John 8:45-46

8:45 But because I am telling you ¹  the truth, you do not believe me. 8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty ²  of any sin? ³  If I am telling you ⁴  the truth, why don’t you believe me?

Luke 4:25

4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ⁵  when the sky ⁶  was shut up three and a half years, and ⁷  there was a great famine over all the land.

Luke 9:27

9:27 But I tell you most certainly, ⁸  there are some standing here who will not ⁹  experience ¹⁰  death before they see the kingdom of God.” ¹¹ 

Acts 10:34

10:34 Then Peter started speaking: ¹²  “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people, ¹³ 

[8:45]  ¹ tn Or “because I tell you.”

[8:46]  ² tn Or “can convict me.”

[8:46]  ³ tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”

[8:46]  ⁴ tn Or “if I tell you.”

[4:25]  ⁵ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

[4:25]  ⁶ tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

[4:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

[9:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “I tell you truly” (λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, legw de Jumin alhqw").

[9:27]  ⁹ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:27]  ¹¹ sn The meaning of the statement that some will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God is clear at one level, harder at another. Jesus predicts some will experience the kingdom before they die. When does this happen? (1) An initial fulfillment is the next event, the transfiguration. (2) It is also possible in Luke’s understanding that all but Judas experience the initial fulfillment of the coming of God’s presence and rule in the work of Acts 2. In either case, the “kingdom of God” referred to here would be the initial rather than the final phase.

[10:34]  ¹² tn Grk “Opening his mouth Peter said” (a Semitic idiom for beginning to speak in a somewhat formal manner). The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[10:34]  ¹³ tn Grk “God is not one who is a respecter of persons,” that is, “God is not one to show partiality” (cf. BDAG 887 s.v. προσωπολήμπτης). L&N 88.239 translates this verse “I realize that God does not show favoritism (in dealing with people).” The underlying Hebrew idiom includes the personal element (“respecter of persons”) so the phrase “in dealing with people” is included in the present translation. It fits very well with the following context and serves to emphasize the relational component of God’s lack of partiality. The latter is a major theme in the NT: Rom 2:11; Eph 2:11-22; Col 3:25; Jas 2:1; 1 Pet 1:17. This was the lesson of Peter’s vision.