The Free Grace Study Bible: John 8:59

I am pleased to share the latest installment of my ongoing work on The Free Grace Study Bible. Today's post features my translation of John 8:56, paired with original commentary and translation notes designed to clarify the meaning of the Greek text. I have provided the Greek-to-English rendering first, followed by the supporting notes that explain my translation choices.

John 8:59 

Greek Textus Receptus 

ἦραν οὖν λίθους ἵνα βάλωσιν ἐπ’ αὐτόν· Ἰησοῦς δὲ ἐκρύβη, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ, διελθὼν διὰ μέσου αὐτῶν· καὶ παρῆγεν οὕτως. 

Free Grace Translation 

Therefore they picked up stones that they might throw at Him; but Jesus was concealed and went out from the temple, passing between the midst of them; and was going away in this manner. 

Bible Translation Notes 

Grk. ἐκρύβη. "Second aorist passive indicative of kruptō. He was hidden. No Docetic vanishing, but quietly and boldly Jesus went out of the temple. His hour had not yet come." (A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 6 Vols., Vol V, p. 159.) Lenski likewise renders the verb ἐκρύβη as a passive in his translation: "but Jesus was hidden and went out of the Temple." (R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel, p. 671, bold his.) Lenski goes on to explain further, saying: "Parts of the Temple were in the process of rebuilding during these and many following years, so that pieces of stone could be obtained for the deadly work. Yet a brief delay ensued as some of the Jews ran to the spot where the builders were at work and 'took up' the stones. During this interval, we may take it, Jesus 'was hidden.' The form ἐκρύβη, a second aorist passive, might be read in a middle sense, 'hid himself,' since the Koine increased the number of these passive forms and used them in preference to the middle (Robertson, 349). But here the passive sense is entirely in place (Robertson, 807): Jesus 'was hidden' from the Jews so that they could not reach him. We may suppose that he moved aside, and that his friends massed around him, and thus 'he went out of the Temple.' The addition found in later texts: 'going through the midst of them, and so passed by' (A. V.), must be cancelled as a combination that was added from Luke 4:30 and John 9:1. [Editor's Note: This KJV addition is not in the oldest Greek MSS; it was added at a later date.] This addition is also untrue in fact. For nothing miraculous took place in the escape of Jesus. 'He was hidden' and 'he went out' are two facts placed side by side, nor can we follow B.-D. 471, 3 in the suggestion that the second verb is used in place of the participle: 'by going out he was hidden.'" (R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel, p. 672, brackets added.) Alford similarly states: "There does not appear to be any miraculous escape intended here, although certainly the assumption of one is natural under the circumstances. Jesus was probably surrounded by His disciples, and might thus hide himself (see ch. 12.36), and go out of the temple." (Henry Alford, The Greek Testament [Boston: 1874], 4 Vols., Vol. I, p. 802, emphasis his. Note: The Roman numerals in the original have been updated to the current format.) Meyer writes: "He hid Himself (probably in the crowd), and went out (whilst thus hidden). The word ἐκρύβη explains how He was able to go out, and therefore . . . precludes the notion of anything miraculous . . . a notion which gave rise to the addition in the Textus Receptus (see the critical observations), which Ewald defends. Bauer, who likewise defends the Textus Receptus (p. 384 ff.), finds here also a docetic disappearance (comp. on 7.10 f.); if, however, such was John's meaning, he selected the most unsuitable possible terms to express it in writing ἐκρύβη (comp. on the contrary, Luke 24.31: ἄφαντος ἐγένετο ἀπʼ αὐτῶν) and ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ. The 'providential protection of God' (Tholuck) is a matter of course, but is not expressed." (Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Hand-Book to the Gospel of John, pp. 293-294, emphasis his.) The NT scholar Marcus Dods writes: "Ἰησοῦς δὲ ἐκρύβη καὶ ἐξῆλθεν. 'But Jesus went out unperceived'; on this usage vide [see] Winer, and cf. Thayer. Why it should be supposed that there is anything miraculous or doketic in this (Holtzmann and others) does not appear. Many in the crowd would favour the escape of Jesus. The remaining words of the chapter are omitted by recent editors." (Marcus Dods, The Expositor's Greek Testament, ed. by W. R. Nicoll, 5 Vols., Vol. I, p. 782.) Lange similarly states: "A vanishing out of sight (ἄφαντος γινεσθαι ['to become invisible']), as in Luke 24.31 (Augustine, Luthardt [Wordsworth]), is hardly to be thought of: to become invisible is not a withdrawal, a hiding, and Jesus was not yet transfigured. He hid Himself while disappearing among the multitude of the people, especially His adherents. [...] The conjecture of a docetic view (Hilgenfeld, Baur) is arbitrarily put in." (John Peter Lange, The Gospel According to John, in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical [New York: 1872], 25 Vols., NT Vol. 3, p. 299, brackets added.) It should be noted, however, that Bengel (and other Bible commentators) do see a miraculous disappearance of Jesus, comparable to Jeremiah's in the Old Testament (cf. Jer. 36:26). 

In my Free Grace Translation of John 8:59, I chose to simply translate the aorist passive ἐκρύβη as "he was hidden," since this is the simplest and most direct translation of the Greek, and furthermore it makes perfect sense as a passive. As Cooper's "Golden Rule of Bible Interpretation" (which I have repurposed and applied also to Bible translation) states: "When the plain sense of Scripture makes perfect sense, seek no other sense." The NT scholar A. T. Robertson affirms that "he was hidden" (i.e. the passive rendering of ἐκρύβη) is indeed the meaning of the Greek. Commenting on John 8:59 and the Greek word ἐκρύβη, Robertson writes: "Second aorist passive indicative of kruptō. He was hidden." (Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 6 Vols., Vol. V, p. 159.) Robertson furthermore affirms that ἐκρύβη in John 8:59 is not reflexive in meaning, but rather "is passive, as Moulton [Prol. p. 156] points out." (Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, 4th Edition, p. 807.) The statement by Moulton is from his Prolegomena, when he says: "ἐκρύβη is not middle in form, nor does the verb show any distinct middle in NT." (James Hope Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Vol. 1, p. 156.) In context, Moulton is pointing out that in the NT, the Greek middle voice is generally not reflexive. Moulton cites the verb ἐκρύβη in John 8:59 as an example of this: i.e. it is not middle in form, nor does it have a reflexive meaning. It should be noted, however, that in the 3rd Edition of Bauer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, it says concerning the meaning of the Greek verb κρύπτω ('to hide'): "This is also the place for the passive κρυβῆναι used in an active sense hide ... Ἰησοῦς ἐκρύβη J 8:59." (Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition, p. 571.) But the 1st edition of Bauer's Lexicon seems to define ἐκρύβη in John 8:59 as reflexive. (No consensus!?) But consistent with A. T. Robertson's analysis of ἐκρύβη as passive in meaning, several respected English Bible translations render it as: either "Jesus was hidden" (Jn. 8:59 CSB, HCSB, NLT), or "Jesus was hid" (Jn. 8:59, Smith's Literal Translation). Köstenberger provides a fair analysis (although he clearly favors interpreting ἐκρύβη as active) when he writes: "The passive verb ἐκρύβη (ekrybē) in 8:59 and 12:36 is customarily translated in English Bibles as reflexive/middle ('hid himself'; KJV; NKJV; NIV; TNIV; ISV; ESV; NLT; NET; NRSV; NASB) or even actively ('hid'; NAB; CEV). The sole exception is the HCSB [Editor's Note: The HCSB is not 'The sole exception'], which renders the expression as a genuine passive. See also Morris (1995: 421), who contends that the NT usage is to take the form as a real passive and consequently argues that the passive form may imply the agency of God the Father in concealing Jesus. This is possible; ekrybē does function as a genuine passive in Luke 19:42 and Heb. 11:23 [!], the only other two NT instances (besides here and in John 12:36) of the aorist passive indicative form of kryptō. But cf. BDAG 571, which treats both references as instances of the passive used in an active sense ('to hide')." (Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, p. 274, see footnote 109.) It should be noted, however, that the first English edition of Bauer's Lexicon (BAG, 1957) treats ἐκρύβη in John 8:59 as reflexive, not strictly active. See Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1st English edition), p. 455, s.v. κρύπτω, definition 1.c. = "hide or conceal oneself (Gen 3:8, 10; Judg 9:5; 1 Kg 13:6; 14:11; Job 24:4; 29:8) Ἰησοῦς ἐκρύβη J 8:59; ἐκρύβη ἀπ' αὐτῶν 12:36." But in reference to John 12:36, the verb ἐκρύβη is translated as a passive in the NKJV, NLT, and most (if not all) the "literal" English Bible translations. This highlights the fact that there is some debate (i.e. no real consensus) on how exactly to translate the Greek ἐκρύβη in John's Gospel; some NT scholars translate it as a reflexive verb, while others translate it as a passive. For example, Leon Morris states: "'Hid himself' is really a passive, 'was hidden.' John is perhaps hinting that God protected his Son." (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, p. 421.) Morris goes on to say, "The aorist passive έκρύβη is used in the sense of the middle in the LXX and most interpreters understand it so here. But the New Testament usage is rather to take the form as passive." (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, p. 421. See footnote 122.) F. F. Bruce likewise understands the verb ἐκρύβη in John 8:59 as passive, although he seems to allow for the reflexive sense. (F. F. Bruce, The Gospel and Epistles of John, p. 206.) Ridderbos seems to favor the reflexive interpretation. (See Herman N. Ridderbos, The Gospel of John, p. 324, footnote 225.) A. T. Robertson seems to disagree that ἐκρύβη in John 8:59 is reflexive in meaning, noting: "The example cited by Winer from Jo. 8:59 (cf. also 12:36), ἐκρύβη, is passive, as Moulton points out." (Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, 4th Edition, p. 807.) Murray J. Harris simply presents the three options (passive, reflexive, active) without commenting further on it. (See Murray J. Harris, John, EGGNT, p. 183.) Suffice it to say that all three interpretations have merit and scholarly support. Personally, I would rather side with A. T. Robertson, Leon Morris, and R. C. H. Lenski (not to mention F. F. Bruce). Besides, the very same Greek word (ἐκρύβη) functions as a genuine passive in John 12:36. Commenting on the phrase εκρυβη απ' αυτων ("he was hidden from them") in John 12:36, A. T. Robertson affirms: "ekrubē ap' autōn. Second aorist passive indicative of kruptō, late form (in LXX) for old ekruphē, 'was hidden from them,' as in John 8:59." (Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 6 Vols., Vol. V, p. 231.) The fact that έκρύβη in John 12:36 is passive, not only in form but also in meaning, is furthermore affirmed by the more "literal" English Bible translations (e.g., see Jn. 12:36 Young's Literal Translation; Literal Standard Version; Berean Literal Bible, etc.), along with some others (e.g. see Jn. 12:36 NKJV; NLT, etc.). So there is not only scholarly support, but also Johannine support, for translating έκρύβη as a passive in John 8:59. 

Grk. διά μέσου. On this phrase, Thayer writes: "the neuter τό μέσον or (without the article in adverb. phrases, as διά μέσου, ...) μέσον is used as a substantive; ... the midst: ... διά μέσου ... αὐτῶν, through the midst of them, Lk. 4.30; Jn. 8.59 [Rec.]; ... others take the phrase here in the sense of between." (Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 401, s.v. μέσος, definition 2, brackets and italics his, ellipsis added. Note: The Roman numerals in the original have been updated to the current format.) It should be noted, however, that the NT scholar A. T. Robertson gives a more precise rendering. Under the heading "'Passing Between' or 'Through,'" Robertson says in regards to διά that "through" is not the original meaning of the word, but rather the original meaning is "passing between." Concerning this, Robertson writes: "The idea of interval between [another use of διά] leads naturally to that of passing between two objects or parts of objects. 'Through' is thus not the original meaning of διά, but is a very common one. The case [of the object of the preposition] is usually genitive [...] Some MSS. in Jo. 8:59 read also διὰ μέσου." (Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, 4th Edition, p. 581, brackets added.) In light of these statements by A. T. Robertson, in my Free Grace Translation of John 8:59 I opted to translate διά μέσου as "in between" rather than "through" because the latter rendering makes it sound as if Jesus was a ghost or phantom who passed right "through" the bodies of his would-be attackers! While this is indeed possible, New Testament scholars (e.g., Alford, Dods, Meyer, Robertson, etc.) generally agree that this is likely not the meaning of διά μέσου in John 8:59. The meaning, rather, is that Jesus passed "in between" his attackers (as they had scattered to gather rocks with which to stone Him), and thus Jesus escaped out of the Temple. Thus, in light of the original meaning of διά and also for the sake of clarity, I have translated διά μέσου in John 8:59 as "passing between." 

Grk. διελθὼν διὰ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ παρῆγεν οὕτως. This last phrase is added in the newer Greek NT manuscripts (i.e. the Byzantine Majority Text and the Textus Receptus add this phrase); it does not appear in the oldest Greek NT MSS. Proponents of the "KJV-only" teaching impose an anachronistic methodology onto the historical facts by making the 1611 English King James Version the standard of supposed perfection, when in reality that is simply an English translation of the relatively late Greek NT MSS, which added this phrase! (KJV-only advocates love to tout the fact that their 1611 English Bible translation is older than most of the relatively newer English Bible translations. But what these KJV-onlyists are hiding or at least not telling people is that their 1611 English translation is based on the newer Greek New Testament manuscripts! KJV-onlyists condemn the newer English Bible translations as "modern" and "corrupted." But ironically, this is actually the case in regard to the newer Greek New Testament manuscripts upon which the King James Version is based! Thus, the KJV-onlyists unwittingly condemn their own translation in that it is based on the more "modern" and "corrupted" Greek manuscripts, which in the case of John 8:59b contain the added phrase "going through the midst of them, and so passed by." In actuality, these more "modern" and "corrupted" Greek New Testament manuscripts (or more specifically, the scribes who copied them) have added to Scripture! The Bible contains stern warnings against adding to God's Word (see Prov. 30:5-6). The King James Version propagates this erroneous reading from the newer Greek manuscripts by including these added words in their translation (see Jn. 8:59b, KJV). Lange calls this added phrase in John 8:59 a "doubtful addition." (See Lange, op. cited.) Lange furthermore states: "The words from διελθών ['going...'] to the end [of the verse] are wanting [i.e. not found] in B. [Codex Vaticanus], D. [Codex Bezae], [Jerome's] Vulgate, and seem to have been transferred from Luke 4.30 by way of [poor] exegesis [instead of direct manuscript evidence]. Wanting also [i.e. not found] in Cod. Sin. [i.e. Codex Sinaiticus]." (Lange, op. cited, brackets added.) Commenting on John 8:59, Lenski similarly states: "The addition found in later texts: 'going through the midst of them, and so passed by' (A. V.), must be cancelled as a combination that was added from Luke 4:30 and John 9:1." (R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel, p. 672.) As I noted, the Bible has stern warnings against adding to the Scriptures (see references); and thus the KJV, for all its virtues, is actually based on a more "corrupted" Greek text type (i.e. the newer Byzantine Greek NT manuscripts). Commenting on John 8:59b and this added phrase in the Authorized Version (KJV), the NT scholar Alfred Plummer states: "going through the midst of them, and so passed by] These words are apparently an insertion, and probably an adaptation of Luke 4.30. No English Version previous to the one of 1611 contains the passage." (Plummer, The Gospel According to St. John, p. 196.) What Plummer is pointing out is that the oldest English Bibles (e.g., the Tyndale Bible of 1526 up to the Geneva Bible of 1599) do not contain the phrase which the King James Version added in 1611. This is significant! Because what it shows is that the oldest Greek NT MSS as well as the oldest English Bible translations of John 8:59b do not contain the words that the King James translators added in to the King James Version in 1611. The KJV has corrupted this text, and this is a verified and unfortunate historical fact. By way of contrast, the English Bible translations which are based on the oldest Greek New Testament manuscripts (e.g., the Tyndale Bible, Coverdale Bible, Bishops' Bible, Geneva Bible, Revised Version, ASV, NASB, NIV, NET, ESV, HCSB, NLT, etc.) correctly do not contain the phrase in John 8:59 which was added in by the King James translators in 1611.

Grk. παρῆγεν. The verb is in the imperfect tense, denoting past continuous action. Thus the meaning is "He was passing by," not "passed by" as the King James Version and other English translations have rendered it (e.g., see Jn. 8:59 KJV, NKJV, YLT, ASV, etc.). In contrast to the rendering found in the KJV, translating παρῆγεν as "(He) was going away" (Jn. 8:59, FGT), captures the ongoing, linear movement as Jesus left the scene, rather than a sudden, completed "He went." Since the past continuous rendering makes complete sense in English, I have retained this syntactic nuance from the Greek in my English translation.