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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 6 V1 V4 V7 V10 V13 V16 V19 V22 V25 V28 V31 V34 V37 V40 V43 V46 V49 V52 V55 V58 V61 V64 V67 V70
OET (OET-LV) And they_were_saying, is this Not Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa) the son of_Yōsaʸf/(Yōşēf), of_whose the father and the mother we have_known?
How now is_he_saying, that I_have_came_down out_of the heaven?
OET (OET-RV) as they figured out, “This is Yeshua the son of Yosef and so we know his parents. So how can he say that he came down from heaven?”
In this section Jesus spoke in figurative language about how he himself is the source of eternal life. He called himself “the bread of life” and said that people must “eat” his flesh and “drink” his blood. These words caused a lot of argument.
This paragraph tells how the people who were listening to Jesus reacted to what he said. They were not happy.
They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
They said, “We know him and his parents. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph.
They said/thought that they knew who he was—the son of Joseph. And they knew who Joseph was, and who Jesus’ mother was too.
They were asking: The tense of the Greek verb used here indicates one of two things. Either the people said this more than once, or more than one person said it.
Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?: This is a rhetorical question. They used it to make a statement. The people were saying that they knew who Jesus was and who Jesus’ parents were. So they implied that he could not have come from heaven.
Here are some ways to translate this rhetorical question:
Use a rhetorical question. For example:
Isn’t he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father and mother? (CEV)
Use a statement or statements. For example:
This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and mother. (NCV)
Use a statement and a rhetorical question. For example:
Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. (NLT)
Translate this rhetorical question in a way that is natural in your language.
whose father and mother we know: The word whose here refers to Jesus. The people knew Joseph and Mary, who were Jesus’ parents. In your translation, make sure that this is clear. A literal translation may suggest that the people knew Joseph’s mother and father. To avoid this wrong meaning, it may be necessary to start a new sentence, as in the CEV, NCV, and NLT examples above.
How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’”
Why is he saying that he has come down from heaven?”
He should not say that he came down from heaven.”
So they refused to believe that he came from heaven.
How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’: This is a rhetorical question. The Jews used it to disagree with what Jesus said. They were saying that Jesus should not say that he came from heaven. They thought that his statement was false. There are two ways to translate this rhetorical question:
Use a rhetorical question. For example:
How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven?’ (NLT)
How can it be true that he has come down from heaven?
Use a statement. For example:
So he cannot say, ‘I have come down from heaven.’
We(incl) cannot believe him when he says that he came down from heaven.
then: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as then here introduces a logical conclusion to 6:42a. The speakers know Jesus’ parents, and therefore he should not claim to come from heaven. Many English translations do not translate this word explicitly. Introduce this conclusion in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
So how can he say…?
from heaven: The Jewish people sometimes said heaven as a way to show reverence when speaking about God. Heaven is where God lives. The Greek text emphasizes this phrase. See KBT Heaven, Sky 2A and the note on 6:31b.
This sentence contains a quote inside a quote. In some languages it may be natural to use indirect speech for the quotation of Jesus’ words. For example:
How can he say that he has come down from heaven? (CEV)
He should not say that he came down from God/heaven.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς ὁ υἱὸς Ἰωσήφ, οὗ ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἔλεγον Οὐχ οὗτος ἐστίν Ἰησοῦς ὁ υἱός Ἰωσήφ οὗ ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν τόν πατέρα καί τήν μητέρα Πῶς νῦν λέγει ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Καταβέβηκα)
The Jewish leaders are using the form of a question to emphasize that they believe that Jesus is just a normal person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate these words as a statement or an exclamation, and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [This is just Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know!]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
πῶς νῦν λέγει, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβέβηκα?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἔλεγον Οὐχ οὗτος ἐστίν Ἰησοῦς ὁ υἱός Ἰωσήφ οὗ ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν τόν πατέρα καί τήν μητέρα Πῶς νῦν λέγει ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Καταβέβηκα)
The Jewish leaders are using the form of a question to emphasize that they do not believe that Jesus came from heaven. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate these words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [He is lying when he says that he came from heaven!]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
πῶς νῦν λέγει, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβέβηκα?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἔλεγον Οὐχ οὗτος ἐστίν Ἰησοῦς ὁ υἱός Ἰωσήφ οὗ ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν τόν πατέρα καί τήν μητέρα Πῶς νῦν λέγει ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Καταβέβηκα)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [How then does he now say that he has come down from heaven?]
6:1-71 Each story in this chapter uses the setting of the Passover Festival (6:4) to communicate a deeper meaning.
OET (OET-LV) And they_were_saying, is this Not Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa) the son of_Yōsaʸf/(Yōşēf), of_whose the father and the mother we have_known?
How now is_he_saying, that I_have_came_down out_of the heaven?
OET (OET-RV) as they figured out, “This is Yeshua the son of Yosef and so we know his parents. So how can he say that he came down from heaven?”
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.