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John Chapter 16

John Chapter 16

(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 Spirit will come
  1. “I have said these things to you so that you might not stumble.
  2. “They will make you exiles from the synagogue,fnquotation/allusion to Isaiah 66:5 but an hour is coming that every man who kills you thinks he offers a service to God.
  3. “And they will do these things because they didn’t know the Father nor Me.
  4. “But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes, you remember that I said them to you.  And I didn’t say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you.
  5. “And now I’m going to the One who sent Me, and none of you asks Me: Where are you going?
  6. “But grief has filled your heart because I have told you these things.
  7. “But I tell you the truth: It’s better for you that I go away.  For if I don’t go away, the Advocatefn“Advocate” this Greek word as a legal term for a lawyer in NT times, and thus also has the idea of an advisor. In the widest sense, it was also a general term for one who offers aid. definitely won’t come to you.  Yet if I go, I will send Him to you.
  8. “And having come, He will convict the world about sin, and about righteousness, and about judgement.
  9. “About sin because they don’t believe in Me.
  10. “And about righteousness because I’m going away to the Father, and then you see Me no more.”
  11. “And about judgement because the ruler of this world has been *judged.
  12. “Yet I have many things to tell you, but you aren’t able to bear them now.
  13. “But when He – the Spirit of truth – comes, He will lead you into all truth.  For He won’t speak from Himself, but He will speak whatever He hears, and He will report to you the things that are coming.
  14. “He will glorify Me because He will take from what’s Mine and will report it to you.
  15. “All things whatsoever that the Father has are Mine.  Because of this, I said that He takes from what’s Mine and will report it to you.
Coming and departing
  1. “A little longer and then you see Me no longer.  And a little longer again and then you will see Me [because I’m going away to the Father].”
  2. So some of His disciples said to one another: “What’s this that He’s telling us: ‘a little longer and then you don’t see Me’, and ‘a little longer again and then you will see Me’, and ‘because I’m going away to the Father’?”
  3. So they were saying: “What is this that He’s saying: ‘A little longer‘?  We don’t *know what He’s saying.”
  4. Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask Him, and He told them: “Are you inquiring with one another about this because I said: ‘A little longer and then you don’t see Me’, and ‘a little longer again and then you will see Me.’?
  5. “Amen, amen I tell you that you will weep and you will mourn, but the world will rejoice.  You will be grieved, but your grief will become joy.
  6. “The woman has pain when she gives birth because her hour came.  But when she birthed the child, she remembers the tribulation no longer because of her joy that a man was born into the world.
  7. “So you also have grief now, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
  8. “And in that day, you won’t ask Me anything.fn“you won’t ask Me anything” could also be translated ” you won’t question Me about anything”  the difference is small, but potentially significant.  Amen, amen I tell you: anything you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
  9. “Until now, you asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive so your joy might be *full.
  10. “I have spoken these things to you in parables.  An hour is coming when I will speak to you in parables no more, but will report plainly about the Father to you.
  11. “In that day you will ask in My name, and I don’t tell you that I will ask the Father concerning you,
  12. “for the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.
  13. “I came out from the Father and have come into the world.  I am leaving the world again and departing to the Father.”
  14. His disciples say: “Behold, you speak in plainness now and speak nothing in a parable.
  15. “We now *know that you *know all things, and you have no need that you should ask anyone.  We believe in this: that you came out from God.”
  16. Jesus answered them: “Now do you believe?
  17. “Behold, an hour is coming and has come that you will be scattered – each to his own – and leave Me alone.  And yet I’m not alone because the Father is with Me. fnThis verse has parallel accounts in Matthew 26:31-32, Mark 14:27-28, and Luke 22:31-34. Notably, the other gospel accounts place this with the specific prediction of Peter’s denial, likely to be concise.
  18. “I have spoken these things to you so you might have peace in Me.  You have tribulation in the world, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

 

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