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ParallelVerse GENEXOLEVNUMDEUJOBJOSJDGRUTH1 SAM2 SAMPSAAMOSHOS1 KI2 KI1 CHR2 CHRPROVECCSNGJOELMICISAZEPHABJERLAMYNA (JNA)NAHOBADANEZEEZRAESTNEHHAGZECMALLAOGESLESESGDNG2 PSTOBJDTWISSIRBARLJEPAZSUSBELMAN1 MAC2 MAC3 MAC4 MACYHNMARKMATLUKEACTsYAC (JAM)GAL1 TH2 TH1 COR2 CORROMCOLPHMEPHPHP1 TIMTIT1 PET2 PET2 TIMHEBYUD (JUD)1 YHN (1 JHN)2 YHN (2 JHN)3 YHN (3 JHN)REV

Yhn IntroC1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8C9C10C11C12C13C14C15C16C17C18C19C20C21

Yhn 7 V1V3V5V7V9V11V13V17V19V21V23V25V27V29V31V33V35V37V39V41V43V45V47V49V51V53

Parallel YHN 7:15

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

BI Yhn 7:15 ©

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal(All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV)Even the Jewish leaders were surprised, asking, “How can this man know so much when he hasn’t been trained as a teacher?”OET logo mark

OET-LVTherefore the Youdaiōns were_marvelling saying:
How has_ this one _known letters, not having_learned?
OET logo mark

SR-GNTἘθαύμαζον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες, “Πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν, μὴ μεμαθηκώς;”
   (Ethaumazon oun hoi Youdaioi legontes, “Pōs houtos grammata oiden, maʸ memathaʸkōs;”)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULTTherefore, the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this one know letters, not being educated?”

USTThe Jewish leaders were shocked at his teaching. They said, “This man has not received religious training. He cannot possibly know the scriptures so well!”

BSBThe Jews were amazed [and] asked, “How {did} this [man] attain [such] learning without having studied?”

MSBThe Jews were amazed [and] asked, “How {did} this [man] attain [such] learning without having studied?”

BLBThen the Jews were marveling, saying, "How does this one know such writings, not having studied?"


AICNTAnd the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never learned?”

OEBThe authorities were astonished. ‘How has this man got his learning,’ they asked, ‘when he has never studied?’

LSB The Jews then were marveling, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?”

WEBBEThe Jews therefore marvelled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”

WMBBThe Judeans therefore marvelled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”

NETThen the Jewish leaders were astonished and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”

LSVand the Jews were wondering, saying, “How has this One known letters—having not learned?”

FBVThe Jewish leaders were very surprised, and asked, “How does this man have so much learning[fn] when he hasn't been educated?”


7:15 In the sense of religious education.

TCNTThe Jews were amazed, saying, “How does this man know so much, when he has never had any formal instruction?”

T4TThe Jewish elders were amazed at what he was saying. They said, “This man never studied in one of our religious schools! So how can he have learned so much about Scripture?/it is difficult for us to believe that he has learned so much about Scripture!► [RHQ]

LEBThen the Jews were astonished, saying, “How does this man possess knowledge,[fn] because he[fn] has not been taught?”


7:15 Literally “know letters”

7:15 *Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“been taught”) which is understood as causal

BBEThen the Jews were surprised and said, How has this man got knowledge of books? He has never been to school.

MoffNo Moff YHN (JHN) 7:15 verse available

WymthThe Jews were astonished. "How does this man know anything of books," they said, "although he has never been at any of the schools?"

ASVThe Jews therefore marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

DRAAnd the Jews wondered, saying: How doth this man know letters, having never learned?

YLTand the Jews were wondering, saying, 'How hath this one known letters — not having learned?'

DrbyThe Jews therefore wondered, saying, How knows this [man] letters, having never learned?

RVThe Jews therefore marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
   (The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, How knoweth/knows this man letters, having never learned/learnt? )

SLTAnd the Jews wondered, saying, How knows he letters, not having learned.

WbstrAnd the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

KJB-1769And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
   (And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth/knows this man letters, having never learned/learnt? )

KJB-1611And the Iewes marueiled, saying, How knoweth this man[fn]letters, hauing neuer learned?
   (And the Yews marvelled, saying, How knoweth/knows this manletters, having never learned/learnt?)


7:15 Or, learning.

BshpsAnd the Iewes marueyled, saying: howe knoweth he the scriptures, seyng that he neuer learned?
   (And the Yews marvelled, saying: how knoweth/knows he the scriptures, seeing that he never learned/learnt?)

GnvaAnd the Iewes marueiled, saving, Howe knoweth this man the Scriptures, seeing that hee neuer learned!
   (And the Yews marvelled, saving, How knoweth/knows this man the Scriptures, seeing that he never learned/learnt! )

CvdlAnd the Iewes marueyled and sayde: How can he ye scrypture, seynge he hath not lerned it?
   (And the Yews marvelled and said: How can he ye/you_all scrypture, seeing he hath/has not learned/learnt it?)

TNTAnd the Iewes marveylled sayinge: How knoweth he the scriptures seynge that he never learned?
   (And the Yews marveylled saying: How knoweth/knows he the scriptures seeing that he never learned/learnt? )

WyclAnd the Jewis wondriden, and seiden, Hou can this man lettris, sithen he hath not lerned?
   (And the Yews wondered, and said, How can this man lettris, since he hath/has not learned/learnt?)

LuthUnd die Juden verwunderten sich und sprachen: Wie kann dieser die Schrift, so er sie doch nicht gelernet hat?
   (And the Yews surprised itself/yourself/themselves and said: How can this the writing, so he they/she/them though/but not learnt has?)

ClVgEt mirabantur Judæi, dicentes: Quomodo hic litteras scit, cum non didicerit?
   (And they_were_surprised Jews, saying: How/In_what_manner this/here letters he_knows, when/with not/no didicerit? )

UGNTἐθαύμαζον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες, πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν, μὴ μεμαθηκώς?
   (ethaumazon oun hoi Youdaioi legontes, pōs houtos grammata oiden, maʸ memathaʸkōs?)

SBL-GNT⸂ἐθαύμαζον οὖν⸃ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες· Πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν μὴ μεμαθηκώς;
   (⸂ethaumazon oun⸃ hoi Youdaioi legontes; Pōs houtos grammata oiden maʸ memathaʸkōs;)

RP-GNTΚαὶ ἐθαύμαζον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες, Πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν, μὴ μεμαθηκώς;
   (Kai ethaumazon hoi Youdaioi legontes, Pōs houtos grammata oiden, maʸ memathaʸkōs;)

TC-GNT[fn]Καὶ ἐθαύμαζον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες, Πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδε, μὴ μεμαθηκώς;
   (Kai ethaumazon hoi Youdaioi legontes, Pōs houtos grammata oide, maʸ memathaʸkōs; )


7:15 και εθαυμαζον ¦ εθαυμαζον ουν CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).


TSNTyndale Study Notes:

7:15 The leaders wanted Jesus to show his credentials. Jesus had not been trained under a rabbi but was taught by his heavenly Father (cp. Peter and John, Acts 4:13; contrast Paul, Acts 22:3).


SOTNSIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 7:10–24: Jesus went to the Feast in Jerusalem

After Jesus stayed in Galilee a while, he went up quietly by himself. The crowds there disagreed about whether Jesus was a good man. He began to teach the people gathered at the temple and the Jewish leaders were amazed at his teaching. Jesus explained that his teaching came from God. Then he made them angry by saying that none of them kept the law.

Here are some other possible section headings:

Jesus began to teach at the festival of Booths

Jesus’ teaching came from God

Paragraph 7:14–24

Jesus went up to the festival of Booths/Tabernacles in Jerusalem while it was happening. He began to teach in the temple. His teaching amazed the Jewish leaders because he never had a religious education like theirs. Jesus stated that his teaching was not his own but came directly from God. He said that the leaders were wrong to criticize him for healing people on the Sabbath. They themselves also worked on the Sabbath sometimes, when they did a circumcision ceremony.

7:15a

The Jews were amazed and asked,

The BSB leaves implicit a Greek word in this clause that is usually translated as “therefore.” Most other English translations also leave the word implicit, although a few translations use “then” or “therefore” to translate it. Translate this Greek word in a way that is natural in your language.

The Jews: This phrase refers to the Jewish leaders here. See how you translated this term in 7:1, 7:11 and 7:13. Make sure it is clear that you are referring to the same people in those verses. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

The Jewish authorities (GNT)

the Jewish leaders (NET)

The leaders (CEV)

were amazed: This expression is more literally “were astonished” in the Greek text. The expression indicates that the Jewish leaders were amazed at Jesus’ teaching. They did not expect that he would know so much and be able to teach so well. Here are other ways to translate this expression:

were amazed (NIV)

were greatly surprised (GNT)

asked: The verb asked here introduces a rhetorical question. In some languages it may be more natural to translate it in one of these ways:

and asked each other

7:15b

“How did this man attain such learning without having studied?”

How did this man attain such learning without having studied?: This is a rhetorical question. The Jewish leaders used it as an expression of surprise. The Jewish leaders were surprised at Jesus’ excellent understanding of their religion.

There are at least three ways to translate this rhetorical question:

Translate this expression of surprise in a way that is natural in your language.

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the clauses in this sentence. For example:

The rabbis have never taught this man the Law/Scriptures! Yet he knows so much about it!

How did this man attain such learning: The phrase such learning here means “such great learning.” It refers to the fact that Jesus’ teaching showed that he understood well the Jewish Law and the Hebrew Scriptures. The people speaking wondered how he got this understanding. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what Jesus had learned (the Jewish Law). For example:

How did this man learn so much about our(incl) Law?

In some languages it may be natural to translate the noun learning as a verb. For example:

How does this man know so much…? (GNT)

without having studied: This clause indicates why the Jewish leaders were surprised. They were surprised at Jesus’ learning because he had not been taught the Law by the rabbis. He had not studied to be a professional teacher of the Torah. The clause does not mean that Jesus had not learned anything, like how to read.


UTNuW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι

the Jews

Here, the Jews refers to the Jewish leaders. See how you translated this term in [1:19](../01/19.md).

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐθαύμαζον

˓were˒_marveling

The word translated marveled refers to being amazed or in wonder of something in either a negative or positive way. Since the Jewish leaders despised Jesus, their amazement was unfavorable toward him. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [showed their surprise]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν, μὴ μεμαθηκώς?

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐθαύμαζον Οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες Πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν μή μεμαθηκώς)

The Jewish leaders are using the form of a question to emphasize that they were surprised and annoyed by how much knowledge Jesus had about Scripture. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate their words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [He certainly cannot know so much about the scriptures, not being educated!]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

οὗτος

this_‹one›

John records the Jewish leaders saying this one as a disrespectful way to refer to Jesus and to avoid saying his name. If your language has a similar way to refer to someone in an indirect but derogatory manner, you may use it here. Alternate translation: [this so-and-so]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

μὴ μεμαθηκώς

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐθαύμαζον Οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες Πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν μή μεμαθηκώς)

The Jewish leaders use educated to refer to receiving a Jewish religious education, which would include studying the Hebrew scriptures and Jewish religious traditions. This does not mean that they thought Jesus didn’t know how to read or write. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [not being trained in our scriptures and doctrines]

Note 6 topic: writing-quotations

ἐθαύμαζον & οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες

˓were˒_marveling & the Jews saying

Consider natural ways of introducing direct quotations in your language. Alternate translation: [the Jews marveled, and they said]

BI Yhn 7:15 ©