John

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YOCHANAN (John)

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Introduction to the Book The four "gospels" correlate with the four faces of the living creatures in Yehezqel chapter 1, which were also depicted on the four primary banners of the camp of Israel in the wilderness. Luke's account emphasizes Y'shua's humanity, corresponding with the face of a man. Matithyahu portrays Y'shua primarily as the King, corresponding with the face of the lion. Mark emphasizes His servanthood, corresponding with the ox, and Yochanan corresponds with the eagle--the one who supercedes natural limits (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 40:31) and bears the captives back home (Ex. 19:4). Yochanan is indeed the most mystical of the books, focusing on the spiritual significance behind Y'shua's words and deeds. It also highlights His fulfillment of the particulars of the prescribed festivals. Notice its parallels also to Genesis 1, including enumeration of what happened each day in sequence. The book is also structured around a series of "I am" statements and signs that accompanied them, demonstrating that He was the one the prophets had all pointed toward.
	Chapters 1-3 CHAPTER 1 1. Originally, there existed the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. Word: Gr., Logos: substantive idea behind all particulars which gives the universe coherence; a precise thought ready to come to expression; 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". (Some render it "divine"). 2. This same one was with Elohim at the origin. Origin: of the universe; the Rabbis long believed both the Messiah and Torah existed prior to creation of our world. Philo, an Egyptian Jew and contemporary of 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) 3. Through Him everything came into being, and without Him not even one thing that was created came into being. Through Him: as the Word, the instrument of YHWH's creation. Philo describes YHWH as ruling and controlling creation through His Word, whom He set over it 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) 4. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of humankind, 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. 5. and the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overtaken it. 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) 6. There arose a man, sent by Elohim, whose name was Yochanan. Yochanan: Not the same Yochanan who authored this account. 7. This man came for the purpose of being a witness, in order that he might give testimony concerning that Light, so that all might put their trust in the Light because of him. Testimony: or evidence. 8. Not that he himself was the Light, but rather that he might bear witness concerning the Light: 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. 10. He was in the world, and through Him the world came into being, yet the world did not perceive who He was. 11. He came to what was His own, but His own [people] would not receive Him. His own people: the tribe of Yehudah. 12. But to whoever did receive Him--those who put their trust in His name--to them He gave the right to become children of Elohim, 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) 13. who were "born", not because of bloodline, fleshly desire, or human intention, but from YHWH. 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: perhaps similar to the Malbim's concept of "hitgalmut" (incarnation). 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, the time He was most likely 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 sinner, 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. 15. Yochanan bore witness concerning Him, when he called out, "This is the One of whom I said, 'The One coming after me has come to be ahead of me, because He existed before me.'" Though physically Yochanan preceded Him by six months, in 8:58 Y'shua claims to have existed before Avraham. 16. And out of His fullness we have all received, and empowering favor upon empowering favor, 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) 17. because the Torah was given through Moshe; empowering favor and the truth came into manifestation through Y'shua the Messiah. Torah: described here in Greek as nomos; in Hebrew it means instruction. Empowering favor and the truth: perhaps an allusion to Psalm 85:10. Truth: YHWH's instruction and commands (Ps. 119:142, 151). 18. No one has ever seen YHWH; but the only-begotten Son, who is close at the Father's side--He has made Him known. 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 Logos is 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) 19. Here is Yochanan's testimony: When the people of Judea sent priests and Levites from Yerushalayim to ask him, "Who are you?", 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) 22. They said to him, "Who are you? We need to know so we can give an answer to the ones who dispatched us. What do you have to say about yourself?" 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. 24. Those who had been sent were from the Prushim, 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. 25. and they asked him, "If you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor 'The Prophet', what are you doing ritually immersing people?" 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. 26. Yochanan answered them by saying, "I am immersing them in water, but in your midst stands someone whom you don't know. 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 even worthy to unlatch!" 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). 29. The next day Yochanan noticed Y'shua coming toward him and said, "Look! The Lamb of Elohim, who bears away the sin of the world! 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:). 30. "This is the Man about whom I said earlier, 'After me is coming a Man who has come to be before me, because He existed prior to me.' 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. 33. "And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to immerse in water--He had told me, "Whomever you see the Spirit descending and settling upon: He is the one who immerses people into a spirit of holiness. 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). 35. Again on the next morning [the third day], Yochanan and two of his disciples were standing there, 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) 37. And the two disciples understood what he was talking about, and they followed behind Y'shua. 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... 40. Andreas, one of the two who had heard what Yochanan said and followed Y'shua, had a brother named Shim'on (the one Y'shua would later nickname "the Rock"). 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". 43. On the next day Y'shua decided to go out to the Galil, and there He discovered a man named Filippos, and told him, "Follow Me!" 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". 44. And Filippos was from Beyth-Tzaida, the town Andrew and Kefa came from. Beyth-Tzaida: "House of Fishing/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. 45. Filippos found Nathan'el ["Elohim gave"] and told him, "We have found Y'shua the Natzri, the Son of Yoseyf!" 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". 46. And Nathan'el said, "Can anything good come from Natzereth?" 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. 47. When Y'shua saw Nathan'el coming toward Him, He said concerning him, "Behold, this man is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceitfulness!" 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. 48. Nathan'el asked Him, "Where do you know me from?" Y'shua answered him, "Before Filippos went to call you, I saw you under the fig tree." 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." 49. Nathan'el answered Him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of Elohim! You are the King of Israel!" 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) 50. Y'shua responded by saying, "Do you believe because I said I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these!" 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) CHAPTER 2 1. On the third day there was a wedding in Kfar Kana in the Galil, and Y'shua's mother was in attendance. Kfar Kana: a stone's throw east of Natzereth. 2. And Y'shua and His disciples were also invited. 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. 4. And Y'shua said to her, "What [is that] to Me and to you, woman? My hour has not arrived yet. What is that to Me and you: He does not perform on demand or even necessarily meet felt needs. 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, â€œWhat do we have in common?â€ He is beginning to manifest the leaving of His mother for the sake of His bride. (Mat. 19:5; compare Mat. 10:37) 5. His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." She submits to His rebuke, yet still indirectly presses Him to act. 6. And there were six stone water jars standing there, according to the requirements for the Jewish purification rituals, each containing two or three baths. 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. 7. Y'shua told them to fill the jars with water, and they filled them to the rim. 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. 9. And when the master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it had come from (though the servants who drew the water knew), he called the bridegroom 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. 11. This, His opening sign [of a series], Y'shua did in Kana of the Galil, and it plainly evidenced His supremacy; thus His disciples came to have confidence in Him. 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) 12. After this, He went down to Kfar Nahum--He and His mother, His brothers, and His disciples, that is. And He did not stay there for very many days. 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. 13. Now the Jewish Passover was near, so Y'shua went up to Yerushalayim. Went up to Yerushalayim: as all able-bodied Israelite men are required to do so. 14. And He found [people] selling oxen, sheep, and doves in the Temple area, and the moneychangers sitting there. 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, priestal precincts. 16. And to the ones selling the doves, He said, "Take these things away from here! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" 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. 17. And His disciples remembered that it had been written, "The zeal of your house has consumed Me." [Psalm 69:9] 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) 19. So Y'shua told them, "[All right]; destroy this Temple, and in three days I'll raise it back up." 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! 21. But He was talking about the Temple of His Body. 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 â€œanointed oneâ€), 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) 22. Then when He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled that He had said this to them, and they came to have confidence in the Writings, that is, the [passage] that Y'shua had mentioned. 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.) 23. Now since He was in Yerushalayim during the Passover, many, seeing the miracles that He did at the feast, came to have confidence in His name, 24. but Yâ€™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. 25. that is, because He had no need for anyone to tell Him about humanity, since He knew what was within human beings. What was within: impure motives at worst and an unclear understanding of YHWH's purposes at best. But this knowledge was YHWHâ€™s prerogative alone. (1 Kings 8:39) Thus the Father had given Him every aspect of His authority over men. (3:35) CHAPTER 3 1. However, there was among the Prushim a man named Nakdimon, a chief among the Jewish leaders. 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) 2. This man came to Y'shua by night, and told Him, "Rabbi, we know You are a teacher who has come from Elohim, because no one is able to perform these signs that You do, unless Elohim is with 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 from above; Aramaic, birthed from the hierarch. The idea of rebirth is celebrated in the new moon festivals, and, it being night, Y'shua was probably gesturing toward the moon as he said these words. 4. Nakdimon said to Him, "How is it possible for a man to be born when he is old? He can't enter into his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he? 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. 6. "Whatever receives its birth from natural flesh is natural flesh, and that which receives its birth from the Spirit is spirit. 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. 9. Nakdimon responded to Him by saying, "How can these things happen?" 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 perhaps the position was more one of prestige to him, since he did not yet seem to have much spiritual understanding. However, as we follow his life later, we see this changing. 11. "I tell you, one thing is for sure, we talk about what we know, and what we have seen we bear witness to, and you are not grasping what we are telling you. 12. "If I tell you earthly things and you are not persuaded, how will you believe [Me] if I tell you heavenly things? 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. 15. "so that anyone who puts confidence in Him may not be done away with, but have never-ending life, 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) 17. "since Elohim did not send His Son into the [inhabited] world for the purpose of passing judgment on civilization, but so that through Him the world might be rescued [from destruction]. 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. 18. "The one who places confidence in Him is not condemned, but the one who does not put confidence in Him is [even now] already condemned, because he has not placed his confidence into the name of the unique Son of Elohim. 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. 20. "since someone involved in an evil undertaking detests the light, nor does he come toward the light, so that his actions will not be called to account. 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. 22. After these things, Y'shua and His disciples entered the territory of Yehudah, and he was spending time with them and immersing there. 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. Stern believes the name may be a corruption of the Heb. Eynayim (twin springs). 24. as Yochanan had not yet been thrown into prison. 25. That being the case, there arose a debate among Yochanan's disciples with the Judeans about [ritual] purification, Aramaic, one of Yochanan's disciples with one Judean. 26. and they approached Yochanan and told him, "Rabbi, look! The one who was with you on the other side of the Yarden, about whom you gave testimony--he is [now] immersing, and everyone is coming to Him!" 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: 27. In response, Yochanan said, "A person can by no means receive anything unless it is granted to him out of Heaven. Receive: Aramaic, take by the will of his soul. 28. "You yourselves are witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but have been sent ahead of Him. 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) 30. "He [is the one who] has to become greater, while I become less [important]." 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. 34. for the one sent by YHWH utters the word YHWH [has spoken], for YHWH does not bestow the spirit by measure. 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) 35. The Father loves the Son, and has delivered everything over to His authority to act as agent. 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. 36. The one who places confidence in the Son possesses never-ending life, but the one who refuses to be persuaded to comply with the Son will not [make himself available to] see life. Rather, the indignation of YHWH remains on him.
Chapters 4-6 CHAPTER 4 1. Then when the Master knew that the Pharisees had heard, �Y�shua is making and immersing more disciples than Yochanan� 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. 4. and He had to pass through Shomron. 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. Undoubtedly they intermarried with the remnant. 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. 5. Thus he came into a city of the Samaritans called Sh�khem, adjacent to the plot of land that Yaaqov had given to his son Yoseyf. 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. 6. Now Yaaqov�s well was there, so Y�shua, being exhausted from His journey, sat down by the well. Now it was nearly the sixth hour. 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. 7. A woman came out of Shomron to draw water, and Y�shua said to her, �Provide Me with [something] to drink.� 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. 8. (For His disciples had gone away into the city so that they could buy food.) 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. 10. Y�shua responded by telling her, �If you understood Elohim�s gift, and [knew] who it is who is saying to you, �Supply Me with something to drink�, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water!� 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: 11. The woman said to Him, �Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep! From where do you get this living water? 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. 12. �Surely you�re not stronger than our ancestor Yaaqov, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, along with his children and his flocks?� 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) 13. Y�shua responded by telling her, �Everyone who drinks from this water will again suffer from thirst. 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. 15. The woman said to him, �Sir, give me this thing�the water�so I won�t be thirsty, and won�t have to come here to draw [water]!� 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) 19. The woman told him, �Sir, I can see that You are a prophet! I can see: literally, I theorize. 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! 21. Y�shua told her, �Woman, believe Me: an hour is coming; it is already [here], when you are not going to worship the Father either on this mountain or in Yerushalayim. 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) 22. �You [people] worship One you have not experienced; we know the One we worship, since the deliverance [comes] from the Jews. 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. 23. �But an hour is coming; [indeed] it is already [here], when the genuine worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in reality, because in fact this is the kind [of people] the Father is looking for to be His worshippers. 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. 24. �Elohim is spirit, so it is necessary that His worshippers worship Him in spirit and in reality.� 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. 26. Y�shua told her, �[That is who] I�the one speaking to you�am.� 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. 28. Then the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and told the people, 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. 29. �Come! Meet a person who told me everything I ever did! Couldn�t this be the Messiah?� 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). 31. Now in the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, �Rabbi, eat [something]!� 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) 35. "You should not say, �Four more months and then the harvest.� I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are already white for harvest! 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. From Jerusalem to there, it was mostly desert. Here it was 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. It was 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. 36. �Moreover, the one who reaps receives due reward in addition to gathering fruit toward a never-ending life, so that both the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice just the same. This is an allusion to Psalm 126. 37. �Indeed, in this [case] the word [holds] true that [says] �One sows, and another [of the same kind] reaps.� 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. 38. �I have sent you to reap what you did not labor over. Others have wearied themselves, and you have entered into their labor.� 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.� 40. Then, as the Samaritans approached Him, they ask Him whether He would stay on with them, so He remained there two days. 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. 41. And many more believed on account of His [own] teaching. 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. 43. Now after the two days, He departed from there and went away into Galilee, 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. 44. because Y�shua Himself confirmed [by His experience] that a prophet does not have the respect [he deserves] in his own native region. 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) 46. This being the case, Y�shua again made an appearance in Kana of the Galil, where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain public chief whose son was sick at Kfar Nahum. Kana: Aramaic, Qatne. Public chief: or even, king. (Compare Psalm 72:11; Yeshayahu 49:7; 52:15) 47. Hearing that Y�shua had come out of Judea into the Galil, this [man] went out to Him, and requested that He would come down and heal his son, because he was on the verge of death. 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. 48. So Y�shua told him, �Unless you see prodigious signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.� 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. 52. So he asked them the specific time in which he his condition had begun to improve. And they told him, �Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever let go of him.� Seventh hour: i.e., 1:00 p.m. Old Syriac, ninth hour. 53. Then the father knew that [it was] the same time Y�shua had told him, �Your son is [recovering his] full vigor.� And he, along with his whole household, trusted [Him]. 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).
	Chapters 7-10
Chapters 11-13 CHAPTER 11 1. Now there was a certain sick man, El'azar from Beyth-Anyah (the village of Miryam and her sister Martha). Beyth Anyah means either House of Dates or House of Poverty. 2. (This Miryam, whose brother El'azar was sick, was the same woman who later anointed the Master with ointment and dried His feet with her hair.) 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. 3. Therefore, the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Master, don't let it escape your notice that someone whom You love is sick!" 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. 7. then after that He said to the disciples, "Let's go back to Judea." 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": 10. "But if anyone walks by night, he stumbles, because there is no light in it. 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. 17. When Y'shua arrived, he found that El'azar had already been in the tomb for four days. 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. 19. And many of the Judeans had come to console Martha and Miryam's neighbors about the loss of their brother. 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. 21. Then Martha said to Y'shua, "Master, if You had been here, my brother would not be dead! 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) 25. Y'shua said to her, "I am the Resurrection--and the Life [itself]! Whoever puts his confidence in Me, even though he may die, he will still be alive. 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. 26. "And everyone who is alive who trusts in Me will never ever die! Do you believe this?" 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", an explanatory term for the Messiah used widely among the Qumran community, as the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal. 29. When the latter heard it, she got up quickly and came to Him. 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) 34. And He asked, "Where have you put him?" They said, "Come and see, Master." 35. Y'shua [began to] weep. 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.) 38. Then, inwardly exasperated once again, Y'shua came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying on top of the opening. 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 three and a half 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 3� 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. 40. Y'shua said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believe, you will see Elohim's glory?" 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! 44. And the man who had died came out, his feet and hands still bound with cords, and his face still wrapped in a cloth. Y'shua told them, "Untie him and let him go!" 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. 47. Then the head priests and Prushim convened a sanhedrin, and said, "What should we do? Because this man is doing a lot of miracles! Sanhedrin: an assembly of the supreme religious council. 48. "If we let Him keep doing things like this, everybody will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our position and our nation!" 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. 50. "Nor are you considering the fact that it is better for one man to die on behalf of the People, instead of the whole nation perishing." 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! 52. and not only for the nation, but also so that He might gather into one entity all the children of Elohim who had been scattered throughout the world.) 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) 53. So from that day onward they plotted together to kill Him. 54. Therefore, Y'shua no longer walked publicly among the Judeans, but went away from there into a city 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. 55. And it was almost time for the Passover, the pilgrim festival when everyone came up to Judea. And many people from the countryside went up to Yerushalayim before the Passover, so they would have time to ritually purify themselves. 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. 57. All of the head priests and Prushim had also given orders that anyone who knew where He was should inform them, so they might apprehend Him.
	Chapters 14-17 At left: Gethsemane (Gath sh'maney)
Chapters 18-19 At right: Gulgol'tha and the quarry from which stones for Herod's additions to the Temple complex were dug.
	Chapters 20-21 At left: The Sea of Galilee