HarperCollins Study Bible, page 477
2.4 What concern is that to you and to me, a negative response (cf. 2 Kings 3.13) but not necessarily a disrespectful one. Neither is it disrespectful for Jesus to call his mother woman; see 19.26. Jesus’ hour means the hour of his death (see note on 7.30; cf. 4.21).
2.6 Rites of purification, e.g., washing of hands and vessels (see Mk 7.1–4).
2.8 Chief steward, perhaps a servant acting as headwaiter or one of the guests chosen as a master of ceremonies (Sir 32.1).
2.11 The first of his signs. A second sign is mentioned in 4.54 (though others happen in between; see 2.23) and other unrecorded signs in 20.30. This may suggest that John’s Gospel is partly based on a source that focused on miraculous signs of Jesus. In John such signs have a complex relation to believing (see 2.23–3.3; 4.48; 6.2, 14, 26, 30; 7.31; 9.16; 12.37). Glory. See note on 1.14.
2.12 Capernaum, a prosperous city near the northern end of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus made the center of his ministry (see 6.17, 24, 59; Mt 4.13; 11.23; Mk 2.1). His brothers. See also 7.3–5.
2.13–22 The cleansing of the temple is found at the end of Jesus’ mission in the other Gospels (e.g., Mk 11.15–18); this is more likely to be correct historically, since it may have been one reason for his crucifixion. John uses the story here to introduce Jesus’ confrontation with the Jewish authorities and also the theme that Jesus is the new temple.
2.13 Passover occurs in March or April (see Ex 12.1–13.10; Deut 16.1–8). As many as one hundred thousand people might make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for this festival.
2.14 Cattle, sheep, and doves, animals used as sacrifices. Money changers converted foreign currency into the coins allowed in the temple. This activity took place in the outer area of the temple, where non-Jews were allowed.
2.15 Neither the whip nor the sheep and cattle are mentioned in the other Gospels.
2.16 Stop making…marketplace. See Zech 14.21.
2.17 The quotation is from Ps 69.9.
2.18 On the demand for a sign, see 6.30; Mk 11.27–33; see also Mt 12.38–39; Mk 8.11–13.
2.19–21 On the Jews’ misunderstanding, see notes on 3.4; 7.33–36. In Mt 26.59–61; Mk 14.55–59 (cf. Acts 6.14), it is said that Jesus was falsely accused of making the claim in v. 19.
2.20 The temple here would have been the Second Temple, built in the sixth century BCE (Ezra 1; 3; 5–6; Hag 1–2; Zech 6.9–15). King Herod the Great began renovations and enlargements of it around 20 BCE, which were still in progress in Jesus’ day.
2.21 Identification of the temple with Jesus’ body precludes an accusation that he wanted to destroy the physical temple. It also suggests that Jesus is the true temple, where one abides with and worships God. Cf. 4.23; 14.20.
2.22 His disciples remembered. For other examples of remembrances, see 12.16;14.25–26; 16.12–13; 20.9.
2.23–25 The mention of signs and believers to whom Jesus would not entrust himself makes a transition to the dialogue with Nicodemus in ch. 3.
2.23 Signs. See note on 2.11.
2.24–25 On the ability to discern what was in everyone, see also 1 Sam 16.7; 1 Chr 28.9; Ps 139.
John 3
Nicodemus Visits Jesus
1Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesusa by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”b 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.c 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘Youd must be born from above.’e 8The windf blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet youg do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.h 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.i
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”j
Jesus and John the Baptist
22After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. 23John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized 24—John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison.
25Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew.k 26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. 28You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,l but I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. 30He must increase, but I must decrease.”m
The One Who Comes from Heaven
31The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. 33Whoever has accepted his testimony has certifiedn this, that God is true. 34He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.
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a Gk him
b Or born anew
c The same Greek word means both wind and spirit
d The Greek word for you here is plural
e Or anew
f The same Greek word means both wind and spirit
g The Greek word for you here and in verse 12 is plural
h Other ancient authorities add who is in heaven
i Some interpreters hold that the quotation concludes with verse 15
j Some interpreters hold that the quotation concludes with verse 15
k Other ancient authorities read the Jews
l Or the Christ
m Some interpreters hold that the quotation continues through verse 36
n Gk set a seal to
3.1–21 Nicodemus is mentioned only in John (7.45–52; 19.38–42). He may stand for a group (we, v. 2; plural you, vv. 7, 11, 12) with inadequate faith based on signs (v. 2; cf. 2.23–25). See also 12.42–43; Introduction.
3.2 Night. The setting dramatizes the role of Jesus as the Light. Cf. 11.10; 13.30.
3.3 Cf. Mt 18.3–4; Mk 10.15. Born from above, i.e., born from God; see 1.12–13; cf. 3.31; 8.23; 19.11.
3.4 The Greek word translated from above in v. 3 can also mean anew (see text note b). This is the source of Nicodemus’s misunderstanding. Such misunderstandings, cases of dramatic irony since readers know what the character in the story does not, are common in John; see, e.g., 2.19–21; 4.10–15, 31–38; 11.11–13; note on 7.33–36.
3.5 Water, i.e., baptism, associated with new birth and the Spirit in Rom 6.4; 1 Cor 6.11; 12.13; Titus 3.5.
3.6 On the contrast of flesh and spirit, see also 6.63. For the contrast of proper and improper births, cf. 1.13.
3.8 You do not know…where it goes. See 7.26–29; 8.14; 9.28–30. An old proverb may lie behind this remark. Cf. Eccl 11.5; Sir 16.21.
3.10 A teacher, lit. “the teacher.”
3.11 On Jesus’ testimony, see 8.13–18.
3.13 Ascended, descended. See 1.51; 6.62.
3.14 Serpent. See Num 21.9. Lifted up refers both to Jesus’ glorification and to his crucifixion; see also 8.28; 12.32–34 (cf. Isa 52.13). Understanding the significance of the crucified Jesus is essential to the spiritual healing that he provides.
3.16 See 5.24; 6.40, 47; 11.25–26;20.31; 1 Jn 4.9.
3.17 See 1 Jn 4.14. Condemn, or “judge.” See 5.24; 12.47–48.
3.19 Light, darkness. See 1.5, 9; 1 Jn 1.6–7; 2.9–11; Eph 5.11–14; Job 24.13–17. The notion of judgment is applied not to some future coming of Jesus but to his encounter with potential believers.
3.20 All who do evil hate the light. See 7.7; 15.22–24. The saying provides a rationale to explain why some people reject claims about Jesus. The sharp dichotomy of light and dark resembles the dualism in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Rule of the Community (1QS 3.15–4.1).
3.21 Do what is true. See 1 Jn 1.6.
3.22–36 On the contrast between Jesus and John the Baptist, see notes on 1.6–8; 1.19–34.
3.22 Jesus is said to baptize only here and in 4.1 in the NT.
3.23 Aenon, Salim. Locations uncertain.
3.24 On the imprisonment of John, see Mt 11.2–3; Mk 6.17–18.
3.25 Purification might refer to John’s and Jesus’ baptizing.
3.27 See also 19.11.
3.28 I am not the Messiah. See 1.20.
3.29 For the image of God’s people as a bride, see Isa 62.5; Jer 2.2; Hos 2.16–20; 2 Cor 11.2; Rev 19.6–8;21.9–10; see also Mk 2.19–20. Friend, i.e., the “best man,” who brought the bride to the groom. Joy…fulfilled. See 15.11; 16.24; 17.13; 1 Jn 1.4; 2 Jn 12.
3.31–36 Note the similarities to vv. 1–21 at several points: the superiority of the one who is from above; testimony that is rejected; and eternal life for those who believe in the Son, but condemnation for others. The passage is best construed as a narrator’s summary of the story thus far.
3.31 The one who comes from above. See 8.23;18.36; cf. 15.19; 17.14–16.
3.35 See 5.20.
3.36 See also 1 Jn 5.12. God’s wrath, not simply divine emotion, but God’s judgment; see, e.g., Rom 2.5–8; Col 3.6. The statement corrects a possible reading of v. 17 that would deny the reality of divine judgment.
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Jewish Festivals in the Gospel of John
FESTIVAL
Passover
TIME OF YEAR
March/April
OCCURRENCE IN JOHN
John 2.13, 23; 4.45; 6.4; 11.55; 12.1, 12, 20; 13.1, 29; 18.28, 39; 19.14
FESTIVAL
Booths (Sukkoth)
TIME OF YEAR
October
OCCURRENCE IN JOHN
John 7.1-14, 37
FESTIVAL
Dedication (Hanukkah)
TIME OF YEAR
December
OCCURRENCE IN JOHN
John 10.22
FESTIVAL
An unnamed festival
TIME OF YEAR
OCCURRENCE IN JOHN
John 5.1
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John 4
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
1Now when Jesusa learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” 2—although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized—3he left Judea and started back to Galilee. 4But he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)b 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’ 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but youc say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I am he,d the one who is speaking to you.”
27Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,e can he?” 30They left the city and were on their way to him.
31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receivingf wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Returns to Galilee
43When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee 44(for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). 45When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
46Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48Then Jesus said to him, “Unless youg see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” 50Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” 53The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
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a Other ancient authorities read the Lord
b Other ancient authorities lack this sentence
