Originally: or, in the beginning, a direct allusion to the creation account in Gen. 1:1. Expression: Gk., logos: the substantive idea behind all particulars, which gives the universe coherence; a precise thought ready to be expressed; a speaker's self-revelation and what lies behind his words. The Aramaic targums interpose this concept of His Memra (“living Word”), this aspect of YHWH’s nature that “was given a life of its own” and was the mediator whenever YHWH needed to appear to men, so that they would not be destroyed by exposure to YHWH’s full force. (Verse 18 below fits well with this concept.) It was, in a sense, within YHWH, yet distinguishable from Him at times. This is how the Renewed Covenant portrays this unique man, Y’shua. Elohim: the first occurrence here has the definite article, denoting a proper title of YHWH; the second does not, denoting “of Elohim’s nature”.

Origin: of the universe; the Rabbis long believed both the Messiah and Torah existed prior to creation of our world. Philo, an Egyptian Jew who lived a generation before Y’shua, identified the logos with YHWH's “firstborn son”, "the second YHWH", so to speak, a mediator between YHWH and man as ambassador and interpreter, and the Ideal Man, thus an entity both united with Elohim and distinct from Him, as we see in His earlier titles such as the Arm of YHWH, the Righteous Branch, and YHWH's Right Hand. All of YHWH’s fullness is embodied in Him. (Col. 1:19; 2:9)

Through it: literally him, but simply because logos is a masculine term and there is no neuter form in Greek. Philo describes YHWH as ruling and controlling creation through His Word, His instrument of creation, whom He set over creation as His viceroy, and of actually having patterned mankind after the “Archetype, the Word of the First Cause”. (“On Dreams” I:241; “Noah’s Work as a Planter” I:8-9; 18-20; “On Creation” XLVIII:139) Paul says it is in Him that “all things hold together”. (Col. 1:17)

Philo (“On Dreams” I:75, 239) describes the logos as “light, in fact”, saying that “just as those who are unable to see the sun itself, see the gleam of the perihelion and take it for the sun… so some regard the image of YHWH, His messenger, the Word, as His very self.” It is easy to see why when Gentiles strong-armed the Jews out of church leadership, this conclusion would come to be prevalent.

Overtaken: overcome, seized hold of, or taken into itself, made its own. This "light shining in darkness" is the description of creation within Jewish mysticism, in which the Endless One, wanting to share Himself, yet being All in all, created a "vacuum"--a space within Himself, yet that was "not Himself", so He could fill it with creatures who could know and enjoy Him. A mother's womb is an excellent illustration of this idea. Into this empty space, He sent a single point of light, the maximum amount of His nature that this new universe could tolerate. But Y'shua said that we, like Himself, could be the "light of the world", having been "chosen in Him before the foundation of the world". (Eph. 1:4) This light, the rabbis say, was what YHWH created first as a means of sustaining life before there were “lights” like the sun, since the grass and trees were created before the sun was. Yochanan is saying, in an allegorical manner, that Y’shua is as important as the light that upheld all of creation. If we do not learn the lessons He came to bring, then all of creation will have been brought into being for nothing. He overstates his point with such hyperbole so that those who have studied these deeper mystical things will make the connection that the arrival of Y’shua meant we were on the threshold of a “new creation”. For the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which had ceased to exist, it is no less than a new creation! He recreates the House of Yoseyf through the One sent to seek out and rescue the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”. (Luke 19:9-10; Mat. 15:24) The sovereignty of Yehudah will also be restored through Y’shua. (See note on v. 14.)

Yochanan: Not the same Yochanan who authored this account.

Testimony: or evidence.

9. He was the real Light, who gives light to everyone who comes into the world.

Real light: Light as we think of it is an allegory of His nature, its prototype. Philo described YHWH as the model or archetype for His Word, who is the model for everything else.

Through Him: as the Expression of YHWH (v. 1), not as the man in which form it was now embodied. Though He in this sense was the means of YHWH’s creation (He spoke the “word”), Y’shua is still called the “beginning (commencer, first in a series) of Elohim’s creation” (Rev. 3:14) and the “first brought forth of any created thing” (Colossians 1:15), so we must not call Him the Creator, for that would be idolatry.

11. He came to what was His own, but His own [people] would not receive Him.

His own people: the tribe of Yehudah.

Children: or “sons of Elohim”, the very title YHWH had promised would be given to those He temporarily punished by being “not a people”—the tribes that had left Yehudah. (Hos. 1:9-10)

14. And the Word was given physical manifestation and encamped temporarily among us, and we closely inspected His glory—the radiant shining that comes from the presence of the Father's only-begotten Son, overflowing with empowering favor and truth.

Physical manifestation: possibly similar to the Malbim’s concept of hitgalmut (incarnation). In other words, what YHWH intended actually did come about. This is not the first time YHWH was manifested as a man (for He—as the “Messenger YHWH” appeared to many, including Avraham), but these cases were always momentary and did not begin from infancy as He did in this case. Encamped temporarily: pictured by the temporary dwellings at the Feast of Booths/Sukkoth, when He was born, also foreshadowing the age when YHWH will dwell permanently among His people. Glory, radiant shining: aspects of the image of Elohim that had been retracted when Adam sinned, but the Second Adam regained them. Only-begotten son: probably a Greek translation of the Hebrew yachid, which means “unique” and specially-beloved, as Yitzhaq was to Avraham, as if his only son, though he actually had other sons. Y’shua bears a special relationship to the Father since He never fell into sin, but faithfully maintained the image of Elohim that Adam (the only other “son of Elohim” who was ever without sin) did not. This term is also used in a special sense of the king of Israel, being first used this way of Shlomo. (Psalm 2:7; 1 Chron. 22:10; 28:6) This is the chief relation Y'shua will have to us.

Though physically Yochanan preceded Him by six months, in 8:58 Y’shua claims to have existed before Avraham. The life-force that Y’shua embodied (the creation that did not rebel) existed before there was time.

His fullness: He was the complete white light which was refracted into many colors, which make up His “Body”. Each of us is given gifts (related in Greek to the word for “empowering favor”) that help this whole Body work together, but all comes from Him who is the Head. (Eph. 4:16)

Torah: described here in Greek as nomos; in Hebrew it means “instruction”. Empowering favor and the truth: possibly an allusion to Psalm 85:10. Truth: YHWH's instruction and commands (Ps. 119:142, 151).

This verse places strict parameters on how we interpret the first few verses of the chapter. It removes any basis for equating Y’shua with YHWH, since He was seen by many. But He shows us exactly what YHWH is like. Philo wrote, "The logos is to YHWH as the corona is to the sun...which man can look upon when he cannot look directly on the sun itself...The logosis that alone which can be seen of YHWH...In and through (Him), YHWH reaches out to His creation." He is also described as “the outshining of YHWH’s glory”. (Heb. 1:3)

20. he confessed unequivocally, "I am not the Messiah." 21. "Then who are you?", they asked. "Are you Eliyahu?" And he said, "No, I am not." "Are you ‘The Prophet' ?" And he answered, "No."

The prophet: the one who would be like Moshe. (Deut. 18:15)

23. He answered, "I am ‘a voice crying in the uninhabited land, ‘Clear YHWH’s path! Level off a highway for our Elohim!', as the prophet Yeshayahu said ."

Yeshayahu: the reference is to 40:3. It continues, “…in the Aravah”, the “transitional” area between desert and arable land, but which especially refers to the Great Rift Valley, which includes the Yarden River, where Yochanan was immersing.

Prushim: or "Pharisees", the lay successors of the Hasidim, or "loyal ones", who rigorously applied the Torah to all of life. They accepted the Oral Torah as YHWH's Word, and so added many fences to the written Torah, but tried to keep them practicable. Their name means "separated ones", as they would not eat with someone who did not tithe. Their rival sects ceased to be viable after the Temple's destruction, so their interpretation of the Torah prevailed and developed, via the Talmud, into the Judaism of today.

Ritual immersion (tvilah) was used on many occasions to signify a change in spiritual status, most commonly when ending a period of ritual uncleanness so they could again participate in the Temple services. A complete immersion, even of the hair, was required in order to correctly present a picture of death and resurrection to a new status. The one who administered it did not physically immerse the person, but acted as a witness that the person had immersed himself properly and fully.

27. He is the One who is coming after me, who has come to rank ahead of me—One whose sandal-thong I am not worthy to unlatch!"

This may be an allusion to the ceremony in which a nearer kinsman who has relinquished his primary right to redeem a widow with no son or a piece of land lost to the family due to debt has his shoe removed by the one he should have redeemed. (Deut. 25:9-10) In Ruth 4:8, however, it appears that in time the next of kin to whom the right of redemption passed came to be the one who would remove the other’s sandal. Yochanan says that, although Y’shua is not as old as he, He is more deserving of the honor of redeeming Israel’s lost sheep, and he is not willing to challenge His position, for Y’shua fully intended to fulfill His obligation.

28. These events took place in Beyth-Avarah beyond the Yarden, where Yochanan was immersing.

Beyth-Avarah: “Place of Crossing Over”, probably the same place where Yehoshua had led the Israelites into Kanaan after Moshe's death--a similar picture of dying to the old and coming into a new status (cf. Matt. 3:9).

Follow the succession of days: it has prophetic significance. Matithyahu 3:11ff in Hebrew strongly suggest that the day He was immersed was the inauguration of the 40 days of repentance that precede Yom Kippur. But this must be a later time. (cf. v. 32), probably six months later (2:).

31. "And I did not know Him, but in order that He should be revealed to Israel—that is the reason I came ritually immersing people in water."

32. And Yochanan bore witness, saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as [like] a dove out of the heavens, and He settled [rested] upon Y’shua.

“A twig will shoot forth from Yishai, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit, and the Spirit of YHWH will alight upon Him--the spirit of wisdom and discernment, the spirit of counsel and bravery, the spirit of knowledge and the [reverential] fear of YHWH.” (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 11:1, 2) The Aramaic targum interprets this "branch" specifically as the Messiah, so this event is the visible sign that Y’shua is the one being spoken of by the prophet.

34. "And I have seen, and borne witness, that this Man is the Son of Elohim."

Son of Elohim: A previously-recognized title of the Messiah, as the antitype to the Kings of Israel, who were also given this title (e.g. Psalm 2:7).

36. and noticing Y’shua walking nearby, he said, "Look! It's Elohim's own Lamb!"

Elohim’s own Lamb: The Lamb Avraham said Elohim Himself would provide; Gen. 22:8, 13; alt. reading: "Elohim will provide Himself, a Lamb"--cf. v. 1 of this chapter. He was the antitype to all the lambs people who sinned had to sacrifice, and to the Passover lamb without spot or blemish. This time Elohim was the one who would sacrifice a Lamb. (Compare Yeshayahu 53:7)

38. But noticing that they were following Him, Y’shua turned around and asked them, "What are you looking for?" And they said to Him, "Rabbi (which translates as ‘teacher’), where are you staying?"

39. And He said, "Come and see." They went and saw where He was staying, and they remained there with Him for the rest of that day. And it was about the tenth hour.

Tenth hour: four o'clock in the afternoon. Aramaic: and ten hours had passed, when...

41. The first thing he did was to find his brother Shim'on, and he told him, "We have found the Messiah [which by translation is known as the "Anointed One"].

42. And he led him to where Y’shua was. When He saw him, Y’shua said, "You are Shim'on, the son of Yonah; you will be called Kefa."

Kefa: Aramaic for the Greek Petros, or Peter, "the Rock".

The next day: the fourth day described here. Galil: or Galilee, a mountainous region west of Lake Kinnereth, separated from Yehudah/Judea by Samaria, with the Yezreel Valley as its southern boundary. Filippos means “horse-lover”.

Beyth-Tzaida: “House of Fishing” or “Fishermen”, built by Herodus the Tetrarch and named Julias by him, in honor of Caesar Augustus’ daughter Julia. It is on the shoreline of Lake Kinnereth where the Jordan River feeds into it from the north, and very close to Kfar Nahum.

How would they have known Y’shua's adoptive father was named Yoseyf? More likely, this was a reference to the Messiah Ben-Yoseyf, the first of two expected Messiahs, as some saw it--the one who would suffer for the sake of Israel, Yeshayahu 53. Natzri: one from Natzereth, with perhaps a Hebrew play on the word n’tziri, which means “Faithfully-guarded or preserved”.

Natzereth was then an insignificant and infamous suburb of Tsippori/Sepphoris, the Roman capital of the Galil.] Filippos said to him, "Come and see." Come from: alt., “Come out of”, for some believe it was an Essene colony, and no one of any caliber of piety would leave there.

Israelite: a true son of Yaaqov after his character was changed, or perhaps a specific reference to one from the Northern Kingdom, which retained the name Israel when the kingdom split. Y’shua specifically said He had only come for the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”. (Mat. 15:24) He is alluding to Yeshayahu 63:9.

He is saying, "I know you are righteous because I have already seen you in the Messianic Kingdom, when 'everyone will sit under his own vine and his own fig tree'." --Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:8. This could also be an allusion to Proverbs 27:18: "He who watches his fig tree shall eat its fruit; likewise, he who watches for his master is honored."

Son of Elohim…King of Israel: Both titles were common eschatological synonyms for the Messiah in those days. King of Israel: in the direct line for David’s throne, but at present that would only qualify Him to be King of Yehudah, which is what He would later be called derogatorily. But for one from Yehudah to be King of Israel necessitates the reunification of both Houses of Israel, the very thing He was sent to do. (Yeshayahu 49:6; Acts 1:6)

51. He told him further, "Truly, truly, I tell you, from this time forth you will see Heaven opened, and messengers ascending and descending on the Son of Man!

He is the route to the truest House of Elohim, linking YHWH and man, which Yaaqov's dream pictured. (Gen. 28:12) In the Temple, Levites would stand on the stairway and chant psalms while the priests oversaw the slaughter of sacrifices and offerings, but after they ascended to Yerushalayim for their two weeks’ stint of service each year in the Temple, they would descend again to their local regions and teach those who lived there about the things of YHWH. So these messengers are not necessarily “angelic” beings. Y’shua indeed likens His body to the Temple in the next chapter, and His “other” Body—those who complete the restoration of the fallen Adam, of which He is the Head—is also called a Temple of YHWH. (1 Cor. 3:17; Eph. 2:21)

Kfar Kana: a stone's throw east of Natzereth.

3. And, since they had run short of wine, Y’shua's mother told Him, "They have no wine."

Wine: the Aramaic clarifies that it was indeed fermented.

What is that to Me and you: He does not perform on demand or even necessarily meet felt needs. As part of our redemption from the curse, a major responsibility was to be sure He did not heed the voice of the woman as Adam did, starting the whole process of disorder in the human race. So quite literally, here, Y’shua deliberately distances Himself from her advice, though He ends up doing what she wanted. He does everything according to a schedule set by His Father, a series of appointments written into the Hebrew calendar far in advance. We, too, need to await His timing and not rush ahead of Him. My hour: compare 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1; Luke 19:44. Since this is shortly before Passover (v. 12-13), this incident may have come on the third day (v. 1) of the religious year, which begins at the New Moon just prior to Passover. A new year cannot be declared at that new moon unless the unmistakable sign, some Aviv (green barley that will be ripe enough to harvest by the day after the Sabbath following Passover), is found by then. He did not believe the time was yet ripe, but there must have been some firstfruits ready to bring, though the rest of the harvest was not ready. (For this was the firstfruits of His signs, v. 11; see also note on v. 6.) Woman: Not a rude way to address a mother in those days. Yet Trimm renders His question, “What do we have in common?” He is beginning to manifest the leaving of His mother for the sake of His bride. (Mat. 19:5; compare Mat. 10:37)

She submits to His rebuke, yet still indirectly presses Him to act.

Jewish purification rituals: or Judean method of ceremonial washings, to which the Galileans would defer if guests came from Judea. Some believe they were related to the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, which was used for the purification of the high priests. They may have been added to a miqvah (ritual bath pool) to render the rest of the water “living”. Numbers 19:17-19 specifies that” for the ceremonially unclean they shall take the ashes from where the sin offering was burnt, along with living water in a vessel, and a ceremonially clean man shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it …on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh. Then on the seventh day, he shall purify him[self] from uncleanness, launder his clothes, and bathe himself in water. Then he shall be ceremonially pure at evening.” This was the third day (v. 1) and Y’shua was the only truly “clean man” alive at that time. But it is also the seventh day in the succession of days recorded in chapter 1. Thus while by one count the time was not ripe, by another it was, so He honored His mother’s request. Baths, Gk., metretas: The historian Josephus says they are the same and each contained about 8.5 gallons (40 liters). Ezra 7:22 tells us that 10 baths are equal to a liquid chomer. A bath is thus the liquid equivalent of an eyfah (stated overtly in Yehezqel 45:11). An eyfah is ten omers (the amount of seed fruit produced by ten arm-load sheaves of standing grain), and thus symbolizes a whole congregation and a tithe of the world. Thus the total was at least 12 baths, which also means daughters in Hebrew.

8. And He said, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast, and they took it to him.

Master of the feast: literally, of the three-couched tables, as distinct from the toastmaster, the guest selected by lot to prescribe the mode of drinking; it was the former's duty to taste the wine before it was served.

10. and told him, "Everybody else puts out the better wine first, then uses the lower-grade after the guests have drunk enough. But you have kept the better wine until now!"

Drunk enough: i.e., to not notice it anymore. Water symbolizes the Word of YHWH, the Torah; wine symbolizes joy. Turning water into wine symbolizes making the Torah a thing of pure joy. Saving the best for last is a picture of the Kingdom, which comes like a Sabbath after the week of humdrum, ordinary days.

Sign: a portent of remarkable events about to happen, as well as a mark of authenticity. Plainly evidenced: made manifest, made what was latent actual and overt, realized, made recognizable. His supremacy: or superiority over everyone else (v. 10; compare 10:8)

Kfar Nahum means "village of consolation". It is on the northern shore of Lake Kinnereth, which is down from the mountains to this lakeshore, which is well below sea level.

Went up to Yerushalayim: as all able-bodied Israelite men are required to do so.

15. And, making a whip out of some ropes, He threw them all out of the Temple courts, both the sheep and oxen and the moneychangers, dumping out the money and overturning the tables.

Temple courts: Aramaic, priestly precincts.

He treats the latter more leniently, possibly because doves were sold to those too poor to afford cattle for sacrifices, and thus may not have been overcharging people so exorbitantly. He was fulfilling a duty of the eldest son of a household, cleansing his father's house of all leaven just before Passover. He repeated this act three years later, Matt. 21:12. Merchandise: Compare Zecharyah 14:21.

18. Then the religious leaders of the Jews responded by saying to Him, "What sign will You show us, since You are doing these things?"

Sign: i.e., to prove His authority. But He had already brought proof to the few who were chosen to have it revealed to them. (v. 11)

20. Then the Jewish leaders said, "Yeah, right. This Temple was 46 years in the building, and You can raise it up in three days?!"

46 years: c. 17-19 B.C., Herodus had begun renovation of the second Temple that was initiated underEzra and Nehemyah. He greatly enlarged the courts and made it much more splendid. In fact, construction was still in progress when the Temple was destroyed some 43 years later still!

Yaaqov set up a stone which was to serve as the cornerstone of the House of Elohim on the site of the Temple. He anointed it with oil, so it represents the Messiah (the “anointed one”), who is indeed called the Chief Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20; Mat. 21:42) of the “house” YHWH is building of “living stones”. (1 Kefa/Peter 2:5)

Writings: In particular, the accuracy of those Scriptures other than the Torah (including the Psalms, which He had quoted), in contrast to the teaching of the Tzadduqim that only the Torah was inspired. (Note His opinion toward another of their teachings in Mat. 22:29; however, on a few points, such as when the firstfruits of barley should be brought, the Tzadduqim were more Scripturally sound than their arch-rivals, the Prushim.)

24. but Y’shua did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all [about them],

Entrust Himself to them: speak plainly to them or put Himself in their care; Aramaic, commit His soul to them.

What was within: impure motives at worst and an unclear understanding of YHWH's purposes at best. But this knowledge was YHWH’s prerogative alone. (1 Kings 8:39) Thus the Father had given Him every aspect of His authority over men. (3:35)

The Talmud says Nakdimon Ben-Guryon was among the four richest men in Yerushalayim in the second Temple period. A chief: or ruler, among the Sanhedrin, the highest religious ruling body. (7:50) Unlike some of the Prushim who only wanted to discredit Y’shua, Nakdimon was truly seeking the Kingdom and came to learn from him.

3. Y’shua responded by saying to him, "It is true and certain, I tell you: Unless someone is born again, he is not able to see the Kingdom of YHWH.

Born again: or, born from above; Aramaic, birthed from the hierarch. The idea of rebirth is celebrated in the new moon festivals, and, it being night (v. 2), Y’shua was probably gesturing toward the moon as he said these words. The moon disappears for three days, then is “reborn”. The Hebrew word for “month” is “renewal”, and likewise, this renewal is not a one-time event...

5. Y’shua answered, "I tell you the absolute truth: If one does not receive birth from water and spirit, he is not able to enter the Kingdom of YHWH.

Water: both the immersion waters of ritual purification, which are a symbol of being buried and “born again” to new life, as well as the letter of the Torah, often symbolized by water yet incomplete without the spirit that underlies them (the theme of Mat. 5-7). This is an allusion to Yehezqel 36:25-27, where YHWH promises to sprinkle the scattered Israelites with pure water and put a new heart and spirit in them, causing us to walk in His statutes.

7. "Don't be amazed because I told you that you must be born again.

8. "The wind blows wherever it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. Everyone who has been born of the Spirit is just like this."

Wind: the same word for "spirit" and "breath" in Hebrew. As we are born into this constantly-renewing wind, we, like Melkhitzedeq, will seem to have “no beginning and no end” (Heb. 7:3). Melkhitzedeq is identified with Shem, so he originated from Noakh, and we know how old he was when he died, but in the text, when he met Avraham, his lineage is not given. In that sense, he as no parentage, and so it is with those who follow Y’shua. There will be a change in who is counted as our mother and father and sisters and brothers (Mat. 12:50)—possibly more than once! 1 Keyfa 1:22-23 supports this, showing that what being born again through the Word of YHWH and obeying the truth through the spirit means loving one another sincerely and with a pure heart. As we increasingly walk in YHWH’s ways, we will be a mystery to those who do not; they will say, “Where are they coming from?” Those who used to know us will not know where we have gone.

10. Y’shua answered Him by saying, "You are the teacher of Israel, and even you don't understand these things?

Teacher of Israel: Being a wealthy merchant did not disqualify one from being a rabbi. Yet the position may have been more one of prestige for him, since he did not yet seem to have much spiritual understanding. However, as we follow his life later, we see this changing. Another reason he may not have paid much attention to the cycles of the moon is that there were already people (often Samaritans, about whom we will read in the next chapter) and Boethusian Tzadoqim (who opposed the Prushim) who were interfering with the messengers who spread the word about the new moon throughout the Land by means of fire-signals visible from one city to another. They therefore had moved to a system of calculation of the date of the new moon (not the one currently used among Yehudah, for it was also confirmed by actual sightings). Those not responsible for notifying others of the new moon might therefore have felt they did not need to watch it as closely as earlier generations had. Y’shua is saying, however, that he will therefore miss many of the pictures the moon is intended to teach us (Gen. 1:14), which form a basis for understanding the spiritual principles behind them. (v. 12)

12. “If I tell you earthly things and you are not persuaded, how will you believe [me] if I tell you heavenly things?

He is not yet ready for the deeper knowledge that comes from above. He has not grown; he believes the same things he did at the last renewing of the moon. Y’shua is saying that he has to get these things straight before he can really teach him, for one cannot remain where he is and by his student.

13. “Indeed, no one has gone up to heaven except him who came down out of heaven—the Son of Adam, who is in heaven.

14. “But just as Moshe lifted up the snake in the desert, in the same way it is necessary for the Son of Adam to be lifted up,

Lifted up: a prophecy about how He would die. The event He alludes to is in Numbers 21:6-9.

16. “because Elohim was committed in this way to the welfare of the [inhabitants of the] world, so as to provide His only Son (the only one ever to come into existence), in order that anyone who puts confidence in Him may not be done away with, but have never-ending life,

The only one: Aramaic, His only birthed Son. Many others are His sons by adoption, but only Y’shua shared His nature the same way a son shares his father’s makeup. (1:1)

This judgment will come, and His next coming will be largely for that purpose, but His first coming was to provide an “ark of safety” by which to survive that judgment.

19. “That, then, is the deciding factor: that the light has come into the world, yet people preferred the darkness over the light, because what they were doing was evil,

Deciding factor: point of separation, verdict, watershed.

21. On the other hand, someone who is acting [according to] the truth comes toward the light, so that his actions may be shown to be produced by Elohim.”

Truth: in Hebrew, what is firmly rooted in reality, and totally reliable.

23. Now Yochanan was also immersing in Ainon, near the Salem, since there was ample water there. And [people] were presenting themselves publicly and being immersed,

Ainon: along the Yarden River, meaning “the great spring” in Hebrew.

25. That being the case, there arose a debate among Yochanan’s disciples with the Judeans about [ritual] purification,

Judeans: Often simply translated Jews, but this has tended to breed anti-Semitism, and this was far from representative of all the Jews. There was a notable difference between the Judaism of the Judean rabbis and that practiced in other areas such as Galilee. Peter Schafer notes that “the Galilean peasants allowed themselves to be but little impressed by the religious demands and ideals of rabbis who had come into Galilee from Judea: the rigorous purity and tithe laws of these ‘immigrant rabbis’ could not be enforced in Galilee.” Martin Goodman writes, “ Galileans, it seems, were not prepared to accede to the rabbis’ demands, especially since the rabbis [by] the second century were on the whole artisans unaffected themselves by any of the agricultural laws that they tried to impose on the farmers.” While the Talmud often depicts Galileans as ignorant and backward, Eric Meyers notes that “Josephus… pictures Galilee as mainly consisting of Torah-observant Jews and does not hint at all that Galilee spawned its own sort of assimilated Judaism. [He portrays] them as a people deeply devoted to the Law in theory and practice.” The P’rushim of this day were the precursors to Rabbinic Judaism, which was established as the standard mainly by Rabbi Akiva’s political influence after the two revolts against Rome, and said the rabbis could out-vote even Elohim!

On the other side: Aramaic, at the crossing of the Yarden. Just as Moshe led Israel up to the Yarden but Yehoshua was the one to lead them across, the Yehoshua (for which Y’shua was a shortened, possible Aramaicized, form) had to lead from this point, for Yochanan had done his part:

Receive: Aramaic, take by the will of his soul.

29. “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. Now the bridegroom’s friend, who stands by to hear [his announcement], cheers with gladness when [he hears] the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been consummated!

Bridegroom’s friend: a particular title for a role similar to what we call “best man” at weddings today. One of his duties was to stand near the door of the wedding chamber while the guests feasted, and await the groom’s shout that the marriage had been consummated. YHWH said He would allure the people of Israel back out to the wilderness and there speak to their heart. (Hos. 2:16) Yochanan was the attention-getter to bring the people out, but He was not to remain the center of attention. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 62:5)

31. The one who comes [down from] a higher place is greater than everyone [else]. The one who is from the earth is earthly, and tells about earthly things; the one who comes out of Heaven is greater than everyone [else].

32. He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one admits His testimony [as evidence].

33. The one who does accept his testimony has attested to the authenticity [of the fact] that YHWH is [telling the] truth,

The one who does: i.e., Yochanan, who is committing this record to writing. Attested: literally, set his seal upon. Telling the truth: the term includes the connotation of not hiding anything.

I.e., whereas Y’shua measures out gifts to the rest of the members of His Body (Eph. 4:7), YHWH speaks His words to Y’shua without limits, because He is fully tuned in to the right “frequency”, while we, for the time being, understand only in part. (1 Cor. 13:9, 12)

Compare Mat. 28:18. The law of agency allows the agent to make decisions in the name of the one who sent him, indicating his deep trust in the wisdom of the one who is “acting as him” on his behalf. This theme will be prominent throughout the remainder of Yochanan’s account.

CHAPTER 4

2. (though Y’shua Himself was not immersing; only His disciples [were])

3. He left Judea and went away again into the Galil,

He left: He was not in the business of appearing to compete with another who was working toward the same goal. Notice how Paul had the same attitude in Philippians 1:12-18.

He did not skirt Shomron (Samaria) via the land of the Gergeshiins and re-cross the Yarden north of Shomron, as most Jews did then, wanting to avoid the Samaritans, whom they looked down on as semi-pagan. After exiling most of the Northern Kingdom in 72 B.C.E., the king of Ashur (Assyria) transplanted people from other conquered nations to this area to replace the exiled Israelites. They intermarried with the remnant, though the Samaritans have long denied this fact, substantiated by the Assyrian records which are more objective in this case. They say they are the pure descendants of the tribes of Efrayim and Menashe, and there are about 500 remaining today. They had taken on some of the same cultic practices as these other peoples. (2 Kings 17:9) But we know that the newcomers were attacked by wild beasts, and so wished to appease the Elohim of this Land. So Levites were brought in to teach them the Torah.

Sh’khem, where Yoseyf (ancestor of much of the Northern Kingdom, and father of Efrayim, its nickname) was buried, was rebuilt in the 4th century B.C.E. after long being desolate. After the region of Shomron was completely Hellenized, H.G.M. Williamson suggests that a group of religious purists joined by priests who would have been unwelcome in Yerushalayim due to their having married Northerners made a fresh start where they could practice their religion undisturbed. Sh’khem was the first place Yaaqov settled when returning to the Land, and the place Yehoshua took the whole congregation of Israel before they settled down in their various tribal territories after conquering Kanaan. So what Y’shua does there is very symbolic.

Sixth hour: high noon, the heat of the day when no one was likely to be drawing water, but a rest would be very welcome. Compare Moshe’s experience in Exodus 2:15ff.

This is the same thing Yitzhaq’s servant had asked Rivqah, as the test of which woman would become the patriarch’s bride. (Genesis 24) Y’shua is clearly alluding to this incident, for He was sent to find His bride among the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”. (Mat. 10:6; 15:24) Williamson speaks of the Jews recognizing “an essential affinity of both race and religion with the Samaritans”. They are the first people outside of Judea to whom Y’shua sent His emissaries. (Acts 1:8) Thus we must deduce that they were definitely descendants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel whom Y’shua had come to recall to the Covenant. (Yeshayahu 49:6) Steve Collins cites evidence that other tribes which had been exiled by the Assyrians actually came back to settle in the Land of Israel just prior to Y’shua’s time, then were again scattered. So this was the perfect window in time for Y’shua to contact them while they were nearby.

9. Accordingly, the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman? Because Jews don’t associate with Samaritans!”

The Samaritans had taken on some cultic practices of these other peoples. They remembered the common history they had with the Jews, but they had altered it to fit their special culture, just as the Israelites still in exile (both Jews and the Northern Kingdom) adapted our practices to fit our new environment, but not always in appropriate ways.

Living water: a Hebrew idiom for running water, or any water which has fresh water running into it so that it is not stagnant. One of the requirements for a ritual immersion pool was that it must have an inlet for living water. Immersion is a picture of rebirth, and thus this is what Y’shua is alluding to, though she does not fully catch his hint:

Nothing to draw with: Aramaic, no pail/bucket. The woman was using a different kind of vessel (v. 28), symbolizing that she, as a Samaritan, took a different approach to the Torah. They kept it, but differently from the Jews, and this was very offensive to the Jews. They only regarded the five books of Moshe as truly canonical.

Stronger: Yaaqov moved a stone from the mouth of a well that normally took seven men to move. (Gen. 29:8-10) He also found his bride at that well. Our ancestor: He was the common ancestor of both Y’shua and this woman. Yerushalayim/Judea, Samaria (the Northern Kingdom), and the rest of the world (Acts 1:8) may be the “three flocks” that were waiting by the well for Him to remove the obstacle. (Gen. 29:2-3)

14. “But whoever may drink of the water that I will give him will by no means become thirsty—[not even] into eternity! Rather, the water that I give him will become within him a fountain of water gushing forth into never-ending life!”

The water that I will give: see 7: 37-39.

16. Y’shua told her, “Go get your husband and come [back] here.”

17. The woman responded by saying, “I have no husband.” Y’shua told her, “Well put: ‘I have no husband’,

18. “because you have had five husbands, and the one you [already] have now is not your husband. What you said is true!”

As Joseph Good describes it, Y'shua "read this woman's mail". This was a manifestation of the Spirit of YHWH. In I Corinthians 12 these are listed, and one of these is the "word of knowledge"--where one is told something about an individual or situation that you could never have known by natural means. It is not something one can figure out. It is given by the Spirit of Elohim, and you simply relate it. Exodus Rabbah tells us that Yithro had been a pagan priest, but, before Moshe arrived (Exodus 2:16), recognize there could only be one Elohim, and repented. He summoned the townsmen, resigned as priest, and returned all the insignias of his priesthood. They excommunicated him and decided that no man would be allowed to tend his flocks, which is why his daughters ended up being the ones to do it. It then says that they drove away his daughters “like a woman divorced.” The fact that this woman came to draw water at the hottest part of the day also shows that she was ostracized by her community. The woman had literally said, “I have no man”. No man to tend the flock, and no true husband, though she “had” someone at this time. As such she represented the Northern Kingdom, whom YHWH often described through the prophets as adulterous and unfaithful to Him, going after other men who were not her husband. The five books of Moshe were the marriage contract (thus she had “five husbands”). He divorced her (Yirmiyahu 3:8; Yeshayahu 50:1), and she continued to be promiscuous (with the elohim of other nations), but never did marry another. But an Israelite man was permitted to remarry the same woman if she was not married to another in the meantime. (Deut. 24:1-4) As Hoshea was told to take his wife back home but not live with her as a wife for a long period (Hos. 3), Y’shua had come to bring YHWH’s wife back into the household. (Eph. 2:19) The sentence of “No pity” was up, but not until much later when the second sentence of “not being My people” was up would the wedding come, when we again call Him “my man” instead of “lord”. (Hos. 2:16) The certificate of debt (both the original contract by which our unfaithfulness could be measured, and the divorce document) was taken out of the way through Y’shua. (Col. 2:13-14) How? In ancient Israel when a man went to war, he wrote a divorce document and left it with his wife in case he should die in battle and his body not be found, in which case she was free to marry another. (Avi ben Mordechai; compare Romans 7) Y’shua’s body was not found when searched for after His death “in battle”, and thus the covenant could be renewed. Israel could have a “new” husband—though He was the same, but with all the past offenses erased. (Heb. 9:15)

20. “Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, and you [people] say that the proper place to worship is in Yerushalayim…”

This mountain: Mt. Grizim, the mountain of blessings (Deut. 11:29; Yehoshua 8:33) that sits above Sh’khem (Judges 9:7) opposite Mt. Eval, the mount of curses. When Menashe, the priest who was son-in-law of Sanballat (perhaps the Beth-Horonite governor of Samaria in the late 5th century B.C.E. (Nechemyah 13:28), but probably a later one by the same name), appointed by Daryush of Persia, was told by the elders of Yerushalayim to put away his pagan wife (as in Ezra 10) or forfeit his position, Sanballat offered to build him his own temple just like the one at Yerushalayim, but on Mt. Grizim. (Josephus, Antiquities 11.302-311) This temple was excavated in 1995. Of course this earned them the disrespect of the Jews, as did the fact that they capitulated to the Greeks during the Maccabean revolt and dedicated it to Zeus Xenios. Yochanan Hycanus the Hashmonean captured Sh’khem in 128 B.C.E. and destroyed the temple. However, they continued to worship at this site. In fact, in their version of the Scriptures, this was the tenth commandment! They say that it was Eli the priest who first moved the Tabernacle away from Sh’khem and therefore led Yehudah astray, so that it was the Jews, not they, who were the apostates!

Note that He did not say this “hour” would last forever, for Yehezqel (Ezekiel) tells us the Temple in Yerushalayim will again be rebuilt and used during His coming kingdom. (Yhzq. 40-44)

YHWH had commanded that certain aspects of His worship (e.g., slaying the Passover lambs) be carried out only at Yerushalayim, “the place where He had set His name”. (Deut. 16) The Jews had maintained obedience to this command. The Samaritans, however, carry on even this particular ritual in Sh’khem (now called Nablus) and Holon until our very own day. They also had syncretistic practices, just as today’s church does as well, and thus did not have the degree of purity of interpretation that the Jews had.

Reality: from the heart and with the understanding, not just in outward actions like unintelligent but trained animals jumping through hoops under threat of a whip. The Torah is meant to be both listened to and observed (Deut. 6:3, etc.), i.e., to see the spirit behind the letter and carry that still further into analogous situations, not just obey punctiliously, as many of the Prushim were doing.

25. The woman told Him, “I know that an anointed one is coming (the one we call the Messiah). When that one comes, He will explain the whole thing to us.”

The Samaritans also believed in the coming Mashiach (Anointed One) who received power specifically from YHWH. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the same term is often used of priests, kings, etc. They might have an anointing, and many ministers and kings may be empowered to carry out a specific task. But there is only one who is THE Anointed One. He was anointed in power to redeem us and bring to fullness the promises of YHWH.

27. Now at this [point] His disciples arrived, and they were surprised that He was talking with a woman, though none [of them] said, “What are you after?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Surprised: It was not common in those days for men to hold conversations with women other than their relatives in public places. The Arab world has carried on this custom to our own day. The disciples were discreet in their response, but in fact He was looking for a bride—not this woman in particular, though she turned out to be part of it. In Deut. 18:15, Y’shua is called a prophet like Moshe. Moshe found his wife while resting at a well. (Exodus 2:15ff) The disciples did not drive her away as the shepherds tried to do to the seven daughters of the Midyanite priest in Exodus 2. These shepherds are both “pastors” who tell their flocks that the Torah is not for them, or rabbinical Jews who say that the Sheep lost among the Gentiles (who constitute His bride) only need to be Noachide, obeying the minimal ethical principles, but not the Torah itself, since that is only for themselves. (Avi ben Mordechai) In contrast to these wicked Shepherds (Yehezqel/Ezekiel 34), YHWH said He would send His own Shepherd. (Y’shua goes into great detail about how this is who He is in chapter 10.) Moshe (here a picture of Y’shua) rescued the women from these shepherds, and allowed their flocks to be watered.

Left her water pot: a picture of forsaking herself (as the “earthen vessel”, 2 Cor. 4:7) so that others could also benefit from Y’shua’s presence.

30. So they left the city and came to Him.

Y’shua was in search of those who knew they were thirsty for real water (YHWH’s words). Today He is taking His firstfruits from those who come back to the ancient well that does hold real living water (the Torah) rather than those who stay in the city (the system mankind has built).

32. But He told them, "I have food to eat that you don’t know about."

33. Then the disciples said to one another, “Nobody brought Him food to eat, did they?”

34. Y’shua told them, "My food is to carry out the wish of the One who sent Me, and to bring His work to completion.

He had gone 40 days without food or water. Technically this is impossible! You can survive 40 days without food, but not without water. You will dehydrate. Moshe did the same thing twice, and Eliyahu once. They were in a supernatural state. There was something to sustain their lives in the midst of unnatural things. There is a separation between the holy (the things that are of YHWH) and the mundane (the things that are of the world). Some interaction with YHWH that our minds cannot comprehend probably took place. He is not only receiving and soaking up spiritual nourishment from YHWH, but He is performing an action. To do the will of the Father is actually to be fed. Sent Me: He is sent to do a task. (Compare this theme in 6:29-44) Commenting on the manna in the desert, the Zohar says, "All human food comes from above. The food that comes from heaven and earth is for the whole world. It is food for all; it is coarse and dense. The food that comes from higher above is finer food...entering deepest of all into the soul, detached from the body, called ‘angel bread'... the finest of all...As it is written, ‘Wisdom gives life to those who have it.' Happy is the body that can nourish itself on food of the soul! ... Torah derives from Wisdom on high, and those who engage Torah enter the source of her roots, so their food flows down from that high and holy sphere." Y'shua is the Torah put into fleshly form (1:14), so he knows how to eat of this "bread". But he also promises that those who overcome in the face of opposition may also eat of this "hidden manna". (Rev. 2:17)

Four months until the harvest: His going to Samaria at this time was directly linked to a message that YHWH put forth in one of His festivals. It is wheat that turns white at harvest time. From this, we can tell that the pilgrimage festival (Ex. 23:14-16) He was returning from (v. 3) was Shavuoth, the time that symbolizes the Father’s work being brought o completion (v. 34). Psalm 67, which was read during the counting of days from Passover to Shavuoth, relates clearly to this "festival of the nations”: “YHWH, be merciful to us and bless us. Cause Your face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. …Let all the peoples praise You, and let the nations be glad, for You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on the earth...Then the earth shall yield her increase.” This was an agricultural festival that had been practiced for 1500 years before Y'shua. It is at the beginning of the harvest (Shavuoth--in Sivan, around June), four months prior to the ingathering (Sukkoth, in the fall). The Samaritans lived very close to Galilee, in the most fertile land in Israel, even some of the best farmland in the world. It is beautiful; very green and lush, and massive amounts of crops are grown around the Galil. Sukkoth is also historical, commemorating something very significant that happened when Israel came out of Egypt. There was some specific commissioning toward non-Jews at this particular festival. Y'shua went to non-Jews right after this festival. This is the first time we see Him ministering to someone who is not of the Jewish race or religion. Ten days after His resurrection, He says, "Go...into the uttermost parts of the world, starting in Jerusalem, and Judea, and SAMARIA..." (Matt. 28:19) This event in Samaria is a prophecy of what will happen when the Gospel goes out to the non-Jews.

This is an allusion to Psalm 126.

One: literally, “another”, highlighting the fact that they are two different people. In Mat. 13:38, Y’shua identifies Himself as the one who did the sowing.

39. And out of that city many Samaritans put their confidence in Him on account of what the woman who testified said: “He told me everything that I ever did.”

Compare Geneses 29:9: “While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep which were her father's, because she was a shepherdess.”

This represents the two millennia (cf. Psalm 90) in which Y’shua, being invited, sojourned among the non-Jews while they were still in places other than that which He established as the center of His worship.

42. They even told the woman, “We no longer trust [Him] on account of what you said, because we have heard Him [for] ourselves, and we have come to realize that this is most certainly the Preserver of the world.”

Preserver: or Savior, Rescuer.

Who was going to be in the Kingdom when the Go'el came? He would come to Yerushalayim for those who turned from transgression in Yaaqov. (Isa. 59:20; cf. John 4--Messiah is seen as the agent of the Basar.) Y'shua was returning from the festival of Shavuoth in Yerushalayim. He stated (4:23) that the time had already come when true worshippers would worship Him in Spirit and truth; He was not yet dead and resurrected. The Jews understood worship in ways that others did not. (v. 22) They very well understood that a spiritual salvation was included in the Gospel, but it also included all of these aspects. Whenever Y'shua said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of YHWH is at hand", they did not just think of a spiritual salvation; they thought of all of these things: YHWH’s kingship over all the earth (Zech. 14:9), the Golden Age of Israel, the regathering of the exiles, the judgment of the nations, and many converts coming from among the nations.

45. Accordingly, when He arrived in the Galil, the Galileans received Him [hospitably], having seen all that He did in Yerushalayim at the Feast, because they had gone to the Feast as well.

This must not have been in Natzereth itself, considering v. 44. Or, v. 44 is contrasting the Galil, where he grew up, with Judea, the land of His actual birth and ancestral territory. (v. 47)

Kana: Aramaic, Qatne. Public chief: or even, king. (Compare Psalm 72:11; Yeshayahu 49:7; 52:15)

Come down: There is a major descent from the hills of the Galil to Kfar Nachum, which is on the lake shore in the Rift Valley.

49. The public chief said to Him, “Sir, come down before my boy dies!”

50. Y’shua told him, “Go on your way; your son is [recovering his] full vigor.” And the man trusted what Y’shua said to him, and went on his way.

51. But even as he was [still] going down, his servants came out to meet him and brought word, saying, “Your son is in full health!”

Brought word: Aramaic, evangelized. (The Greek word is related but slightly different.) The true Gospel is not complete until the “Gentiles” that Y’shua brought back from the point of death are fully back to health, restored to being full-fledged Israelites.

Seventh hour: i.e., 1:00 p.m. Old Syriac, ninth hour.

54. Again, Y’shua did this second miracle, [after] having come out of Judea into the Galil.

Miracle: or sign. What did it signify? That He does not have to descend (v. 49), i.e., lower Himself (not that He is not humble, but that He need not stop being holy in order to heal those who are touching death (and are thereby unclean).

Beyth Anyah means either House of Dates or House of Poverty.

El’azar: From the context (e.g., v. 19) and the phraseology, it appears that he was not a friend or neighbor who was so close to them and to the other villagers that they thought of him as a blood brother. The incident with Miryam is recorded in chapter 12.

4. And when He heard it, Y’shua said, "This sickness is not [one that] will [ultimately] result in death, but in the glory of Elohim, so that by it the authority of the Son of Elohim may come to be acknowledged."

5. Now Y’shua loved Martha and her sister and El'azar,

6. so upon hearing that he was sick, He stayed on in the place where He was for two days,

Stayed: as He has remained at the Father's right hand for two "days" (2,000 years) before returning to raise us from the dead! (See note on 2:1.) Going back to a dangerous place (v. 8) evidenced His love, but if He loved El'azar so much, why did He not go sooner? Because as "the secret of YHWH is with those who fear Him" (Ps. 25:14), He wanted to demonstrate His power to them in a special way (cf. v. 15) which could not have been shown through a mere healing. He chose someone very close to his heart through whom to demonstrate this ultimate test of His power.

8. The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, just now the Judeans were attempting to stone you, and you're going back there?!"

9. Y’shua answered, "Aren't there twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the daytime, he doesn't stumble, because he sees this world’s light.

Here Y’shua defines a “day”. Gen. 1 defines a day as the evening and the morning; both make a distinction between day and night, so night is not considered part of a day. Only times when there is some light can it be called “day”:

11. After He said these things, He told them, "Our friend El'azar has fallen asleep, but I am going in order to wake him up."

12. Then His disciples said, "Master, if He has gotten some rest, that means he's going to recover!"

13. Now Y’shua had really been speaking about his death, but they thought He was referring to the resting kind of sleep.

14. So Y’shua told them plainly, "El'azar has died.

15. "And I am glad, for your sakes, that I wasn't there, so you may be [fully] persuaded. But...let's go to him!"

16. The Thoma, the one nicknamed "The Twin", said to his fellow disciples, "Yeah, let's go, too, so we can die along with him!"

Thoma’s sarcasm evidenced a pessimism which would persist until one very special event.

18. And Beyth-Anyah was near Yerushalayim—only 15 stadia away.

15 stadia: About two miles, or 3.2 kilometers. It is just beyond the Mount of Olives from the Qidron Valley east of the city.

20. Now when Martha heard that Y’shua was coming, she came out to meet Him, but Miryam was sitting shiv'ah in the house.

"Sitting shiv'ah" is the Jewish custom of mourning barefoot for seven days in the home of the deceased or a close relative. David Stern points out that she would have been abstaining from all ordinary work, diversions, and even synagogue prayers—so she may have even counted Y’shua's arrival as another such diversion.

22. "But even now I know that whatever You may ask Elohim, He will grant You."

23. Y’shua told her, "Your brother will rise again."

24. And she replied, "Yes, I know he will, at the resurrection on the final Day."

Here she demonstrates that she recognizes the common belief in the "week of Millennia" (see note on 2:1); cf. Dan. 12:2. This was standard doctrine among the Perushim, but not the Tzedukim. (Stern)

The sages had a saying, "The righteous are considered alive even when they are dead, and the wicked are considered dead even when they are alive." Possibly alluding to this, Y’shua was saying that to trust in Him (who embodied all of YHWH's promises) is what constitutes the righteousness that YHWH will recognize. His resurrection was YHWH's "downpayment" promising that He will do the same for the rest who have confidence in Him. This miracle of Y’shua's was a sign that this confidence was well-founded.

27. And she replied, "Yes, Master. I have already come to believe that you are the Messiah—the Son of Elohim who is to come into the world."

28. After she said these things, she went and called her sister Miryam secretly, telling her, "The Teacher is here, and He is calling for you."

Possibly her own device to persuade her sister, since the recorded words of Y’shua did not include such a call. In the context of v. 27, the title she used for Him was probably a reference to "the Teacher of Righteousness" (Yoel 2:23), an explanatory term for the Messiah used widely among the Qumran community, as the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal.

30. (Now Y’shua had not yet [arrived] in the village, but was still at the place where Martha met Him.)

31. When the Judeans who were with her in the house to console her saw that she got up so quickly and went out, they followed her, saying to themselves, "She must be going to the tomb to cry there."

32. Then when Miryam came to where Y’shua was and saw Him there, she fell down at His feet and said to Him, "Master, if You'd only been here, my brother would not have died!”

33. When He saw her and the Judeans who had come down with her mourning, Y’shua sighed deeply in His spirit, and was visibly moved.

Sighed: The Greek word strongly connotes anger or strictness. It may be that He was responding mainly to the entity of death which had not only ruined so much of what His Father had created through Him, but had now claimed their friend—and His own—as well. Or, in the context of vv. 9, 10, 35, and 38, He may, in fulfillment of Yirmiyahu/Jer. 13:16-17, been responding to those who still kept mourning despite what He had just said. (Compare Luke 19:41; 23:28)

35. Y’shua shed tears.

36. Then the Judeans said, "Look how much He loved him!"

37. But some of them said, "Couldn't someone who opened the eyes of the blind have kept this man from dying, too?"

He brought out the sarcasm in the wicked, but in those who were righteous, faith despite the obvious ludicrousness of the situation. (Compare Luke 2:34.)

39. Y’shua said, "Lift [off] the stone." Martha, the sister of the man who had died, said to Him, "Master, by now he'll stink; it's already the fourth day!"

This construction of the tomb may reflect a post-Talmudic tractate from the 8th century, cited by Stern, that tells how they would go out to the cemetery for three days after the burial (which occurred as soon as possible after the death) to make sure that the body was not merely comatose, and in some cases they found that it was—and the supposedly-dead person lived many years afterward and had more children! Another belief was that the spirit of the person stayed near the body for 3½ days, deciding whether or not to return to it, but no longer (at which point the body began to decay). Whether this is true or not, it is noteworthy that Y’shua remained dead only three days (as Ps. 16:10 specifies, "You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay"). And it is after 3½ days that the spirits of the two slain witnesses of Rev. 11 re-enter their bodies. Y’shua was demonstrating that He could still raise one who was definitely dead by all accounts, as His healing by the Pools of Beyth-Hesdah (5:2ff) showed that His power did not depend on times auspicious for meeting angels.

41. So they lifted the stone where the dead man had been laid, and Y’shua looked upward and said, "Father, I thank You for hearing Me.

42. “Now I know that You always hear Me, but I said this for the sake of these bystanders, so they might believe that You have sent Me."

43. With that, He called out loudly, "El'azar, come here! Outside!"

It has been noted that if He had not specified El’azar, all the dead in the world would have risen at this time!

45. Then, after they had seen what Y’shua did, many of the Judeans who had come to be with Miryam believed in Him.

46. But some of them went off to tell the Prushim what He had done.

To those intent only on spying on Him, even this wonderful event was a cause for fear and consternation.

Sanhedrin: an assembly of the supreme religious council.

49. But one of them, Kayafa, being the high priest that year, told them, "You don't know anything!

"That year". The high priest was to hold that position for life, yet Kayafa's father-in-law Annan had been the high priest the year before, and he was still living. After Herod's accession, the priestly dynasties ceased, and he would appoint the priest of his choice, often for a term of only a year. Upon his death, the prerogative went to the Roman governors of Yerushalayim, who auctioned the position to the highest bidder. High priests would do all they could to garner as much revenue as possible during their term so they could give the money to a relative of theirs to buy the office, thus keeping it in the family and maintaining their influence, until Rome again allowed King Agrippa II to choose the priest. Kayafa was not the rightful high priest; apparently Annan was, since he was the one to whom they went first. At the great revolt (70 C.E.), zealots expelled this aristocracy won by bribery and treachery, and installed a stone mason from the family of Hillel, who had the true right to officiate. He was the last high priest, since the Temple was then destroyed.

51. (But he did not say this of his own accord, but, since he was the high priest that year, he was prophesying that Y’shua was about to die on behalf of the nation,

Like Bilaam, YHWH used him because of his position, despite his attitude, but it put him personally in no better position than Bilaam's donkey!

Had been scattered: This means they must be people whose ancestors had inhabited the Land, not yet being exiled. Yehudah was still considered a nation, though occupied by Rome, but YHWH had scattered the Northern Kingdom, yet said that one day they would be called “sons of the living Elohim”. (Hoshea 1:10) This is who Y’shua said He had come for. (Mat. 15:24; Luke 19:10)

54. Therefore, Y’shua no longer walked publicly among the Judeans, but went away from there into a city near the desert called Efrayim, and stayed there with His disciples.

This is prophetic, because for a time Y’shua’s followers among the Jews have had to be covert about their belief lest they be thought pagan, while Efrayim (another name for the Northern Kingdom, the scattered ones of v. 52), have welcomed Him and responded to His emissaries, so by and large He has “stayed” there Himself. Near the desert: i.e., there is not much water, which is a picture of the Torah, which has been marginalized among His followers outside of Yehudah until recently. Thus we know His “exile” is ending.

56. So they looked for Y’shua, and said among themselves, "What do you think? Isn't He coming to the feast at all?"

He simply did not go early; but He did not miss His appointment there.

...

CHAPTER 14

2. "In My Father's house are many dwelling-places. If it were otherwise, I would have told you so. I am going to prepare a place for you.

3. "And if I am going to prepare a place for you, that means I am coming again to take you unto Myself, so that wherever I am you may also be.

Y’shua is speaking here in wedding terminology. At their betrothal ceremony, a bridegroom would tell his bride, "I am going away to prepare a wedding chamber for you." The second stage of the wedding would come an indefinite amount of time later when the groom's father decided that all was ready (cf. Mark. 13:32), then he would go to bring his bride to his father's house for the second ceremony. After they stayed in their wedding chamber seven days, they would go back to the bride's home for the wedding feast. Y’shua's Father created these cultural patterns to foreshadow the seven years during which we will be in His house before we return with Y’shua to our house (i.e., earth) to reign with Y’shua after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7).

5. Thoma said to Him, "Master, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?

6. Y’shua told Him, 'I am the way—and the truth and the life; no one comes to the father except through Me.

Way, truth, and life: Avi ben Mordekhai points out that each of these is an idiom for the Torah.

8. And Filippos said to Him, "Master, just show us the Father, and that will satisfy us."

9. Y’shua said to him, "Philip! Have I been with you for this long a time, and still you haven't perceived who I am? Whoever sees Me has seen the Father. So how can you still say, 'Show us the Father'?"

This statement must be understood within the boundaries set by 1:18. "The Logos is what is knowable of YHWH; the Logos is YHWH insofar as He may be apprehended and experienced...It is only in and through the Logos...that YHWH even begins to enter within the range of man's perception." (Dunn on Philo).

11. "Believe Me when I tell you that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or if this is not enough, believe Me because of the works themselves.

12. "Have confidence that what I say is true: He who believes in Me will also do the works that I do, and indeed, he will do greater works than these, because I am going to My Father.

13. "And whatever you may request in My name, that I will do, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14. "If you request anything in My name, I will do it.

15. "If you love Me, then keep My commandments.

Y’shua’s commandments are the same as His Father’s. This is not in the spirit of a man telling his wife that she had better do what he says “or else”, but rather since YHWH put His heart within His commandments, if we do what He says to do, we will find out more of what He is really like, and learn thereby to love Him in the way He wants to be loved. We do not have to guess at what would please Him.

17. "the Spirit of Truth, which the world is not able to take hold of, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, because He dwells with you, and will be among you.

One called to your side: Gk., parakletos: one who is helping another bear the weight of his burden, and indeed bearing most of it himself. The Hebrew equivalent of this term is ha-m'nachem, "the comforter" (in the Latin sense, not English: the one who is "strong along with us").

19. "In just a little while, the world will no longer be aware of My presence, but you can still perceive Me here. Because I live, you will also live.

20. "In That Day you will understand that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.

21. "The one who takes hold of My commandments and hangs onto them is the one who really loves Me; and the one that loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and make Myself known to him."

…

31. "But I do just what the father commands, in order that the world may know that I love the Father. Now get up, let's go get ourselves in position.”

CHAPTER 18

Olive orchard: A cultivated area (see note on Mat. 26:36).

3. So, obtaining a cohort and subordinate officers from the chief priests and P’rushim, Yehudah came there with torches, lamps, and weapons.

4. Then, knowing all the things that would happen to Him, Y’shua went forward and asked the priests, "Whom are you searching for?"

5. They answered Him, "Y’shua the Nazarene." Y’shua said to them, "I am He." Yehudah, His betrayer, also stood among them.

6. When He said, "I am He", they reared back and fell to the ground.

7. So He asked them again, "Who are you looking for?" And they said, "Y’shua the Nazarene."

8. He answered, "I told you that I am He, so if it is Me you are seeking, let these other men go"—

9. in order that His earlier word might be fulfilled: "Of those whom You gave to Me, I did not lose any—not even one."

10. Then Shim'on ("the Rock"), who had a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's slave, who was named Melekh, cutting off his right ear.

Melekh means "king". There may be some symbolic significance in regard to Y’shua holding off His judgment on the kings of the earth until later.

12. Then the cohort, the commander of a thousand, and the Jewish leaders' officers together seized Y’shua, tied Him up,

13. and led Him away, first to Annan, since he was the father-in-law of Kayafa, who was high priest that year.

That year: See note on 11:49.

15. And Shim'on and another disciple followed Y’shua. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, entered with Y’shua into the high priest's courtyard.

The other disciple: This was Yochanan, who leaves out his own name out of modesty. That he was known to the high priest and that he was a cousin of Y’shua suggest that Y’shua also, through someone in His mother Miryam's line, descended from the tribe of Levi, qualifying Him to be the true high priest.

17. Then the maidservant who kept the gate said to him, "Aren't you also one of this Man's disciples?" The latter said, "I am not."

18. And the slaves and subordinate officers, having made a fire with coals, were standing and warming themselves, because it was cold. And "Rock" was standing with them and warming himself.

19. Then the high priest interrogated Y’shua about His disciples and His teaching.

20. Y’shua answered him, "I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and the Temple where the Jews always gather; I said nothing in secret.

21. "So why do you have to ask Me any questions? Ask the ones who heard what I said to them. They certainly know what I said!"

22. Upon His saying these things, one of the subordinate officers who was standing by gave Y’shua a slap, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?"

23. Y’shua answered him, "If I said something wrong, state publicly how it was wrong; but if what I said was accurate, why are you hitting Me?"

24. Then Annan sent him—still tied up—to Kayafa the high priest.

25. Now Shim'on ("Rock") was standing and warming himself, so they said to him, "Aren't you one of His disciples too?" He denied it, saying, "I am not."

26. One of the high priest's slaves, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Didn't I see you with Him in the olive orchard?"

27. Again "Rock" denied it, and immediately a crier called out.

A crier: Traditionally, "a rooster crowed", but since by law no foul odors were to be found in the Temple complex and chickens were ruled to be the only clean animals who in their normal condition exuded a foul smell, they were prohibited. Therefore, this could not have been a literal rooster. However, chickens were nicknamed "criers", the same word used for the priests who announced the early morning tosefta prayers to their companions at the end of the third watch of the night. This must be what Peter heard, being as close as he was to the Temple.

Early: too early for a lawful trial.

30. They answered and told him, "If this Man were not a malefactor, we would not have turned him over to you."

31. Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your own law!" But the Jewish leaders told him, "It is not lawful for us to execute anyone"—

32. in order that the thing which Y’shua had said to indicate by what kind of death He was about to die might be fulfilled.

33. So Pilatus went back into the Judgment Hall. Calling Y’shua to him, he asked Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?!"

The only legitimate line of kings that the Jews as a particular part of Israel had was the line of David. Being king of the Jews, then, would give Y’shua the right to call YHWH His Father (Psalm 89:26--but note that that same verse says the Davidic line must also called YHWH their Elohim, so being His Son does not mean he is on equal footing with YHWH, in agreement with 20:17). This also gave Him the right to be called YHWH’s firstborn. (89:27) Because His ancestors the kings sinned against YHWH, they had to be punished with the rod and stripes. It does not say the blows and stipes would come upon those kings in particular; that is why Y’shua had to receive scourging and stripes. (19:1) This allowed the eternal throne of David, on which no one sat anymore (Ps. 89:38ff), to be restored. (89:33-37)

35. Pilatus replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your priests have handed you over to me. Whatever did you do wrong?"

36. "My kingship is not the kind that arises out of the current world order," answered Y’shua. "If it was, My subordinates would have fought hard to keep Me from being turned over to the Jewish leaders. But right now My kingdom is not from this place."

When He said this He was in Jerusalem. One day it will be headquartered precisely there; for now, however, it is ruled from Heaven.

38. Pilatus said to Him, "What is truth?" And, having said this, Pilatus went back out to the Judean leaders and told them, "I can't find in Him a single ground for criminal accusation.

39. "However, there is a custom in your favor—that I should release to you one prisoner at the Passover. So you decide: should I release ‘the king of the Jews'?"

40. Then they all cried out again, "No, not Him, but Bar-Abbas!" Now this Bar-Abbas was a bandit.

Bandit: Possibly a Zealot (freedom-fighter) who had taken part in a revolutionary uprising against Rome.