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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 16 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33
OET (OET-LV) Therefore they_were_saying:
What is this, which he_is_saying A_little time?
We_have_ not _known what he_is_speaking.
OET (OET-RV) So they were saying, “What’s this about ‘not much longer’? We don’t know what he means.”
Jesus told his disciples that soon they would not see him, but then a little later they would see him again. The disciples did not understand, so Jesus explained, comparing what would happen to a woman giving birth. She has much pain while giving birth, but the pain becomes joy after her baby is born. Soon the pain of Jesus’ leaving would become joy. At that time they would be able to ask God the Father their requests in Jesus’ name. God would give their requests and their joy would be complete.
Here are some other possible section headings:
The disciples will be sad for a short while, but then joyful
The disciples would not see Jesus for a while, but then would see him again
In this paragraph, Jesus warned his disciples that in a little while they would no longer see him. After that, they would see him again. The disciples asked one another what he meant.
They kept asking, “Why is He saying, ‘a little while’?
They asked each other, “What did he mean when he said ‘after a little while?’
And they also wondered what he meant by saying “soon.”
They kept asking: These words indicate that some of the disciples asked other disciples. The form of the verb in Greek indicates that they did this many times. They were still speaking to one another, not to Jesus directly. Because the disciples continued to ask questions among themselves, it may be natural to leave these words implied (see GNT).
Why is He saying, ‘a little while’?: This question indicates that Jesus’ phrase ‘a little while’ especially confused the disciples. Here are other ways to translate this question:
What is this ‘little while’ that he is talking about? (CEV)
What does this ‘a little while’ mean? (GNT)
What does he mean by ‘a little while’? (NCV)
In some languages it may be natural to translate the direct quotation of Jesus’ words as an indirect quotation. For example:
What is meant by just a little time? (Tagbanwa Back Translation)
He says that it will be just a little while. What does that mean?
We do not understand what He is saying.”
We cannot understand what he meant.”
They did not understand what he was talking about.
We do not understand what He is saying: The disciples could not understand what Jesus meant. They did not understand that the Messiah would die, rise again, and go to heaven. Your translation should make clear that the disciples understood Jesus’ words but did not know what events they referred to. For example:
We do not know what he means. (REB)
We do not understand what he is talking about. (NET)
τὸ μικρόν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔλεγον Οὖν Τί ἐστίν τοῦτο ὅ λέγει Μικρόν Οὐκ οἴδαμεν τί λαλεῖ)
See how you translated this phrase in the previous verse.
OET (OET-LV) Therefore they_were_saying:
What is this, which he_is_saying A_little time?
We_have_ not _known what he_is_speaking.
OET (OET-RV) So they were saying, “What’s this about ‘not much longer’? We don’t know what he means.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.