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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 4 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53
OET (OET-LV) Yaʸsous answered and said to_her:
If you_had_known the gift of_ the _god, and who is which saying to_you:
Give to_me to_drink, you would requested him, and he_ would _gave to_you living water.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua answered, “If you’d recognised God’s gift and who it is who’s asking you for a drink, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water to drink.”
In this section Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman who had come to get water from a well. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. The woman was surprised that he spoke to her. Jesus was a Jew, and most Jewish people hated the Samaritans. But Jesus stayed and talked with the woman.
Jesus told the woman that he could give her living water, and he told her that he was the Messiah. The women went back to her town and brought many of the other Samaritan people to Jesus.
It is good to translate the section before giving it a title. Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus brought good news to the hated Samaritan people
The conversation at the well
A Samaritan woman came to the well where Jesus was resting. Jesus asked her for water to drink, and then he offered her living water that would lead to eternal life.
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God
Jesus replied to her, “It would be good if you(sing) knew two things. You should know that God wants to give you something
Jesus said to her, “If only you(sing) understood what God wants to give you!
If you knew the gift of God: Jesus wanted the woman to know this gift and want it. At this time, she did not even know what Jesus was talking about. In your translation, imply or state explicitly that the woman did not yet know about the gift of God. For example:
If only you knew what God gives (REB)
You don’t know what God wants to give you (CEV)
you: This pronoun is singular and refers to the woman.
the gift of God: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as the gift of God refers to what God gives freely.
Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
what God gives (GNT)
what God wants to give you (CEV)
and who is asking you for a drink,
and who I am, the one requesting a drink of water.
If only you knew who I am, I who am asking you(sing) for a drink!
and who is asking you for a drink: In this clause, Jesus was referring to himself. The woman did not know who Jesus really was, that he was the Messiah of God. She only saw him as a Jewish traveler.
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
and who you are speaking to (NLT)
and you don’t know who is asking you for a drink (CEV)
and who I am, I who am asking you for a drink
you would have asked Him,
Then you(sing) would ask me to give you water
Then you would have said to me, ‘Give me a drink.’
you would have asked Him: This is not something that happened. This is what might have happened but did not. It did not happen because the woman did not know the gift of God or who Jesus was. If she knew those things, then she would have asked. Consider how to express a situation like this in a way that is natural in your language. In some languages it may be necessary to say this in the present tense. For example:
you would ask him (GNT)
you: This pronoun is singular and refers to the woman.
Him: This pronoun refers to Jesus. Jesus referred to himself in the third person. In some languages it may be necessary to use the first person here. For example:
you would ask me (CEV)
and He would have given you living water.”
and I would give you(sing) water that makes you live.”
And/Then I would have given you(sing) the water that causes you to live.”
and He would have given you living water: This is something that did not happen. It did not happen because the woman did not ask Jesus. But if she had known God’s gift and who Jesus was (things she did not know), then she would have asked Jesus. And if she asked Jesus, he would have given her living water.
However, none of that happened. It could have happened, but it did not. The conditions in 4:10a–c were not fulfilled.
As in 4:10c, you may need to make it explicit that He refers to Jesus himself. For example:
and I would have given you living water
living water: This phrase here means “the water that makes people really live” or “the water that gives life.” For example:
the water that gives life (CEV)
life-giving water (GNT)
In some languages it is more natural to reorder this information. You might want to indicate that Jesus wanted the woman to know these things and then use an “if” clause as a summary statement. For example:
Jesus said to her, “I wish that you(sing) understood what God wants to freely give you. And I wish that you knew who I am, I who ask you for a drink. If you knew those things, you would ask me for a drink. And I would give you the water that gives life.”
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-condition-contrary
εἰ ᾔδεις τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ λέγων σοι & σὺ ἂν ᾔτησας αὐτὸν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καί εἶπεν αὐτῇ Εἰ ᾔδεις τήν δωρεάν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τίς ἐστίν ὁ λέγων σοί Δός μοί πεῖν σύ ἄν ᾔτησας αὐτόν καί ἔδωκεν ἄν σοί ὕδωρ ζῶν)
Jesus is making a conditional statement that sounds hypothetical, but he knows that the condition is not true. He knows that the woman does not know the gift of God or who he is. Use a natural form in your language for introducing a condition that the speaker believes is not true. Alternate translation: [You surely do not know the gift of God and who it is who is saying to you … Otherwise, you would have asked him]
τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καί εἶπεν αὐτῇ Εἰ ᾔδεις τήν δωρεάν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τίς ἐστίν ὁ λέγων σοί Δός μοί πεῖν σύ ἄν ᾔτησας αὐτόν καί ἔδωκεν ἄν σοί ὕδωρ ζῶν)
Here, the gift of God refers to the “living water” that Jesus mentions at the end of the verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [God’s gift of living water]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καί εἶπεν αὐτῇ Εἰ ᾔδεις τήν δωρεάν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τίς ἐστίν ὁ λέγων σοί Δός μοί πεῖν σύ ἄν ᾔτησας αὐτόν καί ἔδωκεν ἄν σοί ὕδωρ ζῶν)
Jesus uses of to describe a gift that comes from God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning explicitly. Alternate translation: [the gift from God]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person
τίς ἐστιν ὁ λέγων σοι & ᾔτησας αὐτὸν, καὶ ἔδωκεν
who (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καί εἶπεν αὐτῇ Εἰ ᾔδεις τήν δωρεάν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τίς ἐστίν ὁ λέγων σοί Δός μοί πεῖν σύ ἄν ᾔτησας αὐτόν καί ἔδωκεν ἄν σοί ὕδωρ ζῶν)
Jesus is referring to himself in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this in the first person. Alternate translation: [who I am who is saying to you … would have asked me, and I would have given]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
ὁ λέγων σοι, δός μοι πεῖν,
¬which saying (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καί εἶπεν αὐτῇ Εἰ ᾔδεις τήν δωρεάν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τίς ἐστίν ὁ λέγων σοί Δός μοί πεῖν σύ ἄν ᾔτησας αὐτόν καί ἔδωκεν ἄν σοί ὕδωρ ζῶν)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [who is asking you to give him a drink]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / extrainfo
ὕδωρ ζῶν
water living
The phrase living water usually refers to moving or flowing water. However, Jesus uses living water here to refer to the Holy Spirit who works in a person to save and transform them. However, the woman does not understand this and Jesus does not explain the metaphor to her in this verse. Therefore, you do not need to explain its meaning further here.
OET (OET-LV) Yaʸsous answered and said to_her:
If you_had_known the gift of_ the _god, and who is which saying to_you:
Give to_me to_drink, you would requested him, and he_ would _gave to_you living water.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua answered, “If you’d recognised God’s gift and who it is who’s asking you for a drink, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water to drink.”
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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