John 21:17-19

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. John 21:17 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2. John 21:17 tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.
3. John 21:17 tn Or “was sad.”
4. John 21:17 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5. John 21:17 tn Grk “said to.”
6. John 21:17 tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.
7. John 21:17 tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ ƒ¹³ M), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (ho Iēsous, “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W ƒ¹ 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA²⁸ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8. John 21:17 tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”
9. John 21:18 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
10. John 21:18 tn Or “you girded yourself.”
11. John 21:18 tn Grk “others will gird you.”
12. John 21:19 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13. John 21:19 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14. John 21:19 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The phrase by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God almost certainly indicates martyrdom (cf. 1 Pet 4:16), and it may not predict anything more than that. But the parallelism of this phrase to similar phrases in John 12:33 and 18:32 which describe Jesus’ own death by crucifixion have led many to suggest that the picture Jesus is portraying for Peter looks not just at martyrdom but at death by crucifixion. This seems to be confirmed by the phrase you will stretch out your hands in the preceding verse. There is some evidence that the early church understood this and similar phrases (one of them in Isa 65:2) to refer to crucifixion (for a detailed discussion of the evidence see L. Morris, John [NICNT], 876, n. 52). Some have objected that if this phrase does indeed refer to crucifixion, the order within v. 18 is wrong, because the stretching out of the hands in crucifixion precedes the binding and leading where one does not wish to go. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:1108) sees this as a deliberate reversal of the normal order (hysteron proteron) intended to emphasize the stretching out of the hands. Another possible explanation for the unusual order is the Roman practice in crucifixions of tying the condemned prisoner’s arms to the crossbeam (patibulum) and forcing him to carry it to the place of execution (W. Bauer as cited by O. Cullmann in Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr [LHD], 88).
15. John 21:19 tn Grk “After he said this, he said to him”; the referents (first Jesus, second Peter) have been specified in the translation for clarity.