14 and I will be left alone. 15 Yet 16 I am not alone, because my Father 17 is with me.
John 19:4
Context19:4 Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, 18 “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation 19 against him.”
1 tn The recitative ὅτι (Joti) after λέγετε (legete) has not been translated.
2 tn Grk “lift up your eyes” (an idiom). BDAG 357 s.v. ἐπαίρω 1 has “look up” here.
3 tn That is, “ripe.”
4 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.
5 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The expression οὖν πάλιν (oun palin) indicates some sort of break in the sequence of events, but it is not clear how long. The author does not mention the interval between 8:12-20 and this next recorded dialogue. The feast of Tabernacles is past, and the next reference to time is 10:22, where the feast of the Dedication is mentioned. The interval is two months, and these discussions could have taken place at any time within that interval, as long as one assumes something of a loose chronological framework. However, if the material in the Fourth Gospel is arranged theologically or thematically, such an assumption would not apply.
7 tn Grk “you will seek me.”
8 tn The expression ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖσθε (en th Jamartia Jumwn apoqaneisqe) is similar to an expression found in the LXX at Ezek 3:18, 20 and Prov 24:9. Note the singular of ἁμαρτία (the plural occurs later in v. 24). To die with one’s sin unrepented and unatoned would be the ultimate disaster to befall a person. Jesus’ warning is stern but to the point.
9 tn Or “You will seek me.”
10 tn Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.
11 sn See John 7:33-34.
12 tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
13 tn Grk “an hour.”
14 tn Grk “each one to his own”; the word “home” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The phrase “each one to his own” may be completed in a number of different ways: “each one to his own property”; “each one to his own family”; or “each one to his own home.” The last option seems to fit most easily into the context and so is used in the translation.
15 sn The proof of Jesus’ negative evaluation of the disciples’ faith is now given: Jesus foretells their abandonment of him at his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (I will be left alone). This parallels the synoptic accounts in Matt 26:31 and Mark 14:27 when Jesus, after the last supper and on the way to Gethsemane, foretold the desertion of the disciples as a fulfillment of Zech 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Yet although the disciples would abandon Jesus, he reaffirmed that he was not alone, because the Father was still with him.
16 tn Grk “And” (but with some contrastive force).
17 tn Grk “the Father.”
18 tn Grk “to them.” The words “the Jewish leaders” are supplied from John 18:38 for clarity.
19 tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”
