1
Μὴ ταρασσέσθω ὑμῶν ἡ καρδία· πιστεύετε εἰς τὸν θεόν, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύετε.
“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, and believe in me.
Believe can be read as a statement or as a command, both times. Greek does not settle it.
pronoun your = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
2
ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρός μου μοναὶ πολλαί εἰσιν· εἰ δὲ μή, εἶπον ἂν ὑμῖν ⸀ὅτι πορεύομαι ἑτοιμάσαι τόπον ὑμῖν·
In my Father's house are many remaining-places; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
Remaining-places (μοναί, monai) is the noun of the verb remain (μένω, menō) that runs through chapter 15. English must spell the shared root out — recorded as a loss.
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun it = the case that there are many remaining-places
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
Why this rendering
John.14.2 Hypothesis
Syntactic observation
μοναί is the plural of μονή. μονή is the noun of μένω — the verb GLOSSARY fixed in chapter 1 as remain — and it names a place of remaining. μονή occurs twice in John, at 14:2 and 14:23. And at 14:23 the direction reverses: the Father and the Son come and make their μονή with him. So a person remaining in God's house and God remaining with a person hang on one word. μένω itself stands at 14:10, 17 and 25 in this same chapter, so the whole chapter rests on the root. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ὅτι).
Rendering options · 2
In my Father's house are many mansions
Basis Uses the settled rendering.
Rejected Korean 거할 곳 does not share a stem with 머물다, the rendering of μένω, so it does not join 14:10, 17, 23 and 25. English mansions comes from the Vulgate's mansiones, itself from maneo, to remain, so the root once matched; the English word then drifted to mean a large house and the link broke — a rendering whose sense changed while it was in use.
Adopted In my Father's house are many remaining-places; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
Basis Since μένω is fixed as remain, its noun keeps the stem. The Vulgate's mansiones shares a root with maneo, so in Latin the link stands as it is.
Lost in translation
the μένω / μονή root Verb and noun share a stem. Only Latin, manere and mansio, carries it as it is. English remain and mansion once matched, until mansion changed sense and the pair fell apart; remain and remaining-place hold the stem only as a phrase.
Survives in · Vulgata Clementina / this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
3
καὶ ἐὰν πορευθῶ ⸀καὶ ἑτοιμάσω ⸂τόπον ὑμῖν⸃, πάλιν ἔρχομαι καὶ παραλήμψομαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἦτε.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.
I am coming stands in the present — not “I will come”.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun myself = Jesus
4
καὶ ὅπου ἐγὼ ὑπάγω οἴδατε ⸂τὴν ὁδόν⸃.
And where I am going you know the way.”
Whether the line reads “you know the way” or “you know where I go, and the way” is a place the manuscripts differ.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
5
λέγει αὐτῷ Θωμᾶς· Κύριε, οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ ὑπάγεις· ⸀πῶς ⸂δυνάμεθα τὴν ὁδὸν εἰδέναι⸃;
Thomas says to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Thomas asks the question the next verse answers.
first here Thomas Θωμᾶς Thōmas
pronoun him = Jesus
pronoun we = the disciples
pronoun you = Jesus
6
λέγει αὐτῷ ⸀ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή· οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ δι’ ἐμοῦ.
Jesus says to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.
Way (ὁδός, hodos) has nothing to do with word (λόγος, logos) in Greek, and this edition keeps them apart.
first here Jesus Ἰησοῦς Iēsous
pronoun him = Thomas
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun me = Jesus
Why this rendering
John.14.6 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ἐγώ εἰμι takes three articular predicates — ἡ ὁδός, ἡ ἀλήθεια, ἡ ζωή. The earlier places had one (6:35, 8:12, 10:11) or two (11:25); three is the most. ὁδός stands three times in this chapter: at v.4 Jesus says they know the way, at v.5 Thomas answers how can we know the way, and at v.6 Jesus answers, I am the way. The answer is given in the questioner's own word. ἀλήθεια is the word rendered truth, also at 8:32 and 14:17. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ὁ).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted I am the way, and the truth, and the life
Basis Uses the settled rendering.
I am the way, the truth, the life — each with its article
Basis Renders the articles with a demonstrative.
Rejected Korean has no article, and a demonstrative reads as a pointer and makes the sentence awkward. The presence of the article is a loss recorded since 1:1c, and it is recorded here as well.
Lost in translation
the article on the predicates All three carry the article, so each is not one among many but the one. English has the definite article and sets it here, so this is one of the places where nothing is lost.
Survives in · Young's Literal 1898 / King James 1769 / New American Standard (1995)† / English Standard Version† / New English Translation† / this edition — 5 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
7
εἰ ⸀ἐγνώκειτέ με, καὶ τὸν πατέρα μου ⸂ἂν ᾔδειτε⸃· ⸀ἀπ’ ἄρτι γινώσκετε αὐτὸν καὶ ἑωράκατε ⸀αὐτόν.
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now you know him and have seen him.”
Whether the first half is a rebuke or a promise turns on a reading the manuscripts differ over.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun him = the Father
8
Λέγει αὐτῷ Φίλιππος· Κύριε, δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ἀρκεῖ ἡμῖν.
Philip says to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
It is enough for us — Philip asks for a showing, not for words.
first here Philippi Φίλιππος Philippos
pronoun him = Jesus
pronoun us = the disciples
9
λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ⸂Τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ⸃ μεθ’ ὑμῶν εἰμι καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωκάς με, Φίλιππε; ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ ἑώρακεν τὸν πατέρα· ⸀πῶς σὺ λέγεις· Δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν πατέρα;
Jesus says to him, “So long a time I am with you, and you have not known me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Philip is named — the answer is put to him by name.
pronoun him = Philip
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
10
οὐ πιστεύεις ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν; τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἐγὼ ⸀λέγω ὑμῖν ἀπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ λαλῶ, ὁ δὲ ⸀πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοὶ ⸀μένων ποιεῖ τὰ ἔργα ⸀αὐτοῦ.
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from myself; the Father remaining in me does his works.
Remaining is the same verb as the noun in verse 2.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun myself = Jesus
pronoun his = the Father
11
πιστεύετέ μοι ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί· εἰ δὲ μή, διὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτὰ ⸀πιστεύετε.
Believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father in me; but if not, believe on account of the works themselves.
If the words are not believed, the works are offered instead — as at 10:38.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
12
ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ τὰ ἔργα ἃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ κἀκεῖνος ποιήσει, καὶ μείζονα τούτων ποιήσει, ὅτι ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν ⸀πατέρα πορεύομαι·
Amen, amen, I say to you, the one believing in me will also do the works that I do, and greater than these he will do, because I am going to the Father.
Greater than these is said of the works, not of the one who does them.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun he = the one believing in me
pronoun these = the works that I do
13
καὶ ὅ τι ἂν αἰτήσητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου τοῦτο ποιήσω, ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τῷ υἱῷ·
And whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
In my name runs through verses 13, 14 and 26.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun this = whatever you ask
pronoun I = Jesus
14
ἐάν τι αἰτήσητέ ⸀με ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου ⸀ἐγὼ ποιήσω.
If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Whether me stands in this line is a place the manuscripts differ.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun it = what you ask
15
Ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτέ με, τὰς ἐντολὰς τὰς ἐμὰς ⸀τηρήσετε·
If you love me, you will keep my commandments;
You will keep can also be read as a command — the manuscripts differ.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
16
κἀγὼ ἐρωτήσω τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἄλλον παράκλητον δώσει ὑμῖν ἵνα ⸀ᾖ μεθ’ ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν ⸀αἰῶνα,
and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, to be with you to the age —
Paraclete (παράκλητος, paraklētos) is one called alongside — advocate, helper and comforter all fall short of it, so this edition keeps the sound. Another (ἄλλος, allos) means another of the same kind.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun he = the Father
pronoun you = the disciples
Why this rendering
John.14.16 Hypothesis
Syntactic observation
παράκλητος is παρά, beside, joined to καλέω, to call — one called to one's side. It occurs four times in John (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) and elsewhere in the New Testament only at 1 John 2:1. ἄλλον, another, implies that the first is Jesus himself. Our columns split six ways — 보혜사, Comforter, Helper, Advocate, Sachwalter, Утешитель, 弁護者. And the Vulgate does not translate it at all: Paraclitum, transliterated. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ᾖ ⸀αἰῶνα,).
Rendering options · 2
Comforter / Helper / Advocate
Basis Chooses one of the senses in the compound.
Rejected Any choice discards the others, and because the versions choose differently the reader receives six different impressions of one Greek word. A comforter, an advocate and a helper are not one figure. GLOSSARY settled at chapter 1 to preserve ἀμήν by transliteration, and the same reason stands here.
Adopted And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, to be with you to the age,
Basis Preserve it by transliteration and unpack the sense in the analysis. The Vulgate already does this with Paraclitum. It is the treatment given to ἀμήν: where rendering forces a single choice, transliteration loses least.
Lost in translation
that it splits six ways For one word our columns give 보혜사, Comforter, Helper, Advocate, Sachwalter, Утешитель and 弁護者. Each reader sees only the one his version chose. The split is visible only with the versions side by side — which is what the reader is for.
Survives in · Vulgata Clementina
17
τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὃ ὁ κόσμος οὐ δύναται λαβεῖν, ὅτι οὐ θεωρεῖ αὐτὸ οὐδὲ ⸀γινώσκει· ⸀ὑμεῖς γινώσκετε αὐτό, ὅτι παρ’ ὑμῖν μένει καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν ⸀ἔσται.
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he remains beside you and will be in you.
Remains beside you and will be in you — the manuscripts differ over the tense of the second verb.
pronoun him = the Spirit of truth
pronoun it = the world
pronoun You = the disciples
pronoun he = the Spirit of truth
pronoun you = the disciples
18
Οὐκ ἀφήσω ὑμᾶς ὀρφανούς, ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς.
I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.
Orphaned (ὀρφανός, orphanos) is used once in this book.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
19
ἔτι μικρὸν καὶ ὁ κόσμος με οὐκέτι θεωρεῖ, ὑμεῖς δὲ θεωρεῖτέ με, ὅτι ἐγὼ ζῶ καὶ ὑμεῖς ⸀ζήσετε.
Yet a little while and the world no longer sees me, but you see me; because I live, you also will live.
The world's seeing and the disciples' seeing are set against each other in one line.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun I = Jesus
20
ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ⸂γνώσεσθε ὑμεῖς⸃ ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί μου καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν.
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
In that day — the day is not named.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun me = Jesus
21
ὁ ἔχων τὰς ἐντολάς μου καὶ τηρῶν αὐτὰς ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ ἀγαπῶν με· ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν με ἀγαπηθήσεται ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου, κἀγὼ ἀγαπήσω αὐτὸν καὶ ἐμφανίσω αὐτῷ ἐμαυτόν.
The one having my commandments and keeping them, that is the one who loves me; and the one loving me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will show myself to him.”
Show myself renders ἐμφανίζω (emphanizō), to make plain to sight.
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun them = my commandments
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun him = the one loving me
pronoun myself = Jesus
22
λέγει αὐτῷ Ἰούδας, οὐχ ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης· Κύριε, ⸀τί γέγονεν ὅτι ἡμῖν μέλλεις ἐμφανίζειν σεαυτὸν καὶ οὐχὶ τῷ κόσμῳ;
Judas — not the Iscariot — says to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
The writer marks off which Judas — the other one has just gone out.
first here Judas Ἰούδας Ioudas
first here Iscariot Ἰσκαριώτης Iskariōtēs
pronoun him = Jesus
pronoun you = Jesus
pronoun yourself = Jesus
pronoun us = the disciples
23
ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτόν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ’ αὐτῷ ⸀ποιησόμεθα.
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our remaining-place with him.
Remaining-place is the noun of verse 2 again, and now it is made with the one who loves.
pronoun him = the one who loves me — “said to him” is Judas
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun he = the one who loves me
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun we = the Father and Jesus
pronoun our = the Father and Jesus
Why this rendering
John.14.23 Observation
Syntactic observation
μονήν returns after 14:2, and the direction reverses. At 14:2 there are many places for people to remain in the Father's house; here the Father and the Son come and make their μονή with a person. The one who remains and the one remained with change places. ἐλευσόμεθα and ποιησόμεθα are both first person plural — the Father and the Son are the subject. τηρέω occurs four times in the chapter (vv.15, 21, 23, 24), and ἀγαπάω repeatedly, so loving and keeping interlock. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ποιησόμεθα.).
Rendering options · 2
and make our home with him
Basis Uses a natural rendering.
Rejected Having rendered 14:2 with a remaining-place, the same word is needed here for the reversal to show. A different word makes the two places unrelated and dissolves the interlocking of a person remaining in God and God remaining with a person.
Adopted Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our remaining-place with him.”
Basis Keeps the word of 14:2 so that the reversal shows.
Lost in translation
the interlocking of the two μονή 14:2 and 14:23 are one word with the direction reversed. Different renderings dissolve the symmetry. The Vulgate uses mansiones and mansionem, the same word.
Survives in · Vulgata Clementina / New American Standard (1995)† / English Standard Version† / New English Translation† / this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
24
ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν με τοὺς λόγους μου οὐ τηρεῖ· καὶ ὁ λόγος ὃν ἀκούετε οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸς ἀλλὰ τοῦ πέμψαντός με πατρός.
The one not loving me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.
Words here is plural, where verse 23 had one word.
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
25
Ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν παρ’ ὑμῖν μένων·
These things I have spoken to you while remaining beside you.
While remaining beside you — the verb again, now of Jesus himself.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
26
ὁ δὲ παράκλητος, τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὃ πέμψει ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐκεῖνος ὑμᾶς διδάξει πάντα καὶ ὑπομνήσει ὑμᾶς πάντα ἃ εἶπον ⸀ὑμῖν.
But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and remind you of all that I said to you.
Remind joins with 2:22 and 12:16, where the disciples remembered afterwards.
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun he = the Paraclete
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun I = Jesus
27
εἰρήνην ἀφίημι ὑμῖν, εἰρήνην τὴν ἐμὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν· οὐ καθὼς ὁ κόσμος δίδωσιν ἐγὼ δίδωμι ὑμῖν. μὴ ταρασσέσθω ὑμῶν ἡ καρδία μηδὲ δειλιάτω.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.
Peace renders εἰρήνη (eirēnē), which in a greeting is simply “peace to you” — the line takes an everyday parting word and weighs it.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun it = your heart
Why this rendering
John.14.27 Observation
Syntactic observation
ταρασσέσθω is the present passive imperative of ταράσσω, and with it the series closes — 11:33 active with a reflexive, he troubled himself; 12:27 perfect passive, he stands troubled; 13:21 aorist passive, he was troubled; and at 14:1 and 14:27 the same verb is handed to the disciples as a command. After being troubled three times, he tells them not to be. εἰρήνην stands twice in the verse: the first anarthrous, the second with the article in τὴν ἐμήν.
Rendering options · 2
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid
Basis Renders it as a natural command.
Rejected Anxious is a different word from the one used at 11:33, 12:27 and 13:21. The series then disappears — that he was so three times over and now tells them not to be. The weight of the command comes from those three places.
Adopted Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.
Basis Keeps one word with the four earlier places so that the closing of the series is visible.
Lost in translation
the series of five 11:33, 12:27, 13:21, 14:1 and 14:27 are five places of one verb in four voices. Versions that vary the word erase the run entirely. No version marks the series on the page, so only in a consistent version can a reader find it.
Survives in · Young's Literal 1898 / King James 1769 / New American Standard (1995)† / English Standard Version† / Vulgata Clementina / Elberfelder 1871 / this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
28
ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐγὼ εἶπον ὑμῖν· Ὑπάγω καὶ ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. εἰ ἠγαπᾶτέ με ἐχάρητε ἄν, ⸀ὅτι πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ὅτι ὁ ⸀πατὴρ μείζων μού ἐστιν.
You heard that I said to you, ‘I am going and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me you would have rejoiced that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
Greater than I is set down plainly, and the book does not soften it.
pronoun You = the disciples
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
29
καὶ νῦν εἴρηκα ὑμῖν πρὶν γενέσθαι, ἵνα ὅταν γένηται πιστεύσητε.
And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.
The reason given is the same as at 13:19.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun it = what is about to happen
30
οὐκέτι πολλὰ λαλήσω μεθ’ ὑμῶν, ἔρχεται γὰρ ὁ τοῦ κόσμου ἄρχων· καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ οὐκ ἔχει οὐδέν,
I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming; and in me he has nothing.
In me he has nothing — a legal turn: no claim, no hold.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun he = the ruler of the world
31
ἀλλ’ ἵνα γνῷ ὁ κόσμος ὅτι ἀγαπῶ τὸν πατέρα, καὶ καθὼς ⸀ἐνετείλατο μοι ὁ πατὴρ οὕτως ποιῶ. Ἐγείρεσθε, ἄγωμεν ἐντεῦθεν.
But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, so I do. Rise, let us go from here.”
Rise, let us go from here — and the speaking runs on for three more chapters. The text is left as it stands.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun us = Jesus and the disciples