UTN uW Translation Notes:

John 12 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

1. Mary pours perfume on Jesus (12:1–11)
2. Jesus enters Jerusalem (12:12–19)
3. Some Greeks come to Jesus (12:20–26)
4. Jesus predicts his death (12:27–36)
5. John explains the Jews’ rejection of Jesus (12:37–43)
6. Jesus says that he is God (12:44–50)

Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with the poetry sections in 12:38 and 40, which are quotations from the Old Testament.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Mary poured perfume on Jesus’ feet

The Jews would put oil on a person’s head to make that person feel welcome and comfortable. They would also put oil on a person’s body after the person had died but before they buried the body. However, they would never think to put oil on a person’s feet, because they thought that feet were dirty.

The donkey and the colt

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an animal, which was a common practice for kings. The kings of Israel in the Old Testament rode on donkeys. So by riding on a donkey Jesus was showing that he was the king of Israel.

Glory

Scripture often speaks of God’s glory as a great, brilliant light. When people see this light, they are afraid. In 12:16 John says that the glory of Jesus is his resurrection and possibly his return to heaven as well.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Light and darkness

In 12:35–36, 46, Jesus uses an extended metaphor in which light represents what is true and good, and darkness represents what is false and evil. He applies that light metaphor to himself in order to show that he is the embodiment of God’s truth and goodness. (See: righteous)

Paradox

A paradox is a true statement that appears to describe something impossible. A paradox occurs in 12:25: “He who loves his life will lose it; but he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” But in 12:26 Jesus explains what it means to keep one’s life for eternal life.

“Son of Man”

Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man” several times in this chapter. Your language may not allow people to speak of themselves as if they were speaking about someone else. See the discussion of this concept in Part 3 of the General Introduction to the Gospel of John. (See: sonofman and figs-123person)