Yohanes 8:41

8:41 You people ¹  are doing the deeds of your father.”

Then ²  they said to Jesus, ³  “We were not born as a result of immorality! ⁴  We have only one Father, God himself.”

Yohanes 9:41

9:41 Jesus replied, ⁵  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ⁶  but now because you claim that you can see, ⁷  your guilt ⁸  remains.” ⁹ 

Yohanes 10:32

10:32 Jesus said to them, ¹⁰  “I have shown you many good deeds ¹¹  from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?”

[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.

[9:41]  ⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ⁶ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ⁷ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ⁸ tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ⁹ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

[10:32]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”

[10:32]  ¹¹ tn Or “good works.”