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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 8 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53 V55 V57 V59
OET (OET-LV) Therefore the Farisaios_party said to_him:
You are_testifying about yourself, the testimony of_you is not true.
OET (OET-RV) Some from the Pharisee party argued, “You are testifying about yourself, so that testimony is invalid.”
In this section Jesus returned to teaching in the temple during the festival of Booths. He declared that he was the light of the world. The Pharisees said that what Jesus said was not valid because he testified about himself. Jesus said that his testimony was valid because he knew where he came from and where he was going. And he said that his Father testified about him too, but they did not know either him or his Father.
Here are some other examples of headings for this section:
Jesus said that he was light for the world
Jesus’ testimony that he was the light of the world was valid
The Jewish religious leaders challenged what Jesus said. They said that his witness to himself was worthless. Jesus defended his witness by saying that his Father, God himself, was also a witness. God the Father also said that what Jesus said was true.
You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not valid: The second clause in this sentence is the conclusion of the first clause. The Pharisees were saying that because Jesus testified for himself, his testimony (what he testified) could not be valid. (The word valid here means “acceptable in a court of law.”) It was not valid because a Jewish rule said that no one could testify for himself. In some languages you may want to make this implied connection explicit. For example:
“You testify for yourself, so/therefore your testimony cannot be accepted.”
What you say is not reliable because you are the one who gives evidence about yourself.
So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself;
¶ Then some Pharisees said to Jesus, “You(sing) are giving a testimony/witness about yourself.
¶ Then some religious leaders who belonged to the Pharisee group/party said to Jesus, “You(sing) should not act as your own witness.
So: The Greek word that the BSB translates as So means “therefore” or “so.” Many English translations leave this word implied. Connect the events in a natural way in your language.
the Pharisees: The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group or party. It was very important to them to obey all of the Jewish religious laws carefully and exactly. See how you translated this term in 8:3a.
You are testifying about Yourself: The BSB translates literally the Greek phrase as about Yourself. The Pharisees were saying that Jesus was a witness who told about himself, and confirmed what he himself said. There was a Jewish rule that said that a man could not testify (give evidence) about himself. Try to use an expression for someone who might testify in a court of law to defend his own statements. For example:
Here you are, appearing as your own witness (NIV)
You are the only one speaking for yourself (CEV)
When you talk about yourself, you are the only one to say these things are true. (NCV)
Your testimony is not valid.”
What you(sing) say is not acceptable as true/proof.”
What you(sing) say about yourself cannot be accepted.”
Your testimony is not valid: This clause is very similar to what Jesus said others thought about himself in 5:31. See the note there and how you translated that verse.
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
what you say proves nothing (GNT)
We cannot accept what you say. (NCV)
We cannot accept your testimony as true.
Your testimony: The phrase Your testimony refers to what Jesus said about himself in 8:12. He said there that he was the light of the world.
is not valid: The Greek word that the BSB translates as valid is more literally “true.” There are two ways to interpret the word here:
In this context it means “accepted as true” or “acceptable as proof.” The Jewish leaders could not accept Jesus’ words about himself as proof of who he was. For example:
We cannot accept what you say. (NCV) (NIV, GNT, REB, NRSV, NLT, NCV, TLV)
It means “true.” For example:
and what you say isn’t true! (CEV) (NJB, NET, ESV, NASB, CEV, KJV, RSV, GW)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and almost all Bible experts. The two ideas are closely related and probably both are included in what they said. The Pharisees said that there was not valid evidence, and so they did not think that what Jesus said was true.
There is some implied information in this sentence. It is implied that Jesus was the only one who testified in support of what he said in 8:12. It may be necessary to supply this information so that the sentence is clearer. For example:
When you talk about yourself, you are the only one to say these things are true. We cannot accept what you say. (NCV)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
σὺ περὶ σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἶπον Οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι Σύ περί σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς ἡ μαρτυρία σοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν ἀληθής)
The Pharisees assumed that their listeners understood that they were referring to Jesus testifying about himself without there being any other witnesses to confirm his testimony. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [You are testifying about yourself without any other witnesses]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἡ μαρτυρία σου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής
the testimony (Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἶπον Οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι Σύ περί σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς ἡ μαρτυρία σοῦ οὐκ ἐστίν ἀληθής)
The Pharisees are implying that the testimony of only one person is not true because of a rule in the law of Moses. According to [Deuteronomy 19:15](../deu/19/15.md), a statement had to be confirmed by at least two witnesses in order to be considered true in legal decisions. If your audience is not familiar with the law of Moses in the Old Testament, then you can state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [your testimony about yourself cannot be true because the law of Moses requires at least two witnesses]
8:13 The Pharisees charged that Jesus’ claims were not valid because Jewish law (Deut 19:15) requires more than one witness (cp. John 5:31-32; see 8:17).
OET (OET-LV) Therefore the Farisaios_party said to_him:
You are_testifying about yourself, the testimony of_you is not true.
OET (OET-RV) Some from the Pharisee party argued, “You are testifying about yourself, so that testimony is invalid.”
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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