YHN 8:41 Parallel Verse View

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

OET (OET-RV) You’re doing what your father wants you all do to.”
¶ But they shot back, “It’s not us who was conceived by a couple that weren’t even married! Anyway, we only have one father and that’s God.”

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, 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 You do the works of your father.” Then they said to him, “We have not been born from sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.”

UST You are doing the same things that your real father did.” They told him, “We are not illegitimate children, like you are! We have only one Father, and that is God.”

BSB You are doing the works of your father.”
§ “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father [is] God [Himself].”

MSB You are doing the works of your father.”
§ “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father [is] God [Himself].”

BLB You are doing the works of your father." Therefore they said to Him, "We have not been born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God."

AICNT [[But]][fn] You do the works of your father. They said [then][fn] to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality; we have one father, God.”

8:41, But: Some manuscripts include. D(05) Latin(b d e)

8:41, then: 𝔓66 𝔓75 C(04) D(05) Latin (d) BYZ TR N28[ ] ‖ Absent from some manuscripts. ℵ(01) B(03) W(032) Latin(a b e ff²) SBGNT THGNT

OEB You are doing what your own father does.’
¶ ‘We are not bastards,’ they said, ‘we have one Father – God himself.’

LSB You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.”

WEBBE You do the works of your father.”
¶ They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET You people are doing the deeds of your father.”
¶ Then they said to Jesus, “We were not born as a result of immorality! We have only one Father, God himself.”

LSV you do the works of your father.” They said, therefore, to Him, “We have not been born of whoredom; we have one Father—God”;

FBV You're doing what your father does.”
¶ “Well we[fn] are not illegitimate,” they responded. “God alone is our father!”

8:41 The word in the original is emphasized, implying that while they were not illegitimate, Jesus was.

TCNT You are doing the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of fornication. We have one Father—God.”

T4T No! You are doing the things that your real father does.”
¶ They said to him, “We do not know about you, but we are not illegitimate children. And spiritually, we have only one Father. That is God, and you do not know who your father is!”

LEB You are doing the deeds of your father!”They said[fn] to him, “We were not born from sexual immorality! We have one father, God!”

8:41 Some manuscripts have “Then they said”

BBE You are doing the works of your father. They said to him, We are true sons of Abraham; we have one Father, who is God.

Moff You do the deeds of your father." They said to him, "We are no bastards: we have one father, even God."

Wymth You are doing the deeds of your father." "We," they replied, "are not illegitimate children. We have one Father, namely God."

ASV Ye do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

DRA You do the works of your father. They said therefore to him: We are not born of fornication: we have one Father, even God.

YLT ye do the works of your father.' They said, therefore, to him, 'We of whoredom have not been born; one Father we have — God;'

Drby Ye do the works of your father. They said [therefore] to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one father, [fn]God.

8.41 Elohim

RV Ye do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
(Ye/You_all do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. )

SLT Ye do the works of your father. Then said they to him, We have not been born of fornication; for we have one Father, God.

Wbstr Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

KJB-1769 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
( Ye/You_all do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. )

KJB-1611 Ye doe the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not borne of fornication, wee haue one Father, euen God.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Ye do the deedes of your father. Then said they to him: We be not borne of fornication, we haue one father, euen God.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Gnva Ye do the workes of your father. Then said they to him, We are not borne of fornication: we haue one Father, which is God.
(Ye/You_all do the works of your father. Then said they to him, We are not born of fornication: we have one Father, which is God. )

Cvdl Ye do the dedes of youre father. Then sayde they vnto him: We are not borne of fornicacion, we haue one father, euen God.
(Ye/You_all do the deeds of your(pl) father. Then said they unto him: We are not born of fornication, we have one father, even God.)

TNT Iesus sayde vnto them: yf God were youre father then wolde ye love me. For I proceaded forthe and come from God. Nether came I of my selfe but he sent me.
(Yesus/Yeshua said unto them: if God were your(pl) father then would ye/you_all love me. For I proceeded forth and come from God. Neither came I of myself but he sent me. )

Wycl Ye doen the werkis of youre fadir. Therfor thei seiden to hym, We ben not borun of fornycacioun; we han o fadir, God.
(Ye/You_all doing the works of your(pl) father. Therefore they said to him, We been not born of fornication; we have o father, God.)

Luth Ihr tut eures Vaters Werke. Da sprachen sie zu ihm: Wir sind nicht unehelich geboren; wir haben einen Vater, GOtt.
(You(pl) does yours(pl) father work. So said they/she/them to/for him: We are not unehelich born; we/us have a father, God.)

ClVg Vos facitis opera patris vestri. Dixerunt itaque ei: Nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati: unum patrem habemus Deum.[fn]
(You(pl) you_do works of_the_father yours. They_said therefore to_him: We from fornication not/no we_are nati: one father we_have God. )

8.41 Vos facitis opera. Jam innuit alium patrem quam Abraham, cujus filii sunt, non natura, sed imitatione. Dixerunt, etc. Nos, etc. Jam intelligentes non de origine carnis, sed de vita Dominum loqui, et ex usu Scripturarum scientes fornicationem spiritualiter dici, cum anima falsis diis subjicitur, mutant responsionem et tacent jam de patre Abraham, ne eis dicatur: Cur de eo gloriamini, cujus vitam non imitamini? et dicunt patrem Deum, volentes videre quid ad hoc posset eis dicere.

8.41 You(pl) you_do works. Now hints another father how Abraham, whose children are, not/no nature/element, but imitatione. They_said, etc. Nos, etc. Now intelligent not/no from/about origine of_flesh, but from/about life the_Master to_speak, and from usu Scripturarum knowing fornication spiritually to_be_said, when/with the_soul false gods submitsur, mutant responsionem and be_silentnt already from/about to_his_father Abraham, not to_them be_said: Cur from/about by_him gloryini, whose life not/no imitamini? and they_say father God, volentes to_see what to this could to_them to_say.

UGNT ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν. εἶπαν οὖν αὐτῷ, ἡμεῖς ἐκ πορνείας οὐ γεγεννήμεθα; ἕνα Πατέρα ἔχομεν, τὸν Θεόν.
(humeis poieite ta erga tou patros humōn. eipan oun autōi, haʸmeis ek porneias ou gegennaʸmetha; hena Patera eⱪomen, ton Theon.)

SBL-GNT ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν. ⸀εἶπαν αὐτῷ· Ἡμεῖς ἐκ πορνείας ⸂οὐ γεγεννήμεθα⸃· ἕνα πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν θεόν.
(humeis poieite ta erga tou patros humōn. ⸀eipan autōi; Haʸmeis ek porneias ⸂ou gegennaʸmetha⸃; hena patera eⱪomen ton theon.)

RP-GNT Ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν. Εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ, Ἡμεῖς ἐκ πορνείας οὐ γεγεννήμεθα· ἕνα πατέρα ἔχομεν, τὸν θεόν.
(Humeis poieite ta erga tou patros humōn. Eipon oun autōi, Haʸmeis ek porneias ou gegennaʸmetha; hena patera eⱪomen, ton theon.)

TC-GNT Ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν. [fn]Εἶπον [fn]οὖν αὐτῷ, Ἡμεῖς ἐκ πορνείας [fn]οὐ γεγεννήμεθα· ἕνα πατέρα ἔχομεν, τὸν Θεόν.
(Humeis poieite ta erga tou patros humōn. Eipon oun autōi, Haʸmeis ek porneias ou gegennaʸmetha; hena patera eⱪomen, ton Theon. )

8:41 ειπον ¦ ειπαν NA SBL WH

8:41 ουν ¦ — SBL TH WH

8:41 ου γεγεννημεθα ¦ ουκ εγεννηθημεν WH

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 8:39–59: Abraham saw Jesus

In this section Jesus continued to speak to those who did not believe in him. Although they said that they were Abraham’s children and that God was their Father, they did not do what those people would. They did not accept Jesus’ teaching and wanted to kill him. So he said that their real father was the devil, who was a murderer and a liar.

They replied that he was a Samaritan and had a demon. Jesus denied that and said that if they accepted what he said, they would never die. They said that Abraham died and asked if he was greater than him. Jesus replied that he knew Abraham and existed before him. Then they wanted to throw stones at Jesus, but he hid.

Here are some other possible section headings:

Those who rejected Jesus had the devil for a father

Jesus existed before Abraham

Paragraph 8:39–41

The people who had recently believed in Jesus were Jewish and therefore said that they were Abraham’s children. Jesus said that their actions proved that what they said was false.

8:41a

You are doing the works of your father.”

As for you^(plur), you are following what your own father does.”
But you^(plur) are imitating/copying your real father.”

You are doing the works of your father: The Greek text emphasizes the word You. The word is plural and refers to the religious leaders who opposed Jesus. Jesus here implied that their true father was not Abraham, or God, but Satan, the evil one. However, you should not make that explicit in your translation here. Jesus did not make it explicit until verse 44. Here is another way to translate this clause:

No, you are imitating your real father. (NLT)

8:41b

“We are not illegitimate children,” they declared.

“As for us^(excl), we^(excl) are not illegitimate,” they said.
Then they said to Jesus, “Us^(excl)? We^(excl) are true/legitimate children/sons.

“We are not illegitimate children,” they declared: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as We are not illegitimate children is more literally “We were not born of sexual immorality” (NASB). The speakers said that they were legal, legitimate (born to a married couple) sons. Their parents were married. They therefore had a full right to call Abraham their ancestor and to claim God’s blessing and approval. Translate this clause with an expression that is natural in your language and suitable to read in public. In some languages it may be most natural to translate this as a positive statement:

We are legitimate children.

We are true/legal sons.

We: The Greek text emphasizes the pronoun We in the sentence. The emphasis suggests that the speakers contrasted themselves with Jesus, who they thought might be illegitimate (not legitimate). If you have a choice between an inclusive and an exclusive first-person pronoun, you should use an exclusive one here.

8:41c

“Our only Father is God Himself.”

God alone is our^(excl) Father.”
Our^(excl) only Father is God himself.”

Our only Father is God Himself: This clause indicates that the speakers thought that because they were Jews they were God’s children. They again implicitly contrasted themselves with Jesus. Apparently they suspected that Joseph was not his biological father. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

The only Father we have is God himself. (NIV)

God is our Father, and God alone. (REB)

General Comment on 8:41b–c

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of 8:41b–c. For example: