John 6:42

6:42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

John 8:37

8:37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. ¹  But you want ²  to kill me, because my teaching ³  makes no progress among you. ⁴ 

John 8:41

8:41 You people ⁵  are doing the deeds of your father.”

Then ⁶  they said to Jesus, ⁷  “We were not born as a result of immorality! ⁸  We have only one Father, God himself.”

[8:37]  ¹ tn Grk “seed” (an idiom).

[8:37]  ² tn Grk “you are seeking.”

[8:37]  ³ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:37]  ⁴ 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.

[8:41]  ¹ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[8:41]  ² tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sy^s,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì^66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 ˹³ 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.

[8:41]  ³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:41]  ⁴ 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.