1
Τῇ δὲ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ ἔρχεται πρωῒ σκοτίας ἔτι οὔσης εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, καὶ βλέπει τὸν λίθον ἠρμένον ἐκ τοῦ μνημείου.
Now on the first day of the week Mary the Magdalene comes early, while it was still darkness, to the tomb, and sees the stone taken away from the tomb.
Darkness (σκοτία, skotia) is the word of 1:5 — the book ends its night where it began it.
first here Mary Μαρία Maria
first here Magdalene Μαγδαληνή Magdalēnē
pronoun it = the time of day
2
τρέχει οὖν καὶ ἔρχεται πρὸς Σίμωνα Πέτρον καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄλλον μαθητὴν ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἦραν τὸν κύριον ἐκ τοῦ μνημείου, καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ ἔθηκαν αὐτόν.
So she runs and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says to them, “They took the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they laid him.”
We do not know — Mary says “we”, though the text has named only her at the tomb.
first here Simon Σίμων Simōn
first here Peter Πέτρος Petros
first here Jesus Ἰησοῦς Iēsous
pronoun she = Mary the Magdalene
pronoun whom = the other disciple
pronoun them = Peter and the other disciple
pronoun They = unnamed
pronoun we = Mary and those with her
pronoun they = unnamed
pronoun him = the Lord
3
ἐξῆλθεν οὖν ὁ Πέτρος καὶ ὁ ἄλλος μαθητής, καὶ ἤρχοντο εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον.
So Peter and the other disciple went out, and they were coming to the tomb.
Two men set out; the race is told in the next verse.
pronoun they = Peter and the other disciple
4
ἔτρεχον δὲ οἱ δύο ὁμοῦ· καὶ ὁ ἄλλος μαθητὴς προέδραμεν τάχιον τοῦ Πέτρου καὶ ἦλθεν πρῶτος εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον,
And the two were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came first to the tomb;
The writer keeps the order — the other disciple arrives first, Peter enters first.
5
καὶ παρακύψας βλέπει κείμενα τὰ ὀθόνια, οὐ μέντοι εἰσῆλθεν.
and stooping to look in, he sees the linen strips lying there — yet he did not enter.
Sees here is βλέπω (blepō), the plainest of the three seeing-verbs used in verses 5, 6 and 8.
pronoun he = the other disciple
6
ἔρχεται οὖν ⸀καὶ Σίμων Πέτρος ἀκολουθῶν αὐτῷ, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον· καὶ θεωρεῖ τὰ ὀθόνια κείμενα,
Then Simon Peter also comes, following him, and entered the tomb; and he observes the linen strips lying there,
Observes is θεωρέω (theōreō) — to look at with attention. The writer changes the verb.
pronoun him = the other disciple
pronoun he = Simon Peter
7
καὶ τὸ σουδάριον, ὃ ἦν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, οὐ μετὰ τῶν ὀθονίων κείμενον ἀλλὰ χωρὶς ἐντετυλιγμένον εἰς ἕνα τόπον·
and the face-cloth, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen strips but folded up apart in one place.
Face-cloth (σουδάριον, soudarion) is a Latin word kept as sound; it returns at 11:44, where Lazarus came out still wearing his.
pronoun which = the face-cloth
pronoun his = Jesus
8
τότε οὖν εἰσῆλθεν καὶ ὁ ἄλλος μαθητὴς ὁ ἐλθὼν πρῶτος εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, καὶ εἶδεν καὶ ἐπίστευσεν·
So then the other disciple, who had come first to the tomb, also entered, and he saw and believed;
Saw here is ὁράω (horaō), the third verb — and it is the one joined to believing.
pronoun who = the other disciple
pronoun he = the other disciple
Why this rendering
John.20.8 Observation
Syntactic observation
Three verbs of seeing stand in the empty-tomb scene. Verses 1 and 5 have βλέπει, present — Mary sees the stone moved, the other disciple sees the cloths. Verse 6 has θεωρεῖ, present — Peter enters and observes the cloths and the face-cloth. And v.8 has εἶδεν, the aorist of ὁράω — the other disciple entered, and saw and believed. A glance (βλέπω), an inspection (θεωρέω), a seeing (ὁράω) — three words in sequence, and belief attaches only to the third. The distinction met at 9:39 and 16:16 here becomes threefold.
Rendering options · 2
saw and believed, with one verb throughout
Basis Renders all three as see.
Rejected One word for three removes the gradient. Mary and Peter also saw — why only the other disciple saw and believed cannot be learned from the translation alone. The original marks the difference by changing the verb.
Adopted glances at vv.1 and 5, observes at v.6, saw and believed at v.8
Basis Keeps the three apart so the gradient stands — at least θεωρέω at v.6 as observing.
Lost in translation
the three-step gradient of seeing Of our columns only YLT tries to keep the three apart (seeth, beholdeth, saw). The rest flatten them. Without the gradient it blurs why belief comes only at v.8.
Survives in · Young's Literal 1898 / this edition — 1 of the nine carry it (not this language)
9
οὐδέπω γὰρ ᾔδεισαν τὴν γραφὴν ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι.
for they did not yet know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
The believing of verse 8 comes before the understanding — the writer says so.
pronoun they = the disciples
pronoun he = Jesus
10
ἀπῆλθον οὖν πάλιν πρὸς ⸀αὑτοὺς οἱ μαθηταί.
So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Their own homes renders the neuter phrase of 1:11, 16:32 and 19:27.
pronoun their = the disciples
11
Μαρία δὲ εἱστήκει πρὸς ⸂τῷ μνημείῳ ἔξω κλαίουσα⸃. ὡς οὖν ἔκλαιεν παρέκυψεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον,
But Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping. So as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb,
Wailing (κλαίω, klaiō) is the verb of 11:31–33, not the tears of 11:35.
pronoun she = Mary
12
καὶ θεωρεῖ δύο ἀγγέλους ἐν λευκοῖς καθεζομένους, ἕνα πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ ἕνα πρὸς τοῖς ποσίν, ὅπου ἔκειτο τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ.
and she observes two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
One at the head and one at the feet — the writer gives the placing and says nothing of it.
pronoun she = Mary
13
καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῇ ἐκεῖνοι· Γύναι, τί κλαίεις; λέγει αὐτοῖς ὅτι Ἦραν τὸν κύριόν μου, καὶ οὐκ οἶδα ποῦ ἔθηκαν αὐτόν.
And they say to her, “Woman, why do you weep?” She says to them, “They took my Lord, and I do not know where they laid him.”
My Lord — she says now what she said as “the Lord” in verse 2.
pronoun they = the angels
pronoun her = Mary
pronoun you = Mary
pronoun She = Mary
pronoun them = the angels
pronoun They = unnamed
pronoun my = Mary
pronoun I = Mary
pronoun him = the Lord
14
⸀ταῦτα εἰποῦσα ἐστράφη εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, καὶ θεωρεῖ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἑστῶτα, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν.
Having said this she turned around, and she observes Jesus standing there — and she did not know that it was Jesus.
She turns around here, and turns again at verse 16 — the writer counts two turnings.
pronoun this = what the angels said
pronoun she = Mary
pronoun it = the one standing there
15
λέγει ⸀αὐτῇ Ἰησοῦς· Γύναι, τί κλαίεις; τίνα ζητεῖς; ἐκείνη δοκοῦσα ὅτι ὁ κηπουρός ἐστιν λέγει αὐτῷ· Κύριε, εἰ σὺ ἐβάστασας αὐτόν, εἰπέ μοι ποῦ ἔθηκας αὐτόν, κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἀρῶ.
Jesus says to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Whom do you seek?” She, supposing that he is the gardener, says to him, “Sir, if you carried him off, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him away.”
Gardener (κηπουρός, kēpouros) is built on the garden (κῆπος, kēpos) of 18:1 and 19:41. All nine locales of this edition carry the join.
pronoun her = Mary
pronoun She = Mary
pronoun he = the one standing there
pronoun him = Jesus, as Mary supposes — the one carried off
pronoun you = the one she takes for the gardener
pronoun me = Mary
pronoun I = Mary
16
λέγει ⸀αὐτῇ Ἰησοῦς· ⸀Μαριάμ. στραφεῖσα ἐκείνη λέγει αὐτῷ ⸀Ἑβραϊστί· Ραββουνι (ὃ λέγεται Διδάσκαλε).
Jesus says to her, “Mariam.” Turning, she says to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni” — which translated means Teacher.
Mariam is the Hebrew form of her name; the sound is kept. Rabbouni is kept as sound and translated in the same line — the writer will not let the sound go.
first here Mariam Μαριάμ Mariam
first here Hebrew Ἑβραϊστί Hebraisti
pronoun her = Mary
pronoun she = Mary
pronoun him = Jesus
17
λέγει ⸀αὐτῇ Ἰησοῦς· Μή μου ἅπτου, οὔπω γὰρ ἀναβέβηκα πρὸς τὸν ⸀πατέρα· πορεύου δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφούς μου καὶ εἰπὲ αὐτοῖς· Ἀναβαίνω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ πατέρα ὑμῶν καὶ θεόν μου καὶ θεὸν ὑμῶν.
Jesus says to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.”
Stop holding on to me — the Greek is a present imperative with a negative, which forbids what is already going on. My brothers is used of the disciples only here.
pronoun her = Mary
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun them = my brothers
pronoun your = the brothers
Why this rendering
John.20.17 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἅπτου is a present middle imperative (2PMD-S). In Greek, μή with a present imperative forbids the continuing of an action in progress — a prohibition against starting one takes the aorist subjunctive, μή with ἅψῃ. So it is not do not touch me but stop holding on to me: Mary is already holding him. The reason clause fits that reading — for I have not yet ascended suits the release of a grasp, not a ban on contact. The Latin Noli me tangere fixed the touch-not reading and became the title of centuries of paintings. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀αὐτῇ ⸀πατέρα·).
Rendering options · 2
Touch me not
Basis Follows the traditional rendering.
Rejected It reads as a ban on starting, against what the grammar marks. That Mary is already holding him disappears, and the tension with v.27, where Thomas is told to reach out and touch, grows larger than it is. 개역한글, KJV, NET, the Vulgate, Elberfelder and the Synodal stand here.
Adopted Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
Basis Renders the stopping of an action under way. NASB's Stop clinging, NIV's Do not hold on and the Japanese すがりつくのはよしなさい take this side.
Lost in translation
the aspect of the present prohibition Stopping and not-starting are distinguished by form in Greek; English has no marker for it and the translator must choose. The versions split down the middle, and neither side notes on the page that the other reading exists.
Survives in · New American Standard (1995)† / New International Version (2011)† / 新共同訳聖書 (1987)† / Young's Literal 1898 / this edition — 8 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
18
ἔρχεται ⸀Μαριὰμ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ ⸀ἀγγέλλουσα τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὅτι ⸀Ἑώρακα τὸν κύριον καὶ ταῦτα εἶπεν αὐτῇ.
Mary the Magdalene comes announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that he had said these things to her.
I have seen the Lord — the same words the disciples say to Thomas at verse 25.
pronoun I = Mary
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun her = Mary
19
Οὔσης οὖν ὀψίας τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τῇ ⸀μιᾷ σαββάτων, καὶ τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων ὅπου ἦσαν οἱ ⸀μαθηταὶ διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν.
So when it was evening on that day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle, and says to them, “Peace to you.”
Peace to you is the everyday greeting; the book takes it up after 14:27.
first here Jews Ἰουδαῖος Ioudaios
pronoun it = the time of day
pronoun them = the disciples
pronoun you = the disciples
20
καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ⸀ἔδειξεν τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν πλευρὰν ⸀αὐτοῖς. ἐχάρησαν οὖν οἱ μαθηταὶ ἰδόντες τὸν κύριον.
And having said this he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced, seeing the Lord.
Hands and side — the side is this book's own mark, from 19:34.
pronoun this = the greeting
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun them = the disciples
pronoun his = Jesus
21
εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ⸂ὁ Ἰησοῦς⸃ πάλιν· Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν· καθὼς ἀπέσταλκέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς.
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
The sending of the Son is made the measure of the sending of the disciples, as at 17:18.
pronoun them = the disciples
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun me = Jesus
pronoun I = Jesus
22
καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἐνεφύσησεν καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον·
And having said this, he breathed into them and says to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Breathed into renders ἐμφυσάω (emphysaō), used once in the four Gospels — the verb of Genesis 2:7 in the Greek Old Testament.
pronoun this = what he said
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun them = the disciples
Why this rendering
John.20.22 Hypothesis
Syntactic observation
ἐνεφύσησεν is ἐμφυσάω, occurring only here in the New Testament — ἐν, into, with φυσάω, to blow. It has long been noted as the very verb of Genesis 2:7 in the Septuagint, where God ἐνεφύσησεν the breath of life into the man's face. Since John opened with Ἐν ἀρχῇ (1:1), taking up Genesis 1:1, the verb of Genesis 2:7 at the close fits the frame. The object πνεῦμα ἅγιον is anarthrous.
Rendering options · 2
he breathed on them
Basis Renders naturally.
Rejected Breathed out has no direction. ἐμφυσάω is to breathe into — the verb by which life was breathed into the man of dust at Genesis 2:7. Without the direction the echo of creation blurs.
Adopted And having said this, he breathed into them and says to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Basis Keeps the direction of breathing into. The Genesis link is a matter of prior scholarship and is recorded as such.
Lost in translation
the identity with Genesis 2:7 The identity is visible only to a reader of the Greek Old Testament. No translation can show it from the New Testament text alone — a loss that cannot be carried without a note.
Survives in · Delitzsch Hebrew NT (1877) / Salkinson-Ginsburg 1885
23
ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας ⸀ἀφέωνται αὐτοῖς· ἄν τινων κρατῆτε κεκράτηνται.
If you forgive the sins of any, they stand forgiven them; if you hold the sins of any, they stand held.”
Stand forgiven and stand held are perfects — the state, not the act.
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun they = the sins
pronoun them = those whose sins they are
24
Θωμᾶς δὲ εἷς ἐκ τῶν δώδεκα, ὁ λεγόμενος Δίδυμος, οὐκ ἦν μετ’ αὐτῶν ὅτε ⸀ἦλθεν Ἰησοῦς.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
The Twin is the sense of his nickname; the writer keeps the name as it sounds.
first here Thomas Θωμᾶς Thōmas
first here Twin Δίδυμος Didymos
pronoun them = the disciples
25
ἔλεγον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ ἄλλοι μαθηταί· Ἑωράκαμεν τὸν κύριον. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ἐὰν μὴ ἴδω ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων καὶ βάλω τὸν δάκτυλόν μου εἰς τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων καὶ βάλω ⸂μου τὴν χεῖρα⸃ εἰς τὴν πλευρὰν αὐτοῦ, οὐ μὴ πιστεύσω.
So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Mark renders τύπος (typos), the dent a blow leaves.
pronoun him = Thomas
pronoun We = the other disciples
pronoun he = Thomas
pronoun them = the other disciples
pronoun I = Thomas
pronoun his = Jesus
pronoun my = Thomas
26
Καὶ μεθ’ ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ πάλιν ἦσαν ἔσω οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Θωμᾶς μετ’ αὐτῶν. ἔρχεται ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων, καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ εἶπεν· Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν.
And after eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus comes, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle and said, “Peace to you.”
Eight days counts inclusively — the next first day of the week.
pronoun his = Jesus
pronoun them = the disciples
pronoun you = the disciples
27
εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ· Φέρε τὸν δάκτυλόν σου ὧδε καὶ ἴδε τὰς χεῖράς μου, καὶ φέρε τὴν χεῖρά σου καὶ βάλε εἰς τὴν πλευράν μου, καὶ μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός.
Then he says to Thomas, “Bring your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side; and do not become unbelieving, but believing.”
The offer answers verse 25 word for word — and the text never says Thomas touched.
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun your = Thomas
pronoun my = Jesus
pronoun it = your hand
28
⸀ἀπεκρίθη Θωμᾶς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου.
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God.”
My Lord and my God — the book's last confession, and it takes up 1:1.
pronoun him = Jesus
pronoun My = Thomas
pronoun my = Thomas
Why this rendering
John.20.28 Observation
Syntactic observation
Thomas's confession carries the article — ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου. 1:1c had θεός without the article (θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος, the qualitative slot). The opening and the close of the Gospel face each other across one word, anarthrous and articular. This is the far end of the phenomenon recorded in chapter 1 — the article contrast that translation loses. And the confession has no verb: nominative with the article rather than vocative, so whether it is address or statement is not settled by the form. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἀπεκρίθη).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted My Lord and my God
Basis Renders it as a confession.
My Lord — my God!
Basis Renders it as address.
Rejected The form is nominative, so statement sits closer to the grammar, but in Korean and English either rendering reads much the same. The heart of this unit is not the rendering but the article — which no translation can mark.
Lost in translation
the article bookend with 1:1c The Gospel opens with anarthrous θεός (1:1c) and closes with articular ὁ θεός (20:28) — from the qualitative statement of what the Word was to the confession that points: my God, the God. One article marks the distance. English cannot carry it here — my God takes no article beside the possessive — so the bookend is visible in no translation. The loss recorded in chapter 1 closes here.
Survives in · this edition — 1 of the nine carry it (not this language)
29
λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ὅτι ἑώρακάς με πεπίστευκας; μακάριοι οἱ μὴ ἰδόντες καὶ πιστεύσαντες.
Jesus says to him, “Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are those not seeing and believing.”
Have you believed? may be read as a question or as a statement — Greek does not settle it.
pronoun him = Thomas
pronoun you = Thomas
pronoun me = Jesus
30
Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλα σημεῖα ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐνώπιον τῶν ⸀μαθητῶν, ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ·
Now Jesus also did many other signs before the disciples, which are not written in this book;
Many other signs — the book says plainly that it is a selection.
pronoun which = the many other signs
31
ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται ἵνα ⸀πιστεύητε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἵνα πιστεύοντες ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.
but these things stand written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that believing you may have life in his name.
So that you may believe — the manuscripts differ over whether the verb is “come to believe” or “go on believing”, and the difference decides who the book is for.
first here Christ Χριστός Christos
pronoun these things = what is written in this book
pronoun you = the reader
pronoun his = Jesus
Why this rendering
John.20.31 Observation
Syntactic observation
SBLGNT marks a variant (⸀) at πιστεύητε. The purpose statement of the whole book stands on that variant. πιστεύητε is present subjunctive; the alternative is the aorist πιστεύσητε. Read as present it leans toward that you may go on believing — a book for believers; as aorist, that you may come to believe — a book for those who do not yet. For whom John was written hangs on one tense, and the manuscripts divide. γέγραπται is perfect — it stands written. ζωή is the word that began at 1:4, and this verse closes the book (chapter 21 being discussed as an epilogue). SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀πιστεύητε).
Rendering options · 2
that you may believe
Basis Renders without marking the tense.
Rejected Korean and English believe does not mark aspect, so virtually every version renders it this way. As a result no translation shows that the manuscripts divide here and the character of the book hangs on it. We use the same sentence but display the fact in the variant entry.
Adopted But these things stand written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that believing you may have life in his name.
Basis The text keeps the customary rendering; the variant entry carries the tense question. The perfect γέγραπται is kept as stands written.
Lost in translation
the book's character hanging on a tense Whether the book is for those who believe or to bring belief hangs on one subjunctive aspect, which English cannot mark — and the manuscripts divide besides. A double invisibility: translation cannot show it, and the original is not single.
Survives in · this edition — 1 of the nine carry it (not this language)