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ParallelVerse 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 Intro 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 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V55 V57 V59
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=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) How could you be greater than our ancestor Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do you think you are?”![]()
OET-LV You are not greater than Abraʼam the father of_us, who died_off?
Also the prophets died_off.
Whom you_are_making yourself?
![]()
SR-GNT Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ, ὅστις ἀπέθανεν; Καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον! Τίνα σεαυτὸν ποιεῖς;” ‡
(Maʸ su meizōn ei tou patros haʸmōn Abraʼam, hostis apethanen; Kai hoi profaʸtai apethanon! Tina seauton poieis;”)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
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 are not greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? The prophets also died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”
UST You are surely not greater than our ancestor Abraham! He died and all the prophets also died. So who do you think you are?”
BSB Are You greater than our father Abraham? [He] died, [as did] the prophets. Who do You claim to be?”
MSB (Same as BSB above)
BLB Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Whom do You make yourself?"
AICNT Are you greater than [our father][fn] Abraham, {who}[fn] died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself to be?”
8:53, our father: Absent from some manuscripts. D(05) W(032) Latin(a b d e ff2)
8:53, who: Some manuscripts read “that.” 𝔓66 D(05) Latin(a d)
OEB Are you greater than our ancestor Abraham, who died? And the prophets died too. Whom do you make yourself out to be?’
LSB Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?”
WEBBE Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”
WMBB (Same as above)
NET You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?”
LSV Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died; whom do You make Yourself?”
FBV Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and the prophets died. Who do you think you are?”
TCNT Are yoʋ greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do yoʋ make yoʋrself out to be?”
T4T ◄You are certainly not greater than our ancestor Abraham!/Do you think you are greater than our ancestor Abraham?► [RHQ] He died, and all the prophets died, so who do you think you are by saying something like that?”
LEB You are not greater than our father Abraham who died, are you?[fn] And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself to be?”
8:53 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “are you”
BBE Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead: who do you say that you are?
Moff Are you greater than our father Abraham? He is dead, and the prophets are dead. Who do you claim to be?"
Wymth Are you really greater than our forefather Abraham? For he died. And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?"
ASV Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?
DRA Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself?
YLT Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died; whom dost thou make thyself?'
Drby Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who has died? and the prophets have died: whom makest thou thyself?
RV Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
(Art thou/you greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest/make thou/you thyself/yourself? )
SLT Thou art not greater than our father Abraham, who died; and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?
Wbstr Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
KJB-1769 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
(Art thou/you greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest/make thou/you thyself/yourself? )
KJB-1611 Art thou greater then our father Abraham, which is dead? and the Prophets are dead: whom makest thou thy selfe?
(Art thou/you greater then our father Abraham, which is dead? and the Prophets are dead: whom makest/make thou/you thyself/yourself?)
Bshps Art thou greater the our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophetes are dead: whom makest thou thy selfe?
(Art thou/you greater the our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest/make thou/you thyself/yourself?)
Gnva Art thou greater then our father Abraham, which is dead? and the Prophets are dead: whome makest thou thy selfe?
(Art thou/you greater then our father Abraham, which is dead? and the Prophets are dead: whom makest/make thou/you thyself/yourself? )
Cvdl Art thou greater then oure father Abraham? which is deed, and the prophetes are deed? Who makest thou thy self?
(Art thou/you greater then our father Abraham? which is deed, and the prophets are deed? Who makest/make thou/you thy/your self?)
TNT Arte thou greater then oure father Abraham which is deed? and the Prophetes are deed. Whome makest thou thy selfe?
(Arte thou/you greater then our father Abraham which is deed? and the Prophets are deed. Whom makest/make thou/you thyself/yourself? )
Wycl Whether thou art grettere than oure fader Abraham, that is deed, and the prophetis ben deed; whom makist thou thi silf?
(Whether thou/you art greater than our fader Abraham, that is deed, and the prophets been deed; whom makest/make thou/you thyself/yourself?)
Luth Bist du mehr denn unser Vater Abraham, welcher gestorben ist? Und die Propheten sind gestorben. Was machst du aus dir selbst?
(Bist you(sg) more because/than our father Abraham, which died is? And the prophet(s) are died. What make/do you(sg) out_of you/to_you(sg) himself/itself?)
ClVg Numquid tu major es patre nostro Abraham, qui mortuus est? et prophetæ mortui sunt. Quem teipsum facis?[fn]
(Is_it you(sg) major/greater you_are to_his_father our Abraham, who/which dead it_is? and the_prophets dead are. Which yourself you_do? )
8.53 Quem teipsum facis? Secundum illos se faciebat Filium Dei, æqualem sibi, quasi non esset, sed non faciebat, imo vere erat; unde Apostolus: Non rapinam arbitratus est esse se æqualem Deo Philip. 2.. Ideo non qui es, sed quem teipsum facis?
8.53 Which yourself you_do? After/Second those himself he_was_doing Son of_God, equallem to_himself, as_if not/no was, but not/no he_was_doing, rather really/truly was; from_where/who Apostolus: Not/No robbery arbitratus it_is to_be himself equallem to_God Philip. 2.. Therefore/For_that_reason not/no who/which you_are, but which yourself you_do?
UGNT μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ, ὅστις ἀπέθανεν? καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον! τίνα σεαυτὸν ποιεῖς?
(maʸ su meizōn ei tou patros haʸmōn Abraʼam, hostis apethanen? kai hoi profaʸtai apethanon! tina seauton poieis?)
SBL-GNT μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ, ὅστις ἀπέθανεν; καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον· τίνα ⸀σεαυτὸν ποιεῖς;
(maʸ su meizōn ei tou patros haʸmōn Abraʼam, hostis apethanen; kai hoi profaʸtai apethanon; tina ⸀seauton poieis;)
RP-GNT Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ, ὅστις ἀπέθανεν; Καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον· τίνα σεαυτὸν σὺ ποιεῖς;
(Maʸ su meizōn ei tou patros haʸmōn Abraʼam, hostis apethanen; Kai hoi profaʸtai apethanon; tina seauton su poieis;)
TC-GNT Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ, ὅστις ἀπέθανε; Καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον· τίνα σεαυτὸν [fn]σὺ ποιεῖς;
(Maʸ su meizōn ei tou patros haʸmōn Abraʼam, hostis apethane; Kai hoi profaʸtai apethanon; tina seauton su poieis; )
8:53 συ ¦ — CT
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
8:53 Who do you think you are? This question was antagonistic and aggressive. However, if Jesus is immortal, ruling over life and death, then he is greater than Abraham, the prophets, or any of the greatest people in Israel’s history (8:58).
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
Jesus’ opponents were angry that he said that he was able to protect people from death. When Jesus then said that he had existed before Abraham, they became so angry that they tried to kill him.
Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died,
Are you(sing) more important than our(excl) father Abraham? He died
You(sing) seem to think you are greater than our(excl) father Abraham.
Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died: In Greek this is a question about Abraham that also includes a statement about him. In many languages it may be natural to break this up into two independent clauses or sentences like the BSB. In other languages, it may be natural to make this one sentence. For example:
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? (NRSV)
Our father Abraham died; you do not claim to be greater than Abraham, do you? (GNT)
Are You greater than our father Abraham?: This is a rhetorical question that implies that the answer is “No.” The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus used it as a rebuke. They rebuked Jesus because he said that people who followed him would not die. They understood that this statement implied that he was greater than Abraham. Therefore, their question implied that Jesus was not greater than Abraham.
There are two ways to translate this rebuke:
Use a rhetorical question. For example:
You aren’t greater than our father Abraham…are you? (NET)
Use a statement. For example:
You are definitely not as great as our father Abraham.
Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.
greater: This word here means more important, more significant spiritually, and more righteous.
our father Abraham: Abraham had lived about two thousand years before. He was the first ancestor of the Jewish people. They all honored him highly. His death is recorded in Genesis 25:7–11.
as did the prophets.
and the prophets died also.
Abraham and the prophets of God have all died.
as did the prophets: This refers to the prophets whose lives are recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. Although they were good men, honorable and righteous, they all died.
Who do You claim to be?”
Who are you(sing) claiming/saying that you are?”
Who do you(sing) think/suppose that you are?”
Who do You claim to be?: This is a rhetorical question. The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus used it as a rebuke. They rebuked Jesus because they thought that he thought that he was more important or special than he actually was. (Jesus did not actually think like that.) They were angry at his claim (saying something that he did not prove) that people who trusted him will not die. They understood that he implied that he was not an ordinary man. There are two ways to translate this rebuke:
Use a rhetorical question. For example:
Who do you think you are? (NIV)
Use a statement. For example:
You must think that you are very important!
You clearly think you are someone special!
Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ, ὅστις ἀπέθανεν?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: μή Σύ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρός ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ ὅστις ἀπέθανεν Καί οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον Τίνα σεαυτόν ποιεῖς)
The Jews are using this question to emphasize that they do not think that Jesus is greater than Abraham. If you would not use a rhetorical question for this purpose in your language, you could translate these words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [You are certainly not greater than our father Abraham who died!]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: μή Σύ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρός ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ ὅστις ἀπέθανεν Καί οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον Τίνα σεαυτόν ποιεῖς)
See how you translated this phrase in verse [39](../08/39.md).
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
τίνα σεαυτὸν ποιεῖς?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: μή Σύ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρός ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ ὅστις ἀπέθανεν Καί οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον Τίνα σεαυτόν ποιεῖς)
The Jews are using this question to rebuke Jesus for thinking that he is more important than Abraham. If you would not use a rhetorical question for this purpose in your language, you could translate these words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [You should not think that you are so important!]