The Jewish Annotated New Testament (231 page)

30
–59
: The rest of the chapter initially appears to be addressed to former believers; as the discussion proceeds, the sense that the audience within the narrative constitutes a specific Jewish subset recedes, and the impression is created that the Johannine Jesus is speaking to, and about, all Jews who are not believers.

32
:
The truth will make you free
, Heb “emet,” “truth,” implies reliability or steadfastness, something to depend on, which can provide a firm basis for one’s life. For John, this can only be knowledge of and faith in Jesus’ identity as the Messiah and Son of God. Jesus’ statement could be taken in combination with his later claim, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14.6) to mean “The one who knows me knows the truth and is thereby free.” This statement, and the passage as a whole, plays on the contrast between Isaac and Ishmael that is present also in Gal 4: Isaac as the son of the free woman Sarah, and Ishmael as the son of the slave woman Hagar. Faith in Jesus is a sign of one’s own freedom and therefore one’s identity as the son of Isaac and heir to the covenant between God and Abraham.

33
–59
: The Jews claim their covenantal relationship with the one God, and declare that Jesus contravenes monotheism by asserting divine sonship. Jesus denies their covenantal relationship on the grounds that they reject God’s son.

33
: Two claims are made: the Jews are children of Abraham (cf. Gen 12; Deut 14.1), and that they have never been enslaved. The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt (Ex 13.3); the reference here is likely to idolatry, which is sometimes referred to as enslavement to foreign gods (Jer 2.10–14).

34
–36
: The distinction between
the slave
and
the son
is one of property and inheritance. As in ch 2, Jesus claims to be the true “son” who has inherited the Temple and all that it symbolizes, in contrast to the Jews, who serve in the Temple but do not inherit it.

39
: Jesus argues that paternity is shown by behavior.
Abraham’s children
implies offspring sharing the characteristics of their ancestor, not merely physical “descendants” as in v. 37.

41
–47
: In trying to kill Jesus, the Jews show that they are not God’s children but the devil’s.

41
:
We are not illegitimate
, perhaps an implied contrast to Jesus’ supposed illegitimacy (Origen,
Cels
1.28).

44
: This verse is the source of the association of the Jews with Satan.

48
–52
: The Jews express their growing inability to believe Jesus’ words, especially the claim that belief overcomes death.

48
:
Samaritan
, here apparently a general term for one outside Judaism (see 4.4ff.).

51
:
Death
here may mean not so much the physical death that ends human life but the ultimate death that is the opposite of “eternal life.”

56
–58
:
Abraham … see my day
, this may be a reference to the traditions described in
T. Abr
., in which God gives Abraham a tour of the heavens and provides him with knowledge of the final judgment, before his own death.
I am
, an allusion to God’s revelation to Moses at the burning bush (Ex 3.14), also perhaps a claim to preexistence (1.1–3).

9.1
–41: Fifth sign: healing of the blind man. 2–3
: Illness and disability were sometimes attributed to sin; cf. 5.14.

4
: A reference to Jesus’ death.

5
: See 1.4–5; 8.12. This verse indicates that Jesus is viewing the man’s blindness and later the restoration of his sight as symbolic of the spiritual journey from darkness to light, from unbelief to belief.

6
:
Saliva
was seen to have medicinal value (cf. Pliny,
Nat
. 28.4).

7
:
Pool of Siloam
, Isa 8.6; Neh 3.15.
Siloam
is Gk spelling of Heb “shiloa
ḥ
,” possibly from “sh-l-
ḥ
,” “send.” It is the end point of the tunnel built by King Hezekiah to provide Jerusalem with water.

14
: Only now does the Gospel mention that it was the
Sabbath
as in ch 5.

16
: The interrogators are here referred to as Pharisees, but in v. 18 as Jews.

17
: The
man
like the Samaritan woman (4.19) declares Jesus to be a prophet based on firsthand experience.

18
–34
: The Jewish authorities conduct a legal investigation. Whether interrogations or trials were undertaken on the Sabbath in the first century is uncertain, but unlikely; later rabbis explicitly forbid courts to be in session on the Sabbath (
y. Sanh
. 4.6).

21
: Traditionally, a male comes
of age
at thirteen (“bar mitzvah”) though in this instance the parents are merely pointing out that their son is an adult and therefore capable of explaining his own situation.

22
: It is difficult to know what is meant here. Exclusion of Christ-confessors from the synagogue would be anachronistic for the time of Jesus, and for that reason the verse has often been understood as a reference to the historical experience of the Johannine community at the end of the first century CE. It is understood not as a one-time event but as a type of excommunication that would involve not only the exclusion from participation in worship services but also social ostracism. Yet this interpretation is problematic on many grounds (see Introduction), and whether it has any historical referent at all cannot be demonstrated.

24
:
Give glory to God
, i.e., do not credit Jesus with the healing.

28
: This passage sets up a contrast between the disciples of Jesus and the
disciples of Moses
. There is no evidence, however, that Jews referred to themselves as
disciples of Moses
.

31
: That Jesus could heal the man is evidence that he is not a sinner.

32
: In the book of Tobit, however, the protagonist is healed of blindness by his son Tobias (Tob 11.11).

34
:
Born entirely in sins
likely refers back to v. 2 and the common belief that congenital blindness is somehow related to the sin of the man or his parents, a view that Jesus rejects (vv. 3–4).

38
: Bowing in worship is a biblical response to a theophany; cf. Gen 17.3.

39
–41
: Comments on the literal and figurative meanings of blindness and sight echo 9.5.
Become blind
, see Isa 6.9–10.

10.1
–42: Good shepherd discourse. 1–6
: A
figure of speech
(v. 6 comparing Jesus to a good shepherd).

1,8
: The
thieves
and
bandits
may be a reference to the Jewish leadership though this is not certain

2
: The passage alludes to biblical
shepherds
such as Moses (Ex 3.1); David (e.g., 2 Sam 5.2), and God (Ps 23).

3
: The language (
hear his voice, calls his own sheep by name, leads them out
) recalls 5.5 and anticipates 11.43. This may be an allusion to the “harrowing of hell,” the idea that Jesus spent the days between his crucifixion and resurrection in Hades bringing the dead to faith (1 Pet 3.19, as interpreted in the Apostles’ Creed,
Gos. Nic
.).

7
:
I am the gate
, the figure changes from the one who calls to his sheep to the one who is the means by which they are brought in.

10
:
Life … abundantly
, i.e., eternal life.

12
: The
hired hand
may refer to the Jewish leadership (see Ezek 34.1–10).
Wolf
, evil; a more specific referent cannot be determined

16
:
Other sheep
may refer to Gentile followers.

22
:
Festival of the Dedication
, Hanukkah (beginning on 25 Chislev, a date that falls in December), commemorating the rededication of the Temple (164 BCE), after it had been desecrated by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (1 Macc 4.52–59). It is unclear clear how this feast was observed in the first century.

30
: Jesus reiterates his unity with God, which the Jews see as blasphemy (v. 33).

31
:
Took up stones
, in biblical and rabbinic law, stoning is the prescribe penalty for blasphemy (Lev 29.16;
m. Sanh
. 7.4). It is difficult to know, however, what exactly constituted blasphemy in the late first century. The context suggests, however, that Jesus’ utterances, here, and elsewhere (e.g., 5.17) are seen by the Johannine Jews as a violation of monotheism, that is, of the fundamental belief in the one, unique God of Israel.

33
:
Good work
, perhaps a reference to healings.

34
:
Your law
, see 8.17n. ‘
I said, you are gods,’
see Ps 82.6. This is Jesus’ answer to the charge that he is making himself God (v. 33): it is God who has consecrated him as God’s son. This is consistent with the biblical and Second Temple idea that certain people such as Jeremiah (Jer 1.5), the priests (2 Chr 26.18) or Moses (Sir 45.4) are chosen to do God’s work.

41
–42
: John the Baptist’s testimony cited as corroborating Jesus’ claims (see 1.19–28; 3.27–30).

11.1
–57: Sixth sign: raising of Lazarus and its aftermath. 1
:
Lazarus
, Gk “Eleazar” (see also Lk 16.20–25).
Bethany
, a village near Jerusalem.
Mary and Martha
, see Lk 10.38–42.