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John 12:36-38
New English Translation
John 12:36-38
New English Translation
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”[a] When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them.
The Outcome of Jesus’ Public Ministry Foretold
37 Although Jesus[b] had performed[c] so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, 38 so that the word[d] of the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled. He said,[e] “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord[f] been revealed?”[g]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 12:36 tn The idiom “sons of light” means essentially “people characterized by light,” that is, “people of God.”sn The expression sons of light refers to men and women to whom the truth of God has been revealed and who are therefore living according to that truth, thus, “people of God.”
- John 12:37 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- John 12:37 tn Or “done.”
- John 12:38 tn Or “message.”
- John 12:38 tn Grk “who said.”
- John 12:38 tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (ho brachiōn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).
- John 12:38 sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.
New English Translation (NET)
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