John 4:12

4:12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor ¹  Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.” ² 

John 8:39

8:39 They answered him, ³  “Abraham is our father!” ⁴  Jesus replied, ⁵  “If you are ⁶  Abraham’s children, you would be doing ⁷  the deeds of Abraham.

John 10:24

10:24 The Jewish leaders ⁸  surrounded him and asked, ⁹  “How long will you keep us in suspense? ¹⁰  If you are the Christ, ¹¹  tell us plainly.” ¹² 

[4:12]  ¹ tn Or “our forefather”; Grk “our father.”

[4:12]  ² 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 this instance all of v. 12 is one question. It has been broken into two sentences for the sake of English style (instead of “for he” the Greek reads “who”).

[8:39]  ³ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[8:39]  ⁴ tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”

[8:39]  ⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:39]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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).

[10:24]  ⁵ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. The question they ask Jesus (“Are you the Christ?”) is the same one they sent and asked of John the Baptist in the desert (see John 1:19-34). See also the note on the phrase “the Jewish people” in v. 19.

[10:24]  ⁶ tn Grk “said to him.” This has been translated as “asked” for stylistic reasons.

[10:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “How long will you take away our life?” (an idiom which meant to keep one from coming to a conclusion about something). The use of the phrase τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν αἴρεις (thn yuchn Jhmwn airei") meaning “to keep in suspense” is not well attested, although it certainly fits the context here. In modern Greek the phrase means “to annoy, bother.”

[10:24]  ⁸ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[10:24]  ⁹ tn Or “publicly.”