Joh 1:35-40 | NETfull | STEP | Again the next day John was standing there with two of his disciples.

John 1:35-40

35 Again the next day John ^{▼▼ John refers to John the Baptist.} was standing there ^{▼▼ “There” is not in the Greek text but is implied by current English idiom.} with two of his disciples. 36 Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ^{▼▼ This section (1:35–51) is joined to the preceding by the literary expedient of repeating the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus being the Lamb of God (1:36, cf. 1:29). This repeated testimony (1:36) no longer has revelatory value in itself, since it has been given before; its purpose, instead, is to institute a chain reaction which will bring John the Baptist’s disciples to Jesus and make them Jesus’ own disciples.} 37 When John’s ^{▼▼ Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} two disciples heard him say this, ^{▼▼ Grk “And the two disciples heard him speaking.”} they followed Jesus. ^{▼▼ The expression followed Jesus pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.} 38 Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?” ^{▼▼ Grk “What are you seeking?”} So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), ^{▼▼ This is a parenthetical note by the author.} “where are you staying?” 39 Jesus ^{▼▼ Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} answered, ^{▼▼ Grk “said to them.”} “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. Now it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ^{▼▼ Grk “about the tenth hour.”} ^{▼▼ About four o’clock in the afternoon. What system of time reckoning is the author using? B. F. Westcott thought John, unlike the synoptic gospels, was using Roman time, which started at midnight (St. John, 282). This would make the time 10 a.m., which would fit here. But later in the Gospel’s Passover account (John 19:42, where the sixth hour is on the “eve of the Passover”) it seems clear the author had to be using Jewish reckoning, which began at 6 a.m. This would make the time here in 1:39 to be 4 p.m. This may be significant: If the hour was late, Andrew and the unnamed disciple probably spent the night in the same house where Jesus was staying, and the events of 1:41–42 took place on the next day. The evidence for Westcott’s view, that the Gospel is using Roman time, is very slim. The Roman reckoning which started at midnight was only used by authorities as legal time (for contracts, official documents, etc.). Otherwise, the Romans too reckoned time from 6 a.m. (e.g., Roman sundials are marked VI, not XII, for noon).}

Andrew’s Declaration

40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who heard what John said ^{▼▼ Grk “who heard from John.”} and followed Jesus. ^{▼▼ Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.}