Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God

Footnotes

1. John 8:1 sn The Mount of Olives is a hill running north to south about 1.8 mi (3 km) long, lying east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. It was named for the large number of olive trees that grew on it.
2. John 8:2 tn An ingressive sense for the imperfect fits well here following the aorist participle.
3. John 8:3 tn Or “The scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateus) as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
4. John 8:3 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
5. John 8:4 tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6. John 8:5 sn An allusion to Lev 20:10 and Deut 22:22-24.
7. John 8:5 sn The accusers themselves subtly misrepresented the law. The Mosaic law stated that in the case of adultery, both the man and woman must be put to death (Lev 20:10, Deut 22:22), but they mentioned only such women.
8. John 8:6 tn Grk “so that they could accuse.”
9. John 8:6 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author of 7:53-8:11.
10. John 8:6 tn Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagraphō) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).
11. John 8:7 tn Or “he straightened up.”
12. John 8:7 tn Grk “and said to them.”
13. John 8:7 tn Or “sinless.”
14. John 8:8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.
15. John 8:9 tn Or “beginning from the eldest.”
16. John 8:10 tn Or “straightened up.”
17. John 8:10 sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.
18. John 8:11 tc The earliest and best mss do not contain 7:53-8:11 (see note on 7:53).
19. John 8:12 tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”
20. John 8:12 sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.
21. John 8:12 tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mē) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.
22. John 8:13 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
23. John 8:13 tn Grk “Then the Pharisees said to him.”
24. John 8:13 sn Compare the charge You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true! to Jesus’ own statement about his testimony in 5:31.
25. John 8:14 tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to them.”
26. John 8:14 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the pronoun (“you”) and verb (“do not know”) in Greek are plural.
27. John 8:14 sn You people do not know where I came from or where I am going. The ignorance of the religious authorities regarding Jesus’ origin works on two levels at once: First, they thought Jesus came from Galilee (although he really came from Bethlehem in Judea) and second, they did not know that he came from heaven (from the Father), and this is where he would return. See further John 7:52.
28. John 8:15 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the pronoun and verb (“judge”) in Greek are plural.
29. John 8:15 tn Or “judge according to external things”; Grk “according to the flesh.” These translations are given by BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 5.
30. John 8:15 sn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement “I do not judge anyone”? It is clear that Jesus did judge (even in the next verse). The point is that he didn’t practice the same kind of judgment that the Pharisees did. Their kind of judgment was condemnatory. They tried to condemn people. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save it (3:17). Nevertheless, and not contradictory to this, the coming of Jesus did bring judgment, because it forced people to make a choice. Would they accept Jesus or reject him? Would they come to the light or shrink back into the darkness? As they responded, so were they judged—just as 3:19-21 previously stated. One’s response to Jesus determines one’s eternal destiny.
31. John 8:16 tn Grk “my judgment is true.”
32. John 8:16 tn The phrase “when I judge” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.
33. John 8:16 tn The phrase “do so together” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.
34. John 8:17 sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.
35. John 8:18 tn Grk “I am the one who testifies about myself.”
36. John 8:19 tn Grk “Then they were saying to him.” The imperfect verb has been translated with ingressive force here because of the introduction of a new line of questioning by the Pharisees. Jesus had just claimed his Father as a second witness; now his opponents want to know who his father is.
37. John 8:19 sn If you knew me you would know my Father too. Jesus’ reply is based on his identity with the Father (see also John 1:18; 14:9).