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OET (OET-LV) Yaʸsous answered and said to_him:
Because I_said to_you that I_saw you beneath the fig_tree, you_are_believing?
You_will_be_seeing greater than these things.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua responded, “So you believe this because I said that I had seen you under the fig tree. You’ll get to see much greater things than that!”
This section tells how Philip and Nathaniel became disciples of Jesus. Jesus showed them his power to know all things. He told Nathaniel that he had seen him under a fig tree. That showed Nathaniel that Jesus was the Son of God and King of Israel.
Here are other possible section headings:
Jesus called Philip and Nathanael to be his disciples/followers
Jesus invited two more men to follow him
Philip and Nathanael became disciples
Jesus said to him, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree?
Jesus said to him, “Do you(sing) believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree?
Jesus answered, “You(sing) believe in me just because I told you about seeing you under that fig tree!
Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree?: Most English translations understand that this sentence is a rhetorical question. It likely expresses Jesus’ surprise that Nathanael believed on him so quickly and easily. There are two ways of translating this rhetorical question:
Use a rhetorical question. For example:
Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? (GNT)
Use a statement. For example:
You believe me just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. (NJB)
You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. (NIV)
Translate this rhetorical question in the way that is natural in your language for expressing surprise. The GNT and the NJB, in the examples above, have both supplied the word “just.” It may be natural to include the word “simply,” which can mean “just” or “only.” For example:
Do you believe simply because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? (NCV)
you: The pronoun you is singular and refers to Nathanael.
In some languages it may be natural to reorder the clauses in 1:50a and first give the reason Nathanael believed. For example:
Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? (NET)
You will see greater things than these.”
You(sing) are going to see much greater miracles than that.”
You will see greater things than these: The greater things that Jesus mentions probably refer to the miracles Jesus would do in future weeks and months. The word things does not refer to larger or more important objects, but to events. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
You are going to see greater things than that. (NJB)
You will see something even greater. (CEV)
You: This pronoun is still singular and refers to Nathanael.
these: The plural pronoun these is not in the Greek, but the BSB supplies it to help people understand the meaning. However, it refers specifically to Jesus telling Nathanael about the fig tree. So it may be more natural to use a singular pronoun. For example:
that (NIV)
this (NLT)
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
ὅτι εἶπόν σοι, ὅτι εἶδόν σε ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς, πιστεύεις
that (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καί εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ὅτι εἶπον σοί ὅτι εἶδον σέ ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς πιστεύεις μείζω τούτων Ὄψῃ)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the second phrase gives the result for the reason that the first phrase describes. Alternate translation: [Do you believe because I said to you that I saw you underneath the fig tree]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
ὅτι εἶπόν σοι, ὅτι εἶδόν σε ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς, πιστεύεις
that (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καί εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ὅτι εἶπον σοί ὅτι εἶδον σέ ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς πιστεύεις μείζω τούτων Ὄψῃ)
John records Jesus using the question form for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate his words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [You believe because I said that I saw you underneath the fig tree!]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
πιστεύεις
˱you˲_˓are˒_believing
Jesus is leaving out some of the words that this phrase would need in many languages in order to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the context. Alternate translation: [do you believe that I am the Messiah]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
μείζω τούτων
greater_‹than› these_‹things›
Jesus uses the plural pronoun these to refer to a general category of something, in this case the miraculous display of supernatural knowledge that took place in [1:48](../01/48.md). Alternate translation: [greater things than this type of thing] or [greater things that this kind of miracle]
OET (OET-LV) Yaʸsous answered and said to_him:
Because I_said to_you that I_saw you beneath the fig_tree, you_are_believing?
You_will_be_seeing greater than these things.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua responded, “So you believe this because I said that I had seen you under the fig tree. You’ll get to see much greater things than that!”
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.
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