John 5:31-37

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. John 5:32 sn To whom does another refer? To John the Baptist or to the Father? In the nearer context, v. 33, it would seem to be John the Baptist. But v. 34 seems to indicate that Jesus does not receive testimony from men. Probably it is better to view v. 32 as identical to v. 37, with the comments about the Baptist as a parenthetical digression.
2. John 5:33 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
3. John 5:34 tn Or “I do not receive.”
4. John 5:35 sn He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah “burned like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.
5. John 5:35 tn Grk “for an hour.”
6. John 5:36 tn Or “works.”
7. John 5:36 tn Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.
8. John 5:37 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to clarify that the following verbs (“heard,” “seen,” “have residing,” “do not believe”) are second person plural.
9. John 5:37 sn You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Cf. Deut 4:12. Also see Deut 5:24 ff., where the Israelites begged to hear the voice no longer—their request (ironically) has by this time been granted. How ironic this would be if the feast is Pentecost, where by the 1st century a.d. the giving of the law at Sinai was being celebrated.