KJV: The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
YLT: The Pharisees, therefore, said to him, 'Thou of thyself dost testify, thy testimony is not true;'
Darby: The Pharisees therefore said to him, Thou bearest witness concerning thyself; thy witness is not true.
ASV: The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true.
| Εἶπον | Said |
|
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural Root: λέγω Sense: to speak, say. |
|
| αὐτῷ | to Him |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
|
| Φαρισαῖοι | Pharisees |
|
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural Root: Φαρισαῖος Sense: A sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile. |
|
| περὶ | concerning |
|
Parse: Preposition Root: περί Sense: about, concerning, on account of, because of, around, near. |
|
| σεαυτοῦ | Yourself |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 2nd Person Singular Root: σεαυτοῦ Sense: thyself, thee. |
|
| μαρτυρεῖς | are bearing witness |
|
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Singular Root: μαρτυρέω Sense: to be a witness, to bear witness, i.e. to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something, or that he knows it because taught by divine revelation or inspiration. |
|
| μαρτυρία | testimony |
|
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: μαρτυρία Sense: a testifying. |
|
| σου | of You |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Singular Root: σύ Sense: you. |
|
| ἀληθής | TRUE |
|
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: ἀληθής Sense: true. |
|
Greek Commentary for John 8:13
This technical objection was according to the rules of evidence among the rabbis. “No man can give witness for himself” (Mishnah, Ketub. 11. 9). Hence, they say, “not true” (ουκ αλητες ouk alēthes), not pertinent. “They were still in the region of pedantic rules and external tests.” In John 5:31 Jesus acknowledged this technical need of further witness outside of his own claims (John 5:19-30) and proceeded to give it (John 5:32-47) in the testimony of the Baptist, of the Father, of his works, of the Scriptures, and of Moses in particular. [source]
Rev., witness. A technical objection, evading the real purport of Jesus' declaration. The Rabbinical writings declared that no man could give witness for himself. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 8:13
Wyc., very light (compare the Nicene creed, “very God of very God”). This epithet is applied to light only here and 1 John 2:8, and is almost confined to the writings of John. A different word, ἀληθής , also rendered true, occurs at John 3:33; John 5:31; John 8:13, and elsewhere. The difference is that ἀληθινόζ signifies true, as contrasted with false; while ἀληθινός signifies what is real, perfect, and substantial, as contrasted with what is fanciful, shadowy, counterfeit, or merely symbolic. Thus God is ἀληθής (John 3:33) in that He cannot lie. He is ἀληθινός (1 Thessalonians 1:9), as distinguished from idols. In Hebrews 8:2, the heavenly tabernacle is called ἀληθινή , as distinguished from the Mosaic tabernacle, which was a figure of the heavenly reality (Hebrews 9:24). Thus the expression true light denotes the realization of the original divine idea of the Light - the archetypal Light, as contrasted with all imperfect manifestations: “the Light which fulfilled all that had been promised by the preparatory, partial, even fictitious lights which had existed in the world before.”“Our little systems have their day;They have their day and cease to be: They are but broken lights of Thee,-DIVIDER- And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.”Tennyson, In Memoriam. [source]
“And even if I pass judgment.” Condition of third class again. True (ale4thine4). See John 1:9 for αλητινος alēthinos genuine, soundly based (cf. δικαια dikaia in John 5:30), “satisfying our perfect conception” (Westcott), not merely true For I am not alone Jesus now takes up the technical criticism in John 8:13 after justifying his right to speak concerning himself. But I and the Father that sent me See John 16:32 for a like statement about the Father being with Christ. It is not certain that πατηρ patēr is genuine here (omitted by Aleph D, but in B L W), but the Father is clearly meant as in John 7:18, John 7:33. Jesus gives the Father as the second witness. [source]
Same use of καιδε kai -de as in John 8:16. They claimed possession of the law (John 7:49) and so Jesus takes this turn in answer to the charge of single witness in John 8:13. He will use similar language (your law) in John 10:34 in an argumentum ad hominem as here in controversy with the Jews. In John 15:24 to the apostles Jesus even says “in their law” in speaking of the hostile Jews plotting his death. He does not mean in either case to separate himself wholly from the Jews and the law, though in Matthew 5 he does show the superiority of his teaching to that of the law. For the Mosaic regulation about two witnesses see Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15. This combined witness of two is not true just because they agree, unless true in fact separately. But if they disagree, the testimony falls to the ground. In this case the Father confirms the witness of the Son as Jesus had already shown (John 5:37). [source]