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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 20 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V28 V29 V30 V31
OET (OET-LV) Thereafter he_is_saying to_ the _Thōmas:
Be_bringing the finger of_you here, and see the hands of_me, and be_bringing the hand of_you, and put it into the side of_me, and be_ not _becoming unbelieving, but believing.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua came and stood in the middle of the room even though the doors were shut, and said, “Peace to you all.”
Thomas was not in the room when Jesus showed himself to the other disciples. He did not believe the other disciples when they said that Jesus rose from the dead. He wanted to see himself. A week later Jesus showed himself to his disciples again and Thomas was there. He told Thomas to touch the wounds on his body. That way he would know that it was Jesus and believe that he had risen from the dead. When Thomas saw Jesus’ wounds, he realized that he was his Lord and his God.
Here are other possible section headings:
Jesus invited Thomas to touch his wounds
Thomas saw Jesus and believed
Thomas saw Jesus and realized that he was God
Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands.
Then he told Thomas, “Place(sing) your finger on me here. Look at my hands.
Then he said to Thomas, “Touch(sing) me here. And look, here are my hands.
Then Jesus said to Thomas: This expression indicates that although there were other disciples in the room, Jesus now just spoke to Thomas.
Put your finger here and look at My hands: This sentence indicates that Jesus invited Thomas to examine the nail marks by both feeling them and looking at them. The commands Put and look at are singular and are given to Thomas alone. A literal translation of this sentence may suggest that Jesus was inviting Thomas to see with his finger. To avoid this wrong meaning it may help to use two sentences or clauses with no conjunction. For example:
You(sing) may put your(sing) finger here. You(sing) may look at my hands.
Touch me with your finger. See what my hands look like.
Put your finger here; see my hands. (NIV)
In some languages it may be natural to mention first seeing the hands and then touching them. For example:
Look at my hands. Touch them.
Put your finger here: The context indicates that the word here refers to Jesus’ hands. Jesus was probably holding out his hands as he spoke. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
Extending/Showing his hands, Jesus said, “Touch me…”
your finger: The pronoun your is singular and refers to Thomas. Jesus was speaking to Thomas only.
look at My hands: The Greek word that the BSB translates as hands refers to the whole hand and the wrist. See the note on 20:25b and how you translated the word there. Jesus was holding out his hands as his spoke so that Thomas could see and touch them. For example:
look, here are my hands (NJB)
Reach out your hand and put it into My side.
Extend(sing) your hand and place it into my side.
Touch(sing) the wound in my side.
Reach out your hand and put it into My side: Jesus was inviting Thomas to put his hand into the wound that the spear made in his side. He said that Thomas could touch and feel the evidence that he was the same man that the soldier had pierced. Here are other ways to translate this sentence:
You may reach out your hand and touch the mark in my side.
Take your hand and stick it in my side. (The Message)
Stop doubting and believe.”
Do(sing) not continue in your unbelief, but believe in me.”
Stop(sing) doubting and believe that I am risen/alive.”
Stop doubting and believe: The Greek command that the BSB translates as Stop doubting and believe is more literally “and do not be unbelieving but believing.” The command is again singular and Jesus gave it only to Thomas. The two ideas Stop doubting and believe mean the same thing. Repeating the idea emphasizes the command. Here are other ways to translate this sentence:
Stop doubting and have faith! (CEV)
Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe! (NLT)
Stop doubting: The Greek command that the BSB translates as Stop doubting indicates that Thomas should stop doing what he was doing. He was doubting, but Jesus commanded him to stop. Indicate this in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
Do not continue in your unbelief (NET)
Do not be unbelieving any more (NJB)
No more disbelief. (Common English Bible)
and: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as and here connects a negative statement (“Do not doubt”) to a positive statement (“believe”). This kind of sentence emphasizes the positive statement. Languages have different ways to indicate this type of emphasis. Here are some ways to show the emphasis:
Use the conjunction “but” as in the NRSV.
Be unbelieving no longer, but believe. (REB)
Use a conjunction other than “but.” For example:
Stop your doubting, and believe! (GNT)
Do not doubt but rather believe.
Do not use a conjunction. For example:
Don’t be uncertain. Believe! (Uma Back Translation)
Do not doubt any longer. Really believe now. (Yakan Back Translation)
Change the order of the clauses. For example:
Believe and stop doubting!
You should translate this emphasis in the way that is most natural in your language.
believe: In some languages it may be natural to indicate who or what Thomas was to believe. Thomas was already a believer in Jesus, but he doubted that Jesus was alive again. Jesus wanted him to believe that it was really him and that he had risen from the dead. For example:
believe that I am alive
have faith that it is me
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / pastforfuture
λέγει
˱he˲_˓is˒_saying
Here John uses the present tense in past narration in order to call attention to a development in the story.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὧδε
here
Jesus uses here to refer to the places on his hands where there were holes. These holes in Jesus’ hands were made by the nails that soldiers used to crucify him. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [in these holes]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τὰς χεῖράς μου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ Φέρε τόν δάκτυλον σοῦ ὧδε καί ἴδε τάς χεῖρας μού καί φέρε τήν χεῖρα σοῦ καί βάλε εἰς τήν πλευράν μού καί μή γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλά πιστός)
Jesus uses my hands to refer to the holes in Jesus’ hands that were made by the nails that soldiers used to crucify him. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [the nail marks in my hands]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τὴν πλευράν μου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ Φέρε τόν δάκτυλον σοῦ ὧδε καί ἴδε τάς χεῖρας μού καί φέρε τήν χεῖρα σοῦ καί βάλε εἰς τήν πλευράν μού καί μή γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλά πιστός)
Jesus uses my side to refer to the wound that a Roman soldier made in his side with a spear. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [the spear wound in his side]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος, ἀλλὰ πιστός
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ Φέρε τόν δάκτυλον σοῦ ὧδε καί ἴδε τάς χεῖρας μού καί φέρε τήν χεῖρα σοῦ καί βάλε εἰς τήν πλευράν μού καί μή γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλά πιστός)
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The repetition is used to emphasize that Jesus wants Thomas to believe that he has become alive again. If your language does not use repetition to do this, you could use one phrase and provide emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [you absolutely must believe]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος, ἀλλὰ πιστός
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ Φέρε τόν δάκτυλον σοῦ ὧδε καί ἴδε τάς χεῖρας μού καί φέρε τήν χεῖρα σοῦ καί βάλε εἰς τήν πλευράν μού καί μή γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλά πιστός)
Jesus is leaving out some of the words that a sentence would need in many languages to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the context. Alternate translation: [do not be unbelieving that I have become alive again, but believe it]
OET (OET-LV) Thereafter he_is_saying to_ the _Thōmas:
Be_bringing the finger of_you here, and see the hands of_me, and be_bringing the hand of_you, and put it into the side of_me, and be_ not _becoming unbelieving, but believing.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua came and stood in the middle of the room even though the doors were shut, and said, “Peace to you all.”
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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