View source for John 16

{{New Testament chapter short description}}
{{Bible chapter|letname= John 16 |previouslink= John 15 |previousletter= chapter 15 |nextlink= John 17 |nextletter= chapter 17 |book= [[Gospel of John]] |biblepart=[[New Testament]] | booknum= 4 |category= [[Gospel]] | filename= P. Oxy. 208 (J 16,14-22).jpg |size=200px | name=Papyrus 5, ~250 CE |caption=<div style="width: 250px; text-align: center; line-height: 1em">John 16:14-22 on the ''recto'' side of [[Papyrus 5]], written about AD 250</div>}}
'''John 16''' is the sixteenth chapter of the [[Gospel of John]] in the [[New Testament]] of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Bible]]. It records [[Jesus]]' continued [[Farewell Discourse]] to his disciples, set on the last night before his [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]]. In this chapter, Jesus speaks about the work of the [[Holy Spirit]], the [[joy]] of the believers and his [[victory]] over the world.<ref name=Halley>[[Henry Hampton Halley|Halley, Henry H.]] ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary, 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962.</ref> The book containing this chapter is [[anonymity|anonymous]], but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that [[John the Evangelist|John]] composed this [[Gospel]].<ref name=Holman>Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.</ref>

== Text ==
[[File: Papyrus 22 (John 15,25-16,2).jpg|200px|thumb|John 15:25-16:2 on the ''recto'' side of [[Papyrus 22]], written {{circa}} AD 250]]
The original text was written in [[Koine Greek]]. [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|This chapter is divided into]] 33 verses.

===Textual witnesses===
Some early [[biblical manuscript|manuscripts]] containing the text of this chapter are: 
*[[Papyrus 75]] (AD 175–225)
*[[Papyrus 5]] ({{circa}} 250; extant verses: 14–30)<ref>Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett. ''The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts''. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers Incorporated, 2001, pp. 74-78.</ref>
*[[Papyrus 22]] ({{circa}} 250)
*[[Codex Vaticanus]] (325–350)
*[[Codex Sinaiticus]] (330–360)
*[[Codex Bezae]] ({{circa}} 400)
*[[Codex Alexandrinus]] (400–440)
*[[Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus]] ({{circa}} 450; extant verses 22–33)
*[[Papyrus 60]] ({{circa}} 700; extant verses 29–33)

==Places==
The setting for the discourse in this chapter and the [[John 17|following chapter]] appears to be in [[Jerusalem]]. The precise location is not specified, but [[John 18:1]] states that afterwards, "Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the [[Kidron Valley]]".

==Purpose==
The evangelist's purpose in this section of his gospel is to support the [[early Church]] for whom he is writing, to ensure that they do not fall away ({{langx|el|ινα μη σκανδαλισθητε}}, ''hina mē skandalisthēte'') ({{bibleverse||John|16:1|NKJV}}). Some commentators suggest he is writing for a specific group of believers called the [[Johannine Community]].<ref>Anderson, P., [https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/related-articles/johannine-community.aspx The Johannine Community], accessed 28 November 2020</ref>

==Verse 1==
:''All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.''<ref>{{bibleverse|John|16:1|NIV}}: New International Version</ref>
[[Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer|Heinrich Meyer]] relates "all this" to {{bibleverse||John|15:18-27|NKJV}}, the section of this discourse which anticipates the world's hatred for the disciples.<ref name=meyer>Meyer, H. A. W., [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/john/16.htm Meyer's NT Commentary] on John 16, accessed 29 August 2022</ref>

[[English translations of the bible|English translations]] vary widely in the way they treat the opening verse of this chapter:
*that ye should not be caused to [[Stumbling block#New Testament|stumble]] ([[American Standard Version]])
*that ye should not lose faith ([[21st Century King James Version]])
*that ye should not be offended. ([[Geneva Bible]])
*that you should not be offended (taken unawares and falter, or be caused to stumble and fall away ([[Amplified Bible]])
*so that you will not fall away ([[New International Version]])
*so that you won't be caught by surprise ([[Complete Jewish Bible]])
*to keep you from being afraid ([[Contemporary English Version]])
*that you may not be scandalized ([[Douay–Rheims Bible]])
*so that you won't lose your faith when you face troubles (Easy-to-Read Version)
*to keep you from stumbling ([[NRSV]])
*that you may avoid the offenses that are coming (The Voice)
*so that your faith may not be shaken ([[Jerusalem Bible]])
*so that you may not be tripped (note on 'literal' translation in Jerusalem Bible)
*so that you will not turn back ([[Bible in Worldwide English]])

Meyer observes that {{quote|Prepared beforehand, and armed by Christ’s communications, they were not to be made to stumble at Him, but were to oppose to the hatred of the world all the greater efficiency and constancy of faith.<ref name=meyer />}}

==Verse 2==
:''They will put you out of the synagogues''.<ref>{{bibleverse|John|16:2|NKJV}}: [[New King James Version]]</ref>
Jesus foretells the [[John 9#Verse 22|exclusion]] from the Jewish [[synagogue]]s which the evangelist has already alluded to in {{bibleverse|John|9:22|NKJV}} and {{bibleref2-nb|John|12:42|NKJV}}.<ref>[[:sv:René Kieffer|Kieffer, R.]], ''John'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [http://www.islamicweblibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/oxfordbiblecommentary.pdf The Oxford Bible Commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502062222/http://www.islamicweblibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/oxfordbiblecommentary.pdf |date=2019-05-02 }}, p. 989</ref>

==Verse 4==
:''But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.''
::''And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.''<ref>{{bibleverse|John|16:4|NKJV}}: NKJV</ref>
Lutheran writer [[Johann Albrecht Bengel|Johann Bengel]] notes that while Jesus had not said these things before, he was previously aware of the hatred which would arise.<ref>Bengel, J. A., [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/bengel/john/16.htm Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament] on John 16, accesses 29 August 2022</ref>

==Verse 5==
:''Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'''<ref>{{bibleverse|John|16:5|NCV}}: [[New Century Version]]</ref>
The [[King James Version]] adopted the wording "I go my way" for this verse.<ref>{{bibleverse|John|16:5|KJV}}: KJV</ref>

[[William Robertson Nicoll]] comments that the disciples' failure to ascertain clearly where Jesus was going reflected their absorption with "the thought of His departure and its consequences of [[bereavement]] [for] themselves".<ref>Nicoll, W. R. (1897 ff), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/egt/john/16.htm The Expositor's Greek Testament] on Joh 16, accessed 7 February 2024</ref>

==Verses 8-11==
Commentator [[Henry Alford (theologian)|Henry Alford]] refers to three key words in this chapter, ἁμαρτία, δικαιοσύνη, κρίσις (sin, [[righteousness]] and judgment, {{bibleverse|John|16:8-11|NKJV}}) which "comprehend the three great steps of advance in spiritual truth among men".<ref name=Alford>[[Henry Alford (theologian)|Alford, H.]], [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/alford/john/16.htm Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary] on John 16, accessed 28 November 2020</ref>

==Verse 13 ==
: ''However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.''<ref>{{bibleverse|John|16:13|NKJV}} [[New King James Version|NKJV]]</ref>
Alford advises that in the words ''all [[truth]]'', "no promise of universal knowledge, nor of [[infallibility]], is hereby conveyed; but a promise to them and us, that the Holy Spirit shall teach and lead us, not as children, under the tutors and governors of legal and imperfect knowledge, but as sons".<ref name=Alford />

== Verse 24 ==
[[File:P. Oxy 208 John 16,22-30.jpg|thumb|right|210px|Fragment of John 16:22-30 on the ''verso'' side of [[Papyrus 5]], written c. AD 250.]]
: ''Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.''<ref>{{bibleverse|John|16:24|NKJV}} NKJV</ref>
See also: [[Matthew 7:7-8]] and [[Luke 11|Luke 11:9-10]].

== See also ==
* [[Farewell Discourse]]
* [[Jerusalem]]
* [[Jesus Christ]]
* Other related [[Bible]] parts: [[John 13]], [[John 14]], [[John 15]], [[John 17]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{bibleverse|John|16|KJV}} King James Bible - Wikisource
*[http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=1&b=4&c=16 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate]
*[http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=John+16 ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
*[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=50&chapter=16 Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''] (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

{{sequence
| prev = [[John 15]]
| list = Chapters of the Bible<br />[[Gospel of John]]
| next = [[John 17]]
}}
{{Gospel of John}}

[[Category:Gospel of John chapters|John 16]]