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John Chapter 10

John Chapter 10

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
The good shepherd
  1. “Amen, amen I tell you: the man not entering into the sheep-fold through the door but climbing in another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
  2. “But the man entering in through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
  3. “The doorkeeper opens for him, and the sheep hear his voice, and he summons his own sheep by name and leads them out.
  4. “When he ushers all his own sheep out, he travels ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they *know his voice.
  5. “And they definitely won’t follow a stranger, but will flee from him because they don’t *know the voice of strangers.”
  6. Jesus told them this metaphor, but those men didn’t know what it was that He was telling them.
  7. So again Jesus told them: “Amen, amen I tell you: I am the door of the sheep.
  8. “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
  9. “I am the door.  If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.  And he will enter in and will go out and will find pasture.
  10. “The thief doesn’t come unless it’s so he might steal, and kill, and destroy.  I came so they might have life, and have it abundantly.
  11. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sake of the sheep.
  12. “And the hired servant – who not being the shepherd, the sheep aren’t his own – sees the wolf coming, and abandons the sheep, and flees.  And the wolf seizes them and scatters them,
  13. “because he’s a hired servant and he doesn’t care about the sheep.
  14. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me.
  15. “Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sake of the sheep.
  16. “And I have other sheep which aren’t from this fold.  It’s necessary for Me to bring those also, and they will hear My voice, and they will become one flock under one shepherd.
  17. “The Father ^loves Me because of this, because I lay down My life so I might take it again.
  18. “No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.  I have authority to lay it down, and have authority to take it again.  I received this command from My Father.”
  19. A schism happened again among the Jews because of these words.
  20. And many of them were saying: “He has a demon and speaks like a madman; why are you listening to Him?”
  21. Others were saying: “These words aren’t those of a demon-possessed man.  A demon isn’t able to open blind men’s eyes, is it?”
  22. This happened at the time of the Feast of Dedicationfn“Feast of Dedication” is another name for Hanukkah.  in Jerusalem.  It was winter.
I and the Father are One
  1. And Jesus was walking in the temple in the Colonnade of Solomon,
  2. So the Jews surrounded Him and were saying to Him: “How long are you keeping our souls in suspense?  Tell us plainly if you are the Anointed.”
  3. Jesus answered them: “I told you and you don’t believe.  The works that I do in My Father’s name, these works testify about Me.fnJesus had just healed a man born blind, which the Jews believed that only the Anointed (Christ/Messiah) would be able to do; see note on John 9:1
  4. “But you don’t believe because you aren’t of My sheep.
  5. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
  6. “And I give them the life of ages, and they definitely won’t perish through the age, and no one will snatch them from My hand.fnquotation/allusion to Deuteronomy 32:39
  7. “My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them from the Father’s hand.
  8. “I and the Father, we are one.”
  9. So the Jews again picked up stones so they might stone Him.
  10. Jesus answered them: “I showed you many noble works from the Father; for which of these works are you stoning Me?”
  11. The Jews answered Him: “We don’t stone you for a noble work, but for blasphemy, and because you – being a man – make yourself God.”
  12. Jesus answered them: “Isn’t it *written in your law: ‘I said you are gods‘.fnquotation/allusion to Psalms 82:6
  13. “If He called themfn“them” is literally “those” gods – to whom the word of God came – and the scripture isn’t able to be annulled,
  14. “why do you say ‘you blaspheme’ about Him whom the Father made holy and sent into the world?  Because I said I’m the Son of God?”
  15. “If I’m not doing the works of My Father, don’t believe Me.”
  16. “But if I’m doing them, then even if you don’t believe Me, believe the works, so that you might know and might understand that the Father is in Me and I’m in the Father.”
  17. Therefore they were seeking to seize Him again, but He went out of their hand.
  18. And He again departed across the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He remained there.
  19. And many came to Him and were saying: “John indeed did nothing for a sign, but as much as John said about this man, all of it was true!”
  20. And many believed in Him there.

 

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