Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ² 

but I blessed him ³  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁴ 

John 8:39

8:39 They answered him, ⁵  “Abraham is our father!” ⁶  Jesus replied, ⁷  “If you are ⁸  Abraham’s children, you would be doing ⁹  the deeds of Abraham.

[51:2]  ¹ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ² tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ³ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[8:39]  ⁵ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[8:39]  ⁶ tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”

[8:39]  ⁷ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:39]  ⁸ tc Although most mss (C W Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï) have the imperfect ἦτε (hte, “you were”) here, making this sentence a proper second class condition, the harder reading, ἐστε (este, “you are”), is found in the better witnesses (Ì^66,75 א B D L 070 pc lat).

[8:39]  ⁹ tc Some important mss (Ì⁶⁶ B* [700]) have the present imperative ποιεῖτε (poieite) here: “If you are Abraham’s children, then do,” while many others (א² C K L N Δ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 565 579 892 pm) add the contingent particle ἄν (an) to ἐποιεῖτε (epoieite) making it a more proper second class condition by Attic standards. The simple ἐποιεῖτε without the ἄν is the hardest reading, and is found in some excellent witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* B² D W Γ Θ 070 0250 1424 pm).