James Trimm’s Nazarene Commentary on Yochanan Chapter 5
5:2-18 Yeshua and the Sabbath – See comments to Matthew 12:1-14 for a more detailed treatment of Yeshua’s teachings about Sabbath.
5:10 … It is the Sabbath. It is not permitted to carry your pallet. – Normally carrying an object would be a violation of Shabbat (Jer. 17:21-22) however Yeshua’s halacha on Shabbat based on Hosea 6:6 permits acts of CHESED (loving kindness; mercy) on the Shabbat (see comments to Mt. 12:7 for detailed explanation of this halacha). Hosea 6:6 uses “knowledge of Elohim” in synonymous poetic parallelism with CHESED (mercy; loving kindness). Thus if acts of CHESED are permitted based on Hosea 6:6 (as explained in comments to Mt. 12:7) then so are acts which express the “knowledge of Elohim. Since the act of this man who had been lame for 38 years openly carrying his pallet home declared the power of Elohim and expressed the “knowledge of Elohim” to all who saw it, it was permitted by Yeshua’s Sabbath halacha.
5:17 My Father works until now; I also work – In Heb. 3:7-4:10, Paul gives a Proem homiletic midrash on Ps. 95:7-11 & Gen. 2:2 connecting the words “work” and “rest.” (Ps. 95 was part of the Temple Sabbath liturgy and still is part of the Synagogue liturgy). In this midrash, it is argued that the true meaning of “rest” in these passages is the 1,000 year Kingdom. In other words, Yeshua argues that in the 1,000 year Kingdom halacha will be stricter, but that in this world it is less strict. This closely parallels Rabbinic Judaism which favors Hillels “spirit of the Torah” halacha for this world, but Shamai’s “letter of the Torah” halacha for the world to come.
5:18 because he loosed the Sabbath – To “loose” (Aramaic: שרא) is a idiomatic expression in Hebrew and Aramaic used as a technical term of halacha (see comments to Mt. 18:18). Yeshua did not break the Sabbath, instead he “loosed the Sabbath” in that he permitted certain activities that others had forbidden on the Sabbath (see comments to Mt. 12:7).
made his nefesh equal with Eloah – (See comments to John 1:1 and Phil. 2:6), equal , the Aramaic of the Old Syriac reads מפחא (equal; to be comparable) while the Peshitta has משוא (equal in the sense of worth, sufficient, deserving).
5:21 life from the Son (see comments to John 1:4)
5:22 For the Father does not judge anyone but has given all judgment to his Son – This concept seems to be drawn from the Book of Enoch (see comments to Jude 1:14-15) which says:
And he sat on the throne of his glory,
And the sum of judgment was given unto the Son of Man,
And he caused the sinners to pass away
and be destroyed from off the face of the earth,
And those who have led the world astray.
(1Enoch 69:27)
5:24-26 life from the Son see comments to 5:21
5:26 For as the Father has life in his K’NUMA; so has he given to the Son to have life in his K’NUMAH;
In Yochanan 5:26 the Aramaic text of the Old Syriac and Peshitta gives us an Aramaic term for the three elements of the Godhead:
For as the Father has life in his K’NUMA; so has he given to the Son to have life in his K’NUMAH;
(John 5:26)
The Peshitta appears to be using this word to distinguish the three members of these Three Pillars of the Godhead in much the same way that the Zohar uses the word Gaun)
The [profession of] unity that every day is [a profession of] unity
is to be understood and to be perceived. We have said in many places
that this prayer is a profession of Unity that is proclaimed:
”Hear O Yisrael, YHWH“ first, [then] “Eloheynu” [and] “YHWH” they are all One and thus He is called “One”.
Behold, these are three names, how can they be one? Is it because we call them one? (literally: And also concerning the proclamation that we call them one?). How these are one can only through the vision of the Holy Sprit be known. And these are through the vision of the closed eye (or the hidden eye) To make known that these three are one. And this is the mystery of the voice that is heard. The voice is one. And is three GAUNIN: fire and air and water. And all these are one in the mystery of the voice.
And also here “YHWH, Eloheynu, YHWH” these are One. Three GAUNIN that are One. And this is the voice of the act of a son of man in [proclaiming] the Unity. And to which he sees by the Unity of the “All” from Eyn Sof (the Infinite One) to the end of the “All”. Because of the voice in which it is done, in these are three that are one.
And this is the [profession] of the daily profession of Unity that is revealed in the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
And there are many GAUNIN that are a Unity, and all of them are true, what the one does, that the other does, and what that one does, the other does.
(Zohar 2:43)
While the Father and Son are one (see comments to Jn. 1:1; 10:30 & 16:15) they are each a separate k’numa as this passage makes clear. It is difficult to define k’numa in English terms. The word k’numa means “element; essence; nature; manifestation; aspect; quality; attribute; substance; real existence; the real substantive existence of something rather than its shadow.” . The fact that this Aramaic word is difficult to render into other languages, and its oft mistranslation into Greek and Latin have caused a tremendous amount of misunderstanding within Christianity over the centuries.
5:29 …those who have done good will go forth to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgement. – see Daniel 12:2
5:43 … if another would come… (see comments to 2Thes. 2:3)
5:46 For if you trusted Moshe you would also trust in me, because Moshe wrote concerning me. – That is because the Torah itself foretells the coming of Messiah and the Torah requires us to accept and follow Messiah when he comes (Deut. 18:15-19). Thus in order to be truly observant, one must accept Yeshua as Messiah.