YHN 20:29 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. λέγει
2. legō
3. is saying
4. said
5. 30040
6. VIPA3··S
7. ˓is˒ saying
8. ˓is˒ saying
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80889
1. εἶπεν
2. legō
3. -
4. -
5. 30040
6. VIAA3··S
7. said
8. said
9. -
10. -
11. 80890
1. δέ
2. de
3. -
4. -
5. 11610
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. -
10. -
11. 80891
1. αὐτῷ
2. autos
3. to him
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMS
7. ˱to˲ him
8. ˱to˲ him
9. -
10. Y33; R80878
11. 80892
1. Ὁ
2. ho
3. The
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····NMS
7. ¬The
8. ¬The
9. S
10. Y33
11. 80893
1. Ἰησοῦς
2. iēsous
3. Yaʸsous
4. -
5. 24240
6. N····NMS
7. Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa)
8. Jesus
9. SN
10. Y33
11. 80894
1. Ὅτι
2. hoti
3. Because
4. -
5. 37540
6. C·······
7. because
8. because
9. D
10. Y33
11. 80895
1. ἑώρακας
2. horaō
3. you have seen
4. you've
5. 37080
6. VIEA2··S
7. ˱you˲ ˓have˒ seen
8. ˱you˲ ˓have˒ seen
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80896
1. μέ
2. egō
3. me
4. -
5. 14730
6. R···1A·S
7. me
8. me
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80897
1. Θωμᾶ
2. thōmas
3. -
4. -
5. 23810
6. N····VMS
7. Thōmas
8. Thomas
9. U
10. Person=Thomas
11. 80898
1. καί
2. kai
3. -
4. -
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. -
10. -
11. 80899
1. πεπίστευκας
2. pisteuō
3. have believed
4. -
5. 41000
6. VIEA2··S
7. ˓have˒ believed
8. ˓have˒ believed
9. -
10. Y33; R80878
11. 80900
1. μακάριοι
2. makarios
3. blessed are
4. -
5. 31070
6. S····NMP
7. blessed ‹are›
8. blessed ‹are›
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80901
1. οἱ
2. ho
3. the ones
4. -
5. 35880
6. R····NMP
7. the ‹ones›
8. the ‹ones›
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80902
1. μή
2. mē
3. not
4. -
5. 33610
6. D·······
7. not
8. not
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80903
1. ἰδόντες
2. horaō
3. having seen
4. -
5. 37080
6. VPAA·NMP
7. ˓having˒ seen
8. ˓having˒ seen
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80904
1. εἰδότες
2. eidō
3. -
4. -
5. 14920
6. VPEA·NMP
7. ˓having˒ known
8. ˓having˒ known
9. -
10. -
11. 80905
1. μέ
2. egō
3. -
4. -
5. 14730
6. R···1A·S
7. me
8. me
9. -
10. -
11. 80906
1. καί
2. kai
3. and yet
4. but
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and_yet
8. and_yet
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80907
1. πιστεύσαντες
2. pisteuō
3. having believed
4. -
5. 41000
6. VPAA·NMP
7. ˓having˒ believed
8. ˓having˒ believed
9. -
10. Y33
11. 80908

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 20:24–29: Jesus appeared to Thomas

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

20:29a

Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed;

Jesus said, “Because you^(sing) have seen me you believe.
Then Jesus said to him, “So, you^(sing) have seen me and believed because of that.

Jesus said to him: This phrase introduces what Jesus replied to Thomas. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

Then Jesus told him (NCV)

Because you have seen Me, you have believed: The earliest Greek manuscripts did not have punctuation, so there was no question mark here. There are two ways to interpret this sentence:

It is a statement, not a question. For example:
You believe because you see me. (NCV) (BSB, NIV, REB, NJB, KJV, GW, NLT, NCV)
It is a rhetorical question, expecting the answer “yes.” For example:
Do you believe because you see me? (GNT) (GNT, NET, NASB, CEV, RSV, NRSV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and many English translations and Bible scholars. However, the meaning of the two interpretations is nearly the same. So you may want to follow interpretation (2) if a major language translation in your area follows it.

There may be a stronger rebuke in a rhetorical question than in a statement. Either way, the rebuke here is gentle at most. The rebuke is that Thomas should have believed what the other disciples said and not only when he saw Jesus. Yet the next verse speaks about the importance of the disciples seeing Jesus’ signs. But people in the future would have to believe without seeing, and they are blessed in 20:29b.

General Comment on 20:29a

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the clauses in 20:29a. For example:

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed…” (NIV)

20:29b

blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Blessed are those people who have not seen me alive and yet believe in me.”
But great is the joy of those who believe in me without seeing me!”

blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed: This sentence probably implies that those who believe in Jesus without seeing him are more blessed than Thomas (see 4:48). He did not mean that Thomas himself was not blessed. It is important to avoid this wrong meaning. To do this you may want to use a comparative. For example:

Even more blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed in me.

See the General Comment on 20:30a for ways to rearrange the information in this clause.

blessed are: The Greek word that the BSB translates as blessed here refers to being in a good situation, enjoying God’s favor. When God does something good to a person and is kind to him, that person is blessed. See how you translated this word in 13:17, Matthew 5:3–11, and Luke 6:20–22. For example:

Great is the joy of those…

those who have not seen and yet have believed: This expression refers to people who trust Jesus without ever seeing him during this life. It includes everyone who would believe in him after he returned to heaven. In some languages it may be necessary to add an object, indicating that Jesus was referring to people seeing him. For example:

those who believe without seeing me (GNT)

and yet: The BSB has added the word yet in order to indicate that what follows is not expected. People expect that if someone does not see, he will not believe. But Jesus spoke about those who would believe in him although they did not see him. You may also want to indicate that this is not expected. For example:

Blessed are those who haven’t seen me but believe. (GW)

have believed: The Greek verb form that the BSB translates as have believed can refer to beginning to believe. Some translations make that meaning explicit. However, the verb can also refer to believing in general. Because Jesus is making a general statement, it may be more natural to use a general form of the verb.

When the word believed is used without an object, it is usually a short way of saying “believe in Jesus.” So this word includes the idea of believing the facts about Jesus (here that he rose from the dead). But it also includes the idea of trusting Jesus instead of trusting oneself or someone else. Both ideas are very closely related. If someone believes the facts about Jesus, it should result in trusting him. Here are other ways to translate this idea:

have faith in me (CEV)

believed in me

General Comment on 20:29b

In some languages it may be more natural to rearrange the information in this sentence. For example:

How happy are those who believe without seeing me! (GNT)

The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed! (CEV)

But they will be full of joy who believe even though they have not seen me.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / pastforfuture

λέγει

˓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 / ellipsis

πεπίστευκας & πιστεύσαντες

˓have˒_believed & ˓having˒_believed

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: [you have believed that I have become alive again … having believed that I have become alive again]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

μακάριοι οἱ μὴ ἰδόντες

blessed_‹are› the_‹ones› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγει αὐτῷ Ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ὅτι ἑώρακας μέ πεπίστευκας μακάριοι οἱ μή ἰδόντες καί πιστεύσαντες)

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [God blesses those not having seen]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

μὴ ἰδόντες

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγει αὐτῷ Ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ὅτι ἑώρακας μέ πεπίστευκας μακάριοι οἱ μή ἰδόντες καί πιστεύσαντες)

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

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.