UTN uW Translation Notes:

John 7 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

1. Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Festival of Shelters (7:1–13)
2. Jesus says his authority is from God (7:14–24)
3. Jesus says he came from God (7:25–31)
4. Jesus says he will return to God (7:32–36)
5. Jesus says he is the living water (7:37–39)
6. The people disagree about who Jesus is (7:40–44)
7. The Jewish leaders disagree about who Jesus is (7:45–53)

Translators may wish to include a note at 7:53 to explain to the reader why they have chosen or chosen not to translate 7:53–8:11. These verses are not in the best and oldest ancient manuscripts. If the translators have chosen to translate these verses, then they will want to either put them in a footnote outside of the main text or mark them in some way, such as square brackets (`[ ]`), to indicate that the passage may not have originally been in John’s Gospel. (See: translate-textvariants)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

“Believing in him”

A recurring theme in this chapter is the concept of believing Jesus to be the Messiah. Some people believed he was the Messiah, while others did not. Some were willing to recognize his power and even the possibility that he was a prophet, but most were unwilling to believe that he was the Messiah. (See: christ and prophet)

“My time has not yet come”

This phrase and “his hour had not yet come” are used in this chapter to indicate that Jesus is in control of the events that are happening in his life.

“Living water”

This is an important metaphor used in the New Testament to refer to the Holy Spirit. See the discussion of this metaphor in the note about “living water” for 4:10. (See: figs-metaphor)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Prophecy

In 7:33–34 Jesus gives a prophecy about his return to heaven without explicitly indicating his statement as prophecy.

Irony

Nicodemus explains to the other Pharisees that the Law requires them to hear directly from a person before making a judgment about that person. The Pharisees in turn made a judgment about Jesus without speaking to Jesus.

“Did not believe in him”

Jesus’ brothers did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah at the time the events in this chapter took place. (See: believe)

“The Jews”

This term is used in two different ways in this passage. It is used specifically to refer to the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus and were trying to kill him (7:1, 11, 13, 15, 35). It is also used in 7:2 to refer to Jewish people in general. The translator may wish to use the terms “Jewish leaders” and “Jewish people” to clarify this distinction.