Then went this saying abroad among the brothers, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not to him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you?
Then went this saying abroad among the brothers, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not to him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you?
This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
So this saying went about among the brothers that this disciple would not undergo death: Jesus, however, did not say that he would not undergo death, but, If it is my desire for him to be here till I come back, what is that to you?
Then this saying went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not to him, He shall not die; but, if I will that he shall tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
This saying therefore went out among the brothers, that this disciple wouldn't die. Yet Jesus didn't say to him that he wouldn't die, but, "If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you?"
This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
Then went this saying ... - This mistake arose very naturally:
1. From the words of Jesus, which might be easily misunderstood to mean that he should not die; and,
2. It was probably confirmed when it was seen that John survived all the other apostles, had escaped all the dangers of persecution, and was leading a peaceful life at Ephesus. This mistake John deemed it proper to correct before he died, and has thus left on record what Jesus said and what he meant.
21:23 The brethren - That is, the Christians. Our Lord himself taught them that appellation, 20:17 .Yet Jesus did not say to him, that he should not die - Not expressly.And St. John himself, at the time of writing his Gospel, seems not to have known clearly, whether he should die or not.