Footnotes

1. John 21:1 tn The time reference indicated by μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is indefinite, in comparison with the specific “after eight days” (μεθ᾿ ἡμέρας ὀκτώ, meth’ hēmeras oktō) between the two postresurrection appearances of Jesus in 20:26.
2. John 21:1 sn The Sea of Tiberias is another name for the Sea of Galilee (see 6:1).
3. John 21:1 tn Grk “how he revealed himself.”
4. John 21:2 tn Grk “and Thomas.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.
5. John 21:2 sn Didymus means “the twin” in Greek.
6. John 21:2 tn Grk “and Nathanael.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.
7. John 21:2 tn Grk “and the sons.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.
8. John 21:2 sn The sons of Zebedee were James and John.
9. John 21:2 sn The two other disciples who are not named may have been Andrew and Philip, who are mentioned together in John 6:7-8 and 12:22.
10. John 21:3 tn Grk “they said to him.”
11. John 21:3 sn See the note at John 6:17 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
12. John 21:5 tn The word προσφάγιον (prosphagion) is unusual. According to BDAG 886 s.v. in Hellenistic Greek it described a side dish to be eaten with bread, and in some contexts was the equivalent of ὄψον (opson), “fish.” Used in addressing a group of returning fishermen, however, it is quite clear that the speaker had fish in mind.
13. John 21:5 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “do you?”).
14. John 21:5 tn Grk “They answered him.”
15. John 21:6 tn The word “some” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
16. John 21:6 tn The words “the net” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
17. John 21:7 tn Grk “the disciple, that one whom.”
18. John 21:7 sn On the disciple whom Jesus loved see 13:23-26.
19. John 21:7 tn Grk “for he was naked.” Peter’s behavior here has been puzzling to many interpreters. It is usually understood that the Greek word γυμνός (gumnos, usually translated “naked”) does not refer to complete nudity (as it could), since this would have been offensive to Jewish sensibilities in this historical context. It is thus commonly understood to mean “stripped for work” here (cf. NASB, NLT), that is, with one’s outer clothing removed, and Peter was wearing either a loincloth or a loose-fitting tunic (a long shirt-like garment worn under a cloak, cf. NAB, “for he was lightly clad”). Believing himself inadequately dressed to greet the Lord, Peter threw his outer garment around himself and dived into the sea. C. K. Barrett (St. John, 580-81) offered the explanation that a greeting was a religious act and thus could not be performed unless one was clothed. This still leaves the improbable picture of a person with much experience around the water putting on his outer garment before diving in. R. E. Brown’s suggestion (John [AB], 2:1072) seems much more probable here: The Greek verb used (διαζώννυμι, diazōnnumi) does not necessarily mean putting clothing on, but rather tying the clothing around oneself (the same verb is used in 13:4-5 of Jesus tying the towel around himself). The statement that Peter was “naked” could just as well mean that he was naked underneath the outer garment, and thus could not take it off before jumping into the water. But he did pause to tuck it up and tie it with the girdle before jumping in, to allow himself more freedom of movement. Thus the clause that states Peter was naked is explanatory (note the use of for), explaining why Peter girded up his outer garment rather than taking it off—he had nothing on underneath it and so could not remove it.sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
20. John 21:7 tn Grk “threw himself.”
21. John 21:8 tn Or “about a hundred meters”; Grk “about 200 cubits.” According to BDAG 812 s.v., a πῆχυς (pēchus) was about 18 inches or .462 meters, so two hundred πηχῶν (pēchōn) would be about 100 yards (92.4 meters).
22. John 21:9 tn Grk “land.”
23. John 21:9 tn Grk “placed,” “laid.”
24. John 21:10 tn Grk “said to them.”
25. John 21:11 tn The words “It was” are not in the Greek text. Here a new sentence was begun in the translation in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences. For this reason the words “It was” had to be supplied.
26. John 21:11 sn Here the author makes two further points about the catch of fish: (1) there were 153 large fish in the net, and (2) even with so many, the net was not torn. Many symbolic interpretations have been proposed for both points (unity, especially, in the case of the second), but the reader is given no explicit clarification in the text itself. It seems better not to speculate here, but to see these details as indicative of an eyewitness account. Both are the sort of thing that would remain in the mind of a person who had witnessed them firsthand. For a summary of the symbolic interpretations proposed for the number of fish in the net, see R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:1074-75), where a number are discussed at length. Perhaps the reader is simply to understand this as the abundance which results from obedience to Jesus, much as with the amount of wine generated in the water jars in Cana at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (2:6).
27. John 21:12 tn Grk “said to them.” The words “to them” are omitted because it is clear in context to whom Jesus was speaking, and the words are slightly redundant in English.