FOOTNOTES:

^a Traditionally, ‘Glorify your Son, that the Son would glorify you’

^b Or ‘an official position’ or ‘authority’

^c Literally, ‘all flesh.’ This literally means the stuff bodies are made from and was often used to refer to being related (think “my flesh and blood” and a man and woman becoming ‘one flesh’). It is sometimes used to refer to the impulses toward immediate gratification of desires, i.e., the ego, or sometimes referring to mundane human priorities rather than divine or spiritual priorities.

^d Reference to Isaiah 8:18

^e Or possibly, “show me to be praiseworthy with the praiseworthiness which…”

^f Literally, “showed your name”

^g Greek logos. See note in John 1:1

^h Reference to Isaiah 8:18, Numbers 8:5-22

ⁱ Or ‘shown to be praiseworthy through them’

^j ‘to be’ is not literally in the Greek, but the Greek preposition pros carries both a sense of movement toward and a sense of being ‘with’ something or someone. In fact, depending on context it can be translated as ‘to/toward’ or ‘with.’ It has a sense of creating nearness.

^k Literally, ‘in your name’

^l Literally, ‘in your name’

^m Or ‘destroyed’ or ‘lost (to death)’

ⁿ The phrase is literally ‘the son of killing’ or ‘the son of destruction,’ which is an idiom for one appointed for destruction or one committed to destruction, or one appointed for being killed or committed to killing.

^o Literally, “I have given your logos.” See note in John 1:1.

^p The phrase ‘watch and protect’ is what is translated as ‘watch over’ in other places, but that English wording didn’t quite work with ‘from hardship’ after it, so ‘watch and protect’ is conveying the meaning of ‘watch over.’

^q Traditionally, ‘evil’

^r See Numbers 8:14-19. The verb ‘dedicate for sacred purposes’ is what has traditionally be translated as ‘make holy’ or ‘sanctify’ or ‘consecrate.’ These people seem to be analogous to the Levites with Jesus as the high priest.

^s Greek logos. See note in John 1:1

^t Greek logos. See note in John 1:1

^u Or ‘praise’

^v See Numbers 8:14-19

^w The word dikaios is traditionally translated as ‘righteous.’ Since that word has no meaning outside of religious context, another word would be more appropriate. The word ‘just’ is usually a fair or better translation. The word dikaios has to do with a state of existence that is in alignment with God’s vision of all things well for all people and all creation, a state of everything in creation being ‘very good.’ It is focused on how people live, whether they live with love for God and their neighbors, whether they follow the path laid out in in Torah of treating each other who they would want to be treated, caring for the poor and orphans and widows and immigrants, and if everyone has what they need to be well. Living in a way that is ‘just’ nearly captures that concept from a biblical perspective. The word ‘right’ would possibly be the best translation, but not in the meaning of ‘correct.’ In the meaning of “knowing the difference between right and wrong.” Right is defined as living with love for all, seeking the benefit of all, seeking wellbeing for all, as God teaches in scripture. ‘Right’ also has the benefit of having a mathematical usage, of a ‘right’ angle. Dikaios seems to have a sense of being ‘straight’ along the Path that God has set for the people, the Path taught in Torah, the course that leads to meeting the mark, as opposed to deviation (sin) being missing the mark or traveling off course, swerving from the Path.

^x Some versions translate the Greek kai in this sentence as ‘although’ or ‘even though’ or ‘even if.’ Other versions don’t translate it into English at all. Kai is most often used to mean ‘and’ or ‘also,’ but it can sometimes be used to indicate emphasis in specifying something in particular. That is the usage in this sentence. It is emphasizing the ‘whole world’ or ‘world’ is specifically in view contrast to what is said in the next part of the sentence. Adding English wording to make that specificity happen seems unnecessary because the word order is used to make it clear. Greek word order is much more fluid, so words used to mark that sort of meaning are more important.

^y 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 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 “make your identity, character, and waying of being you provide known…”