8:39 They answered him, 12 “Abraham is our father!” 13 Jesus replied, 14 “If you are 15 Abraham’s children, you would be doing 16 the deeds of Abraham. 8:40 But now you are trying 17 to kill me, a man who has told you 18 the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! 19 8:41 You people 20 are doing the deeds of your father.”
Then 21 they said to Jesus, 22 “We were not born as a result of immorality! 23 We have only one Father, God himself.”
1 tn Grk “We are the seed” (an idiom).
2 tn Grk “They answered to him.”
3 tn Or “How is it that you say.”
4 tn Grk “seed” (an idiom).
5 tn Grk “you are seeking.”
6 tn Grk “my word.”
7 tn Or “finds no place in you.” The basic idea seems to be something (in this case Jesus’ teaching) making headway or progress where resistance is involved. See BDAG 1094 s.v. χωρέω 2.
8 tc The first person pronoun μου (mou, “my”) may be implied, especially if ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) follows the second mention of “father” in this verse (as it does in the majority of
9 tn Grk “The things which I have seen with the Father I speak about.”
10 tn Grk “and you.”
11 tc A few significant witnesses lack ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here (Ì66,75 B L W 070 pc), while the majority have the pronoun (א C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë1,13 33 565 892 Ï al lat sy). However, these
12 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”
13 tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”
14 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
15 tc Although most
16 tc Some important
17 tn Grk “seeking.”
18 tn Grk “has spoken to you.”
19 tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.
20 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
21 tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sys,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë13 33 Ï). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 52). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA27 has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
22 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
23 sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.
24 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).
25 tn Or “rejoiced greatly.”
26 tn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement that the patriarch Abraham “saw” his day and rejoiced? The use of past tenses would seem to refer to something that occurred during the patriarch’s lifetime. Genesis Rabbah 44:25ff, (cf. 59:6) states that Rabbi Akiba, in a debate with Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, held that Abraham had been shown not this world only but the world to come (this would include the days of the Messiah). More realistically, it is likely that Gen 22:13-15 lies behind Jesus’ words. This passage, known to rabbis as the Akedah (“Binding”), tells of Abraham finding the ram which will replace his son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice – an occasion of certain rejoicing.