FOOTNOTES:

^a Or ‘roused,’ traditionally, ‘raised.’ This word egeiro is most often used for getting up from sleep. Sleep was a common euphemism for death. This word was used in John 5:21, and is a different word, though it shares some possible definitions as a synonym, from the word in John 11:23 (anistemi). According to The Cambridge Greek Lexicon (2021), this word carries these possible uses: 1) stir from sleep, rouse, waken; 2) be awake, alert, be awakened; 3) rouse, stir up [to action or thought]; 4) stir up, provoke; 5) awaken, rouse [to singing, praise, shouting]; 6) rouse (into new or renewed existence, such as “stir into flame”), stimulate, revive; 7) raise up (foundations of a building, city wall), and 8) [citing the New Testament] restore to life.

^b The Greek here says ‘Martha.’ I have replaced it with Miriam based on the information in the footnote for John 11:1.

^c The customary way for the culture to eat meals was at a low table, reclining on cushions. They did not sit in chairs.

^d Or ‘one litra.’ A litra was a Roman unit of measuring weight. One litra was about three quarters of a pound, 12 ounces as a measurement of weight, not volume.

^e A fragrant plant from the region of the Himalayas.

^f Compare with 1 Samuel 16:13. While John 12:3 does not seem to be a direct reference to any Hebrew Bible passage, the concept of anointing priests and kings with oil is frequent throughout the Hebrew Bible. Anointing oneself with oil is also used of personal hygiene in Ruth 3:3. Miriam here seems to be the only woman in the Bible to anoint someone as God’s chosen priest or king, though it is not the explicitly stated purpose here; however, the incredibly expensive oil seems to suggest something as significant as anointing the divinely appointed king.

^g Traditionally, ‘Judas.’ There’s no good reason for the ‘as’ ending, and other modern language translations don’t make a difference between ‘Judah’ (Hebrew origin) and ‘Judas,’ which simply carries over the Greek lettering for the Hebrew name.

^h Traditionally, ‘Iscariot.’ It was likely not his name, however. It means ‘men of Kerioth’ which was a city of Moab that was condemned for its actions against Israel, and it was likely used as a label regarding his betrayal of Jesus. See Jeremiah 48:21-47 (especially verses 21-27).

ⁱ One denarius was worth the wage for a day’s labor, making 300 denarii worth someone’s total income for about 10 months.

^j The Greek here is ambiguous, with the word tereo in the subjunctive case. More literally it would be something like “so that she may save it for the day of my burial.” The context does not make sense in that chronology, since she already poured it out. It may be that it’s answering Judah’s question, implying his question is understood in the answer. That reading would be something like this: “She didn’t sell it so that she could save it for the day of my burial.” The phrase ‘day of my burial’ can be understood more broadly as ‘when it’s time for my burial,’ which could be considered true of this story since it was only a matter of days at this time.

^k The verbs in this sentence are all second person (you) plural in form, addressing the whole group.

^l See note in John 12:1.

^m Traditionally, ‘hosanna.’ ‘Hosanna’ isn’t properly a word. It’s the Hebrew words Hoshea na transferred into Greek letters, and then transferred into English letters. They are a quotation from Psalm 118:25. Na makes it a plea, with the closest English translation being ‘please,’ but it’s stronger than a simple request. Hoshea translates to something like ‘save, deliver, liberate, free, be victorious, be open, rescue, defend.’ The expectation here, since they are pairing it with ‘king of Israel,’ is that they see Jesus as the rightful king of Israel who will liberate them from Roman occupation.

ⁿ Traditionally, ‘blessed’; however, it is not the same Greek word that is traditionally translated as ‘blessed’ in Matthew 5:3-11. This word literally means something like ‘good word-ed’ or ‘spoken well of.’ Praised seems to be a good word to capture that meaning. It can also carry the meaning of ‘put in a good word’ where someone speaking well about a person or declares goodwill for that person which leads to benefits.

^o Citation of Psalm 118:26

^p ‘Daughter of Zion’ is an idiom that meant the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with Zion being the name of the hill on which Jerusalem is built and is often used in scripture to refer to the city.

^q Citation of Zechariah 9:9. As is typical of the time, only a portion of the passage is quoted. They did not have numbers to show chapter and verse locations, so people referred to a section by quoting a small piece of it to show what whole section they had in mind. The context of Zechariah 9-10 is relevant for what is being communicated here. It’s about God protecting the people and restoring them after oppression by foreign powers that happened because of deviation from the Path of the Lord. Here are a few particularly poignant excerpts, but I encourage reading both chapters fully: “‘Then I will camp at my house against armies, against any who pass by, and no more shall oppressors pass over them, for now I have seen their affliction” (Zechariah 9:8, Robert Altar’s translation of the Hebrew Bible, 2019); “‘And I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim and the horses from Jerusalem, and the bow of battle shall be cut off, and he shall parley for peace with the nations, and they shall rule from sea to sea and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:10, Alter’s Translation); “‘Go back to the fortress, you prisoners of hope. This very day proclaiming, double will I give back to you” (Zechariah 9:12, Alter’s Translation); “‘And I will make the house of Judah mighty, and the house of Joseph I will make victorious. And I will restore them, for I have mercy upon them, for I am the LORD their God and will answer them’” (Zechariah 10:6, Alter’s Translation).

^r Traditionally, ‘glorified.’ The word has to do with praising, especially in a public way that promotes the reputation, the fame of the one being praised. It has more to do with praising to a third party or publicly rather than praising the person directly to them. In John, it seems connected with Jesus’ identification with Messiah and the public affirmation of that identity. The word doxa (the noun form of the verb here), is translated variously as ‘praise’ and ‘praiseworthiness’ to communicate what is perceived by others that inspires praise.

^s This word is frequently translated as ‘remembered’ which is sometimes accurate. More literally it means ‘called to mind,’ which can imply remembering something already known or understood, or it can mean holding it in mind in the sense of paying attention to something.

^t Most translations say something like ‘that these things had been written about him.’ However, it’s more literally ‘that it was about him these things were written.’ The impact could be that they mean the same thing. However, the more literal translation emphasizes it differently. While the ESV and NASB tend to be literal translations, the NIV seems actually to be more directly faithful to the meaning here: “Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him” (John 12:16 NIV).

^u There is no preposition in the Greek here. The word auto (‘him’) is in the dative case form, which makes it the indirect object of the sentence. English uses prepositions for that function, so a preposition must be supplied, but it’s a matter of interpretation based on the context to decide which preposition. The traditional ‘to’ assumes it is about what the Judean authorities and the Romans did to Jesus. The use of ‘with’ here indicates it’s a reference to the students’ memories of accompanying Jesus while the events of this section took place.

^v See note in John 12:1.

^w ‘Submit to God’ is being used to translate proskuneseis which is usually translated as ‘worship.’ But when I looked at the definition, it’s not really connected with the English etymology of ‘worship’ which has to do with declaring something as having high worth. It’s literally about bowing and kissing hands at the feet of a ruler. It’s about submission, not admiration. The Hebrew word yireh which is the word ‘fear’ in the ubiquitous Hebrew Bible phrase ‘fear of the LORD’ seems to have a similar use. People try to make it positive by sometimes translating or interpreting it as ‘revere,’ but again it’s not so much about viewing something highly as it is recognizing our powerlessness in contrast to the powerful.

^x This is the same word kurios, translated many times as ‘Lord’ regarding Jesus and others.

^y Traditionally, ‘glorified.’ The word has to do with praising, especially in a public way that promotes the reputation, the fame of the one being praised. It has more to do with praising to a third party or publicly rather than praising the person directly to them. In John, it seems connected with Jesus’ identification with Messiah and the public affirmation of that identity. The word doxa (the noun form of the verb here), is translated variously as ‘praise’ and ‘praiseworthiness’ to communicate what is perceived by others that inspires praise.

^z Or ‘cares about.’ This is the Greek phileo, traditionally translated as ‘loves’ or ‘is a friend to’ and carries a sense of emotional and relational bond.

^aa This is the Greek miseo. Like its antonym agapao, this is more than just about an emotion connected with dislike. It’s about being motivated to pursue harm, to mistreat the one being hated.

^bb The Greek is not easy to translate naturally into English. Most literally, it is ‘If someone would serve me.’ The word for ‘serve’ is in the subjunctive case, giving it a conditional, potential meaning.

^cc The phrases ‘in his name’ and ‘in your name’ and ‘in my name’ appear several times throughout John. In many places, it has been translated as something along the lines of ‘as his representatives.’ Some places, like here, that way to translate it does not work well. When the phrase ‘in his name’ is describing an action, it works. When, as here, an action is being directed toward ‘the name,’ the English word ‘name’ has been included. The concept of ‘name’ in scripture is more than the set of sounds or letters used to designate who is being discussed. It refers to their identity, character, and sometimes authority or cause which that person represents or leads. For instance, here, it could be loosely translated to mean something like “Show who you are, your identity and character and the way of being you provide, to be…”

^dd The word angelos was not a specifically supernatural word; it meant ‘messenger,’ i.e. someone authorized to speak—or act—on behalf of another. While this instance seems to be a messenger that is not human, other uses of the word are possible, and it should be translated as ‘messenger’ and the context should communicate what the nature of the messenger is. The work of Michael S. Heiser is a great source of information on this topic. The messenger here may even be “The LORD’s messenger,” which refers to a specific concept of God showing up in ways that could not be ignored, such as the burning bush in Exodus 3:2.

^ee More literally, it says, “This voice didn’t happen because of me but rather because of you.”

^ff See the footnotes on John 9:34 and 35. Matthew might have added “into the outer darkness where there is weeping and grinding teeth in anguish!” See Matthew 8:12; 22:14; 25:30

^gg Literally, ‘all.’ It could also be translated as ‘everyone’ and also possibly ‘everything’ or ‘all things.’ The slight preference to ‘people’ is that it is a masculine form rather than neuter form, and it is typically translated as regarding people rather than things in that situation.

^hh Often used to represent the whole Hebrew Bible

ⁱⁱ Reference to Psalm 89:36. The Greek translation of the Hebrew shares several phrases. Greek of John 12:34—“Ho Christos menei eis ton aiona” (The Christ remains for the age). Greek of Psalm 89:36—“To sperma autou eis ton aiona menei” (his seed remains for the age). The one it refers to as ‘his’ is David in verse 35. See the whole psalm for context.

^jj Or, more literally, ‘hasn’t seen’ or ‘doesn’t know’

^kk Literally, ‘sons,’ but it’s an idiom, similar to the ‘Sons of Liberty’ from the American Revolution. It is meant to show how alike they are to the Light and that they will be seen as representing and reproducing the Light. The saying “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” comes to mind. It’s much like how Jesus is the Son (Heir) of David.

^ll Compare this paragraph with John 1:9 and the surrounding verses.

^mm Literally, ‘the logos of Isaiah’

ⁿⁿ Quotation of Isaiah 53:1

^oo Quotation of Isaiah 6:10

^pp The Greek says, ‘his,’ and isn’t explicit who it is referring to. Most likely, it refers to Jesus, but it could also refer to Isaiah himself or to the Father.

^qq Literally, “The logos which I have spoken.” See note on logos in John 1:1