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John Chapter 2

John Chapter 2

(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
Water to wine
  1. And the third day, a wedding happened in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there.
  2. And Jesus and His disciples were also invited to the wedding.
  3. And having run out of wine, the mother of Jesus tells Him: “They have no wine.”
  4. And Jesus tells her: “Woman, what’s that to Me and to you?  My hour hasn’t come yet.”
  5. His mother tells the servants: “Do whatever He might tell you.”
  6. Now, six stone water jars for the ceremonial purification of the Jews were lying there, having space for two or three metretae.fn“metretae” A unit of liquid measure equal to about 8.75 gallons or about 33 liters.
  7. Jesus tells them: “Fill the water jars with water.”  And they filled them up to the top.
  8. And He tells them: “Now draw some out and carry it to the master of the feast.”  And they carried it to him.
  9. Now, when the master of the feast tasted the water which has become wine and hadn’t known where it came from – but the servants who *drew the water had known – the master of the feast calls the bridegroom
  10. and tells him: “Every man sets out the good wine first, and when they’ve gotten drunk sets out the inferior wine.  You have kept the good wine until now.”
  11. This – the beginning of His signs – Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and He revealed His glory and His disciples believed in Him.
  12. After this He went down into Capernaum – He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples – and they remained there not many days.
Cleansing the temple and Passover

(Note on potential parallel accounts: fnThere is an ongoing scholarly debate on whether this cleansing of the temple is the same event recorded in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, and Luke 19:45-46, or if it’s a different cleansing account early in Jesus’s ministry that’s unique to John’s gospel, which would mean there were two cleansings.  The two cleansings view notes:  (1) The phrase “after this” in John 2:12 places this narrative early in Jesus’s ministry, not late, which would make verse 13 the first Passover of Jesus’s ministry.  (2) A whip of cords isn’t mentioned in the other cleansing accounts.  (3) This cleansing references Psalm 69:9, while the other accounts reference Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.  (4) Here, the response is to ask for a sign; in the other cleansing accounts, they plot against Him.  The single cleansing view notes: (1) The accounts are very similar, and any minor difference can be explained by a difference in focus.  (2) Ancient writers often arranged events for thematic or theological reasons rather than strict chronology, so John moving the event would not seem strange to the original audience.  (3)  Placing the event at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry could be theologically motivated to frame Jesus as the true temple from the beginning.  (4)  If there were two cleansings, it would be surprising for the other gospel accounts to omit this event given their focus on conflict with religious authorities. )

  1. And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
  2. And in the temple He found the men selling oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the moneychangers sitting there.
  3. And having made a whip of cords, He drove all of them out of the temple with both their sheep and oxen, and He poured out the moneychangers’ coins, and He overturned the tables.
  4. And He told the men selling doves: “Take these things away from here, don’t make My Father’s house a market house.”
  5. His disciples were reminded that it is *written: “The zeal of your house will consume Me.”fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 69:9
  6. Therefore, the Jews answered and said to Him: “Because you do these things, what sign do you show us?”
  7. Jesus answered and said to them: “Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days.”
  8. Therefore the Jews said: “This temple was built in forty and six years, and you will raise it up in three days?”
  9. (But He was speaking about the temple of His body.)
  10. Therefore when He was raised from the dead, His disciples were reminded that He was saying this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus spoke.
  11. And while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, many at the feast believed in His name after observing His signs that He was doing.
  12. But Jesus Himself wasn’t entrusting Himself to them because of His knowledge of all men,
  13. and because He had no need that someone might testify about a man, for He was knowing what was in the man.

 

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