translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JHN

label: NET translator note

text: Or “Believe in God.” The translation of the two uses of πιστεύετε ( pisteuete ) is difficult. Both may be either indicative or imperative, and as L. Morris points out ( John [NICNT], 637), this results in a bewildering variety of possibilities. To complicate matters further, the first may be understood as a question: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” Morris argues against the KJV translation which renders the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative on the grounds that for the writer of the Fourth Gospel, faith in Jesus is inseparable from faith in God. But this is precisely the point that Jesus is addressing in context. He is about to undergo rejection by his own people as their Messiah. The disciples’ faith in him as Messiah and Lord would be cast into extreme doubt by these events, which the author makes clear were not at this time foreseen by the disciples. After the resurrection it is this identification between Jesus and the Father which needs to be reaffirmed (cf. John 20:24-29 ). Thus it seems best to take the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative, producing the translation “You believe in God; believe also in me.”


text: Many interpreters have associated μοναί ( monai ) with an Aramaic word that can refer to a stopping place or resting place for a traveler on a journey. This is similar to one of the meanings the word can have in secular Greek (Pausanius 10.31.7). Origen understood the use here to refer to stations on the road to God. This may well have been the understanding of the Latin translators who translated μονή ( monh ) by mansio , a stopping place. The English translation “mansions” can be traced back to Tyndale, but in Middle English the word simply meant “a dwelling place” (not necessarily large or imposing) with no connotation of being temporary. The interpretation put forward by Origen would have been well suited to Gnosticism, where the soul in its ascent passes through stages during which it is gradually purified of all that is material and therefore evil. It is much more likely that the word μονή should be related to its cognate verb μένω ( menw ), which is frequently used in the Fourth Gospel to refer to the permanence of relationship between Jesus and the Father and/or Jesus and the believer. Thus the idea of a permanent dwelling place, rather than a temporary stopping place, would be in view. Luther’s translation of μοναί by Wohnungen is very accurate here, as it has the connotation of a permanent residence.


text: , which aligns with the Byzantine, needs to be given some value. At the same time, the scribe of this papyrus was known for freely omitting and adding words, and the fact that the ms was corrected discounts its testimony here. But because the shorter reading is out of character for the Byzantine text, the shorter reading (omitting the ὅτι ) may well be authentic. Internally, the question comes down to whether the shorter reading is more difficult or not. And here, it loses the battle, for it seems to be a clarifying omission (so TCGNT 206). R. E. Brown is certainly right when he states: “all in all, the translation without ὅτι makes the best sense” ( John [AB], 2:620). But this tacitly argues for the authenticity of the word. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, the ὅτι should be regarded as authentic. If the ὅτι ( Joti ) is included (see tc above), there are no less than four possible translations for this sentence: The sentence could be either a question or a statement, and in addition the ὅτι could either indicate content or be causal. How does one determine the best translation? (1) A question here should probably be ruled out because it would imply a previous statement by Jesus that either there are many dwelling places in his Father’s house (if the ὅτι is causal) or he was going off to make a place ready for them (if the ὅτι indicates content). There is no indication anywhere in the Fourth Gospel that Jesus had made such statements prior to this time. So understanding the sentence as a statement is the best option. (2) A statement with ὅτι indicating content is understandable but contradictory. If there were no dwelling places, Jesus would have told them that he was going off to make dwelling places. But the following verse makes clear that Jesus’ departure is not hypothetical but real – he is really going away. So understanding the ὅτι with a causal nuance is the best option. (3) A statement with a causal ὅτι can be understood two ways: (a) “Otherwise I would have told you” is a parenthetical statement, and the ὅτι clause goes with the preceding “There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house.” This would be fairly awkward syntactically, however; it would be much more natural for the ὅτι clause to modify what directly preceded it. (b) “Otherwise I would have told you” is explained by Jesus’ statement that he is going to make ready a place. He makes a logical, necessary connection between his future departure and the reality of the dwelling places in his Father’s house. To sum up, all the possibilities for understanding the verse with the inclusion of ὅτι present some interpretive difficulties, but last option given seems best: “Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going to make ready a place.” Of all the options it provides the best logical flow of thought in the passage without making any apparent contradictions in the context.


text: Or “to prepare.”


text: Or “If not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” What is the meaning of the last clause with or without the ὅτι ? One of the questions that must be answered here is whether or not τόπος ( topos ) is to be equated with μονή ( monh ). In Rev 12:8 τόπος is used to refer to a place in heaven, which would suggest that the two are essentially equal here. Jesus is going ahead of believers to prepare a place for them, a permanent dwelling place in the Father’s house (see the note on this phrase in v. 2 ).


text: Or “prepare.”


text: Or “bring you.”


text: Grk “to myself.”


text: Grk “said to him.”


text: Grk “Jesus said to him.”


text: Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”


text: . As well, the fact that the readings with a second-class condition utilize two different verbs with ἄν in different positions suggests that these readings are secondary. However, it could be argued that the second-class conditions are harder readings in that they speak negatively of the apostles (so K. Aland in TCGNT 207); in this case, the ἐγνώκειτε … ἐγνώκειτε ἄν reading should be given preference. Although a decision is difficult, the first-class condition is to be slightly preferred. In this case Jesus promises the disciples that, assuming they have known him, they will know the Father. Contextually this fits better with the following phrase (v. 7 b) which asserts that “from the present time you know him and have seen him” (cf. John 1:18 ).


text: Or “and that is enough for us.”


text: Or “recognized.”


text: The mutual interrelationship of the Father and the Son ( ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν , egw en tw patri kai Jo pathr en emoi estin ) is something that Jesus expected even his opponents to recognize (cf. John 10:38 ). The question Jesus asks of Philip ( οὐ πιστεύεις , ou pisteuei" ) expects the answer “yes.” Note that the following statement is addressed to all the disciples, however, because the plural pronoun ( ὑμῖν , Jumin ) is used. Jesus says that his teaching (the words he spoke to them all) did not originate from himself, but the Father, who permanently remains ( μένων , menwn ) in relationship with Jesus, performs his works. One would have expected “speaks his words” here rather than “performs his works”; many of the church fathers (e.g., Augustine and Chrysostom) identified the two by saying that Jesus’ words were works. But there is an implicit contrast in the next verse between words and works, and v. 12 seems to demand that the works are real works, not just words. It is probably best to see the two terms as related but not identical; there is a progression in the idea here. Both Jesus’ words (recall the Samaritans’ response in John 4:42 ) and Jesus’ works are revelatory of who he is, but as the next verse indicates, works have greater confirmatory power than words.


text: Grk “I do not speak from myself.”


text: Or “does.”


text: Or “his mighty acts”; Grk “his works.” sn Miraculous deeds is most likely a reference to the miraculous signs Jesus had performed, which he viewed as a manifestation of the mighty acts of God. Those he performed in the presence of the disciples served as a basis for faith (although a secondary basis to their personal relationship to him; see the following verse).


text: The phrase “but if you do not believe me” contains an ellipsis; the Greek text reads Grk “but if not.” The ellipsis has been filled out (“but if [you do] not [believe me]…”) for the benefit of the modern English reader.


text: Grk “because of the works.” sn In the context of a proof or basis for belief, Jesus is referring to the miraculous deeds (signs) he has performed in the presence of the disciples.


text: Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”


text: Or “will do.”


text: Grk “the works.”


text: Or “that I do.” sn See the note on miraculous deeds in v. 11 .


text: Grk “greater works.” sn What are the greater deeds that Jesus speaks of, and how is this related to his going to the Father? It is clear from both John 7:39 and 16:7 that the Holy Spirit will not come until Jesus has departed. After Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit to indwell believers in a permanent relationship, believers would be empowered to perform even greater deeds than those Jesus did during his earthly ministry. When the early chapters of Acts are examined, it is clear that, from a numerical standpoint, the deeds of Peter and the other Apostles surpassed those of Jesus in a single day (the day of Pentecost). On that day more were added to the church than had become followers of Jesus during the entire three years of his earthly ministry. And the message went forth not just in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, but to the farthest parts of the known world. This understanding of what Jesus meant by “greater deeds” is more probable than a reference to “more spectacular miracles.” Certainly miraculous deeds were performed by the apostles as recounted in Acts, but these do not appear to have surpassed the works of Jesus himself in either degree or number.


text: Grk “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”


text: Or “may be praised” or “may be honored.”


text: Or “will keep.”


text: Here καί ( kai ) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the implied sequence in the discourse.


text: Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος ( paraklhto" ). Finding an appropriate English translation for παράκλητος is a very difficult task. No single English word has exactly the same range of meaning as the Greek word. “Comforter,” used by some of the older English versions, appears to be as old as Wycliffe. But today it suggests a quilt or a sympathetic mourner at a funeral. “Counselor” is adequate, but too broad, in contexts like “marriage counselor” or “camp counselor.” “Helper” or “Assistant” could also be used, but could suggest a subordinate rank. “Advocate,” the word chosen for this translation, has more forensic overtones than the Greek word does, although in John 16:5-11 a forensic context is certainly present. Because an “advocate” is someone who “advocates” or supports a position or viewpoint and since this is what the Paraclete will do for the preaching of the disciples, it was selected in spite of the drawbacks.


text: Or “cannot receive.”


text: Or “he remains.”


text: and D were corrected from the present tense to the future. If ἐστιν were the original reading, one would expect a few manuscripts to be corrected to read the present when they originally read the future, but that is not the case. When one considers what the author would have written, the future is on much stronger ground. The immediate context (both in 14:16 and in the chapter as a whole) points to the future, and the theology of the book regards the advent of the Spirit as a decidedly future event (see, e.g., 7:39 and 16:7 ). The present tense could have arisen from an error of sight on the part of some scribes or more likely from an error of thought as scribes reflected upon the present role of the Spirit. Although a decision is difficult, the future tense is most likely authentic. For further discussion on this textual problem, see James M. Hamilton, Jr., “He Is with You and He Will Be in You” (Ph.D. diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003), 213-20.


text: Or “leave.”


text: The entire phrase “abandon you as orphans” could be understood as an idiom meaning, “leave you helpless.”


text: Grk “Yet a little while, and.”


text: Grk “will know in that day.” sn At that time could be a reference to the parousia (second coming of Christ). But the statement in 14:19 , that the world will not see Jesus, does not fit. It is better to take this as the postresurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples (which has the advantage of taking in a little while in v. 19 literally).


text: Or “keeps.”


text: Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”


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


text: Or “will disclose.”


text: Grk “(not Iscariot).” The proper noun (Judas) has been repeated for clarity and smoothness in English style. sn This is a parenthetical comment by the author.


text: Grk “said to him.”


text: Or “disclose.” sn The disciples still expected at this point that Jesus, as Messiah, was going to reveal his identity as such to the world (cf. 7:4 ).


text: Grk “answered and said to him.”


text: Or “will keep.”


text: Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23 . It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.


text: Or “does not keep.”


text: Or “the message.”


text: Or “while remaining” or “while residing.”


text: Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος ( paraklhto" ). See the note on the word “Advocate” in v. 16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.


text: Grk “that one will teach you.” The words “that one” have been omitted from the translation since they are redundant in English.


text: Grk “all things.”


text: The pronoun “it” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.


text: Grk “not as the world gives do I give to you.”


text: Or “distressed or fearful and cowardly.”


text: Or “You have heard that I said to you.”


text: Or “you would rejoice.”


text: Grk “I will no longer speak many things with you.”


text: Grk “in me he has nothing.”


text: Or “may learn.”


text: Grk “But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and just as the Father commanded me, thus I do.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation to conform to contemporary English style.