YHN 8:13 Parallel Verse View

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.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
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).

ULT Then the Pharisees said to him, “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true.”

UST The Pharisees then told him, “You are the only witness for yourself! Since the law of Moses requires at least two witnesses, what you say cannot be true!”

BLB Therefore the Pharisees said to Him, "You are bearing witness concerning Yourself; Your testimony is not true."

AICNT So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”

OEB ‘You are bearing testimony to yourself!’ exclaimed the Pharisees, ‘your testimony is not trustworthy.’

LSB So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

WEBBE The Pharisees therefore said to him, “You testify about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET So the Pharisees objected, “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!”

LSV The Pharisees, therefore, said to Him, “You testify of Yourself, Your testimony is not true”;

FBV The Pharisees replied, “You can't be your own witness![fn] What you say doesn't prove anything!”

8:13 Or “you're just making claims about yourself!”

TCNT So the Pharisees said to him, “Yoʋ are testifying about yoʋrself, so yoʋr testimony is not valid.”

T4T So the Pharisees said to him, “You are just telling about yourself! Since there is no one else to verify these things that you say about yourself, we do not need to accept that what you say is true.”

LEB So the Pharisees said to him, “You testify concerning yourself! Your testimony is not true.”

BBE So the Pharisees said to him, The witness you give is about yourself: your witness is not true.

Moff So the Pharisees said to him, "You are testifying to yourself; your evidence is not valid."

Wymth "You are giving testimony about yourself," said the Pharisees; "your testimony is not true."

ASV The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true.

DRA The Pharisees therefore said to him: Thou givest testimony of thyself: thy testimony is not true.

YLT The Pharisees, therefore, said to him, 'Thou of thyself dost testify, thy testimony is not true;'

Drby The Pharisees therefore said to him, Thou bearest witness concerning thyself; thy witness is not true.

RV The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true.
(The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou/You bearest/bear witness of thyself/yourself; thy/your witness is not true. )

SLT Then said the Pharisees to him, Thou testifiest of thyself; thy testimony is not true.

Wbstr The Pharisees therefore said to him, Thou testifiest concerning thyself; thy testimony is not true.

KJB-1769 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
(The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou/You bearest/bear record of thyself/yourself; thy/your record is not true. )

KJB-1611 The Pharisees therefore said vnto him, Thou bearest record of thy selfe, thy record is not true.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps The pharisees therfore said vnto him: Thou bearest recorde of thy selfe, thy recorde is not true.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Gnva The Pharises therefore saide vnto him, Thou bearest recorde of thy selfe: thy recorde is not true.
(The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou/You bearest/bear record of thyself/yourself: thy/your record is not true. )

Cvdl Then sayde the Pharises vnto him: Thou bearest recorde of thy self, thy recorde is not true.
(Then said the Pharisees unto him: Thou/You bearest/bear record of thy/your self, thy/your record is not true.)

TNT The pharises sayde vnto him: thou bearest recorde of thy sylfe thy recorde is not true.
(The Pharisees said unto him: thou/you bearest/bear record of thy/your sylfe thy/your record is not true. )

Wycl Therfor the Fariseis seiden, Thou berist witnessyng of thi silf; thi witnessyng is not trewe.
(Therefore the Pharisees said, Thou/You bearest/bear witnessing of thyself/yourself; thy/your witnessing is not true.)

Luth Da sprachen die Pharisäer zu ihm: Du zeugest von dir selbst; dein Zeugnis ist nicht wahr.
(So said the Pharisees to/for him: You(sg) witness(v)st from you/to_you(sg) himself/itself; your(s) transcript is not true.)

ClVg Dixerunt ergo ei pharisæi: Tu de teipso testimonium perhibes; testimonium tuum non est verum.[fn]
(They_said therefore to_him Pharisees: You(sg) from/about teipso testimony perhibes; testimony your(sg) not/no it_is true. )

8.13 Testimonium. Putant non credendum ei. Quasi: Solus de se testatur obliti præmissarum lucernarum, et ipsius Joannis Baptistæ, qui de eo evidenter ostendit.

8.13 Testimony. Putant not/no to_be_believed to_him. Quasi: Solus from/about himself testifies forgotten beforemissarum lamprum, and of_his/her_own Yoannis Baptists, who/which from/about by_him evidenter he_showed.

UGNT εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, σὺ περὶ σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς; ἡ μαρτυρία σου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής.
(eipon oun autōi hoi Farisaioi, su peri seautou martureis; haʸ marturia sou ouk estin alaʸthaʸs.)

SBL-GNT εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι· Σὺ περὶ σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς· ἡ μαρτυρία σου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής.
(eipon oun autōi hoi Farisaioi; Su peri seautou martureis; haʸ marturia sou ouk estin alaʸthaʸs.)

RP-GNT Εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, Σὺ περὶ σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς· ἡ μαρτυρία σου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής.
(Eipon oun autōi hoi Farisaioi, Su peri seautou martureis; haʸ marturia sou ouk estin alaʸthaʸs.)

TC-GNT Εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, Σὺ περὶ σεαυτοῦ μαρτυρεῖς· ἡ μαρτυρία σου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής.
(Eipon oun autōi hoi Farisaioi, Su peri seautou martureis; haʸ marturia sou ouk estin alaʸthaʸs. )

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 8:12–20: Jesus is the light of the world

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

Paragraph 8:13–18

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.

8:13a-b

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.

8:13a

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)

8:13b

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.

General Comment on 8:13a–b

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)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

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]

Parallel YHN 8:13

Section 8:12–20: Jesus is the light of the world

Paragraph 8:13–18

8:13a-b

8:13a

8:13b

General Comment on 8:13a–b