Discovery BoxJohn 9:16 
Context9:16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say, 1 “This man is not from God, because he does not observe 2 the Sabbath.” 3 But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform 4 such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division 5 among them.
John 16:17
Context16:17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, 6 ‘In a little while you 7 will not see me; again after a little while, you 8 will see me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 9
John 19:31
Context19:31 Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath 10 (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), 11 the Jewish leaders 12 asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs 13 broken 14 and the bodies taken down. 15
John 20:15
Context20:15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Because she 16 thought he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.”
John 20:19
Context20:19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together 17 and locked the doors 18 of the place 19 because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. 20 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
1 tn As a response to the answers of the man who used to be blind, the use of the imperfect tense in the reply of the Pharisees is best translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to say” or “started saying”).
2 tn Grk “he does not keep.”
3 sn The Jewish religious leaders considered the work involved in making the mud to be a violation of the Sabbath.
4 tn Grk “do.”
5 tn Or “So there was discord.”
6 tn Grk “What is this that he is saying to us.”
7 tn Grk “A little while, and you.”
8 tn Grk “and again a little while, and you.”
9 sn These fragmentary quotations of Jesus’ statements are from 16:16 and 16:10, and indicate that the disciples heard only part of what Jesus had to say to them on this occasion.
10 sn The Jewish authorities, because this was the day of preparation for the Sabbath and the Passover (cf. 19:14), requested Pilate to order the legs of the three who had been crucified to be broken. This would hasten their deaths, so that the bodies could be removed before the beginning of the Sabbath at 6 p.m. This was based on the law of Deut 21:22-23 and Josh 8:29 that specified the bodies of executed criminals who had been hanged on a tree should not remain there overnight. According to Josephus this law was interpreted in the 1st century to cover the bodies of those who had been crucified (J. W. 4.5.2 [4.317]). Philo of Alexandria also mentions that on occasion, especially at festivals, the bodies were taken down and given to relatives to bury (Flaccus 10 [83]). The normal Roman practice would have been to leave the bodies on the crosses, to serve as a warning to other would-be offenders.
11 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
12 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See also the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.
13 tn Grk “asked Pilate that the legs of them might be broken.” The referent of “them” (the three individuals who were crucified, collectively referred to as “the victims”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
14 sn To have the legs…broken. Breaking the legs of a crucified person was a way of speeding up his death, since the victim could no longer use his legs to push upward in order to be able to draw a breath. This breaking of the legs was called in Latin crurifragium, and was done with a heavy mallet.
15 tn Grk “asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and they might be taken down.” Here because of the numerous ambiguous third person references it is necessary to clarify that it was the crucified men whose legs were to be broken and whose corpses were to be removed from the crosses.
16 tn Grk “that one” (referring to Mary Magdalene).
17 tn Although the words “had gathered together” are omitted in some of the earliest and best
18 tn Grk “the doors were shut”; “locked” conveys a more appropriate idea for the modern English reader.
sn The fact that the disciples locked the doors is a perfectly understandable reaction to the events of the past few days. But what is the significance of the inclusion of this statement by the author? It is often taken to mean that Jesus, when he entered the room, passed through the closed doors. This may well be the case, but it may be assuming too much about our knowledge of the mode in which the resurrected body of Jesus exists. The text does not explicitly state how Jesus got through the closed doors. It is possible to assume that the doors opened of their own accord before him, or that he simply appeared in the middle of the room without passing through the doors at all. The point the author makes here is simply that the closed doors were no obstacle at all to the resurrected Jesus.
19 tn Grk “where they were.”
20 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; 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 Jewish leaders.
