JMNT(i)
1 Now Jesus went on His way into the Mount of the Olives.
2 Yet at dawn (at daybreak; early in the morning) He came to be alongside, moving into the Temple courts (porches; grounds), and all the people began and kept on coming toward Him, and so, after sitting down (taking a seat), He began and continued teaching them.
3 Now the scribes (specialists in the written Scriptures; theologians; scholars) and the Pharisees are progressively bringing a woman (or: a wife) – a woman being one having been taken down (grasped down with force; overpowered by hand, seized and forced) upon in an act of adultery – and then, standing (setting; placing) her within the midst,
4 they proceeded to be saying to Him, "Teacher, this woman (or: this, the wife) has been taken down, grasped, overpowered by hand and forced, upon the very act: being a woman having repeatedly been adulterated (or: having the act of adultery habitually performed upon her).
5 "Now within the Law, Moses implanted a goal for (imparted the end in view with; gave an inward directive to) us to repeatedly stone this sort of woman. Therefore, what are you yourself now saying?"
6 – Now they were saying this, continuing in putting Him to the proof (examining so as to test Him; = to trap Him) to the end that they should continue holding (or: having) [something] to be constantly accusing (or: progressively bringing charges) pertaining to Him –So Jesus, stooping (or: bowing [His] head and bending) down, began writing down into the dirt (earth; soil; ground) with the finger.
7 Now as they were persisting, remaining upon [the subject], continuing to question Him, He unbends back up (or: straightens up) and says to them, "Let the sinless one (the one without failure or a miss of the target) of (or: among) you folks [be] first [to] cast (or: throw) a stone upon her."
8 And again, bending (or: stooping) down, He was continuing to write into the dirt (or: earth).
9 So those hearing [Him] also being progressively convinced, then convicted by the conscience, began going out, one by one, beginning from the elders (or: the older ones) until the last ones. Then Jesus was left behind, alone, and also the woman (or: the wife) continuing being [other MSS: standing] in the midst [of the court].
10 Now Jesus, unbending, straightening up and seeing no one but the woman, says to her, "O woman (or: = Dear lady), where are those, your accusers? Does no one condemn you?"
11 Then she says, "No one, sir (or: O lord; or: Master)." So Jesus says to her, "Neither am I Myself bringing a corresponding decision upon you (or: proceeding to condemn you according to the pattern). Be going on your way, and from this moment no longer make it a habit to miss the target (or: from now on be failing no more; from the present moment no longer practice error or sin)."
12 Jesus therefore again spoke to them [i.e., to those whom He had just been teaching, in vs. 2, or at a later time], saying, "I Myself am (or: continuously exist being) the Light of the world (or: of the cosmos; of the ordered system; of the dominant cultural, political, economic and religious arrangements; of the universe; of ‘the theater of history’ – Walter Wink). The one habitually and progressively following Me can by no means walk around (= under no circumstances live his or her life) within the darkness (or: the dim and shaded areas; the gloom and obscurity due to the lack of the Light of the Day; the [realm] of the shadows; [note: = ignorance; = that situation which existed before the Light came; or, could also refer to the dim condition within the holy place of the Temple, or to the darkness of death, blindness or the womb]), but, to the contrary, he will progressively possess (constantly have and hold) the Light of 'the Life!' (or: the light which is life.)"
13 Therefore the Pharisees said to Him, "You yourself are continuing to bear witness (or: are now giving testimony) about yourself! Your witness (testimony) is not true!"
14 Jesus considers a reply, and then says to them, "Even if I Myself continue bearing witness (or: am now giving testimony) about Myself, My witness (testimony) is, and continues being, true (valid; real; genuine) because I have seen and thus know where (or: what place) I came from, as well as under where I progressively lead the way (or: to where I am going). Yet you folks, yourselves, have not seen and do not know from where (or: what place) I am progressively coming, nor under where I progressively lead the way (or: to where I am departing and continuing to go).
15 "You people, yourselves, continue making decisions based on the flesh (or: constantly separate, evaluate and judge down from, on the level of, and in accord with [the realm and system of] the flesh). I Myself am habitually judging (sifting, separating, evaluating and deciding about) no one.
16 "And yet, if I Myself ever proceed to be judging (or: if I am Myself separating and deciding), My deciding (separating, evaluating and judging) is, and continues being, true (valid; real; genuine), because I am not (or: I do not exist being) alone, but to the contrary, [it is] I Myself and the One sending Me: the Father.
17 "Yet even within your own Law it has been written that the witness (testimony; evidence) of two people (humans; men) is true (or: exists being valid, genuine and real).
18 "I Myself am the man now bearing witness (or: habitually testifying; progressively giving evidence) about Myself, and the Father – the One sending Me – is continuously bearing witness (constantly testifying and giving evidence) about Me."
19 Therefore they went on saying to Him, " [So] where is your father?" Jesus decidedly answered, "You folks have neither seen or known Me, nor My Father. If you had seen and knew (or: were acquainted with) Me, you would also have seen and know (or: be acquainted with) My Father."
20 These declarations from the gush (or: sayings which resulted from the flow) He spoke within the treasury area, while teaching within the Temple courts (or: grounds; porches), and still no one caught hold of or apprehended Him, because His hour had not yet come, so as to be present.
21 Then He [p66c & others: Jesus] again said to them, "I Myself am progressively leading the way under (or: I am Myself proceeding to withdraw and go away), and so you folks will continue looking for Me (or: seek to find Me) and you yourselves will progressively (or: one after another) die and decay within your errors (failures; misses of the target; deviations; sins). Under where I Myself progressively lead the way (or: To where I am Myself proceeding to withdraw and go away) you folks continue having no power (or: are presently unable) to go (or: to come)."
22 The Jews (= religious authorities) were therefore beginning to say, "Surely he will not proceed to be killing himself, will he, seeing that he is saying 'Under where I progressively lead the way (or: To where I am proceeding to withdraw and go away) you folks continue having no power (are presently unable) to go (or: to come) '?"
23 So He went on to say to them, "You folks, yourselves, continuously exist (presently are) from out of the things below (or: You are yourselves presently forth from out of the downward places); I Myself continuously exist (have My being; am) from out of the things above (or: I am Myself forth from the midst of upward places). You yourselves continuously exist from out of this System (ordered arrangement; world of culture, economy, religion and politics; this System of control and domination); I Myself do not exist (do not have My being) from out of this System (world; etc.).
24 "Therefore I said to you that you will progressively die and decay within your errors (failures; sins; times of falling short or to the side of the target), for, unless you come to trust and believe that I, Myself, am (or: that, as for Me, I exist and continue being; or; that I am Myself Existence and Being), you folks will progressively die and rot within your failures (sins; etc.)!"
25 They then began saying to Him, "YOU! – what (or: who) ARE you?" Jesus says to them, "That which I am even habitually telling you: the Beginning and the Chief One (or: Primarily that which I am also constantly telling you).
26 "I continuously hold and habitually have many things to be constantly speaking and deciding (or: separating and judging) about you folks. However, the One sending Me is truthful (exists being continuously true), and I, what I hear from His side, these things I constantly speak and utter into the System (into the world; into the ordered arrangement of the culture, religion, economy and polity; into the realm of the secular; or: unto the systems of control)."
27 They did not know or understand that He had been speaking the Father to them.
28 Then Jesus says to them, "Whenever you folks may lift up high (should raise aloft; would elevate; or: can exalt) the Son of man (Humanity's Son; the Son of Mankind; = the son of Adam), then you will progressively come to know by personal experience that I am (or: that I Myself continue existing; that I Myself am Being and Existence), and I from Myself am habitually doing nothing (not one thing), but rather, according as the Father teaches (or: taught) Me, I continue speaking and uttering these things.
29 "And further, the One sending Me is constantly (or: continuously exists being) with Me. He does not leave Me alone (or: He did not send Me off alone; He does not let Me go away alone; He does not divorce or abandon Me). For this reason I Myself am always constantly doing the things pleasing to Him (or: making pleasing things by Him; performing and producing the acceptable things in Him)."
30 During His progressively speaking these things, many at some point believed, and came to put [their] trust and confidence into Him.
31 Therefore, Jesus began saying to the Jews who had trusted and were now believing by Him (or: in Him), "If you yourselves would remain (can dwell; should abide) within My word (My message; My communication; My expressed thought; My Idea), you folks are, and continue being, truly (really; genuinely) My disciples (or: learners from Me),
32 "and you will progressively come to know the Truth (or: Reality; that which is unsealed, open and without concealment) by intimate experience, and the Truth (Reality) will progressively liberate and make (or: set) you free!"
33 The [Jewish leaders] considered and replied to Him, "We are Abraham's seed (offspring; descendants), and we have served as slaves to no one at any time. How are you now saying, 'You will progressively come to be free ones'?"
34 Jesus decidedly answers them, "It is certainly true (Amen, amen). I am now saying to you that everyone habitually doing the failure (constantly making the mis-shot; repeatedly performing the sin; progressively producing error) is (or: exists being) a slave of the failure (the error; the sin; the mis-shot; the mistake; the deviation).
35 "Now the slave is not remaining (dwelling; abiding) within the house (= having no perpetual place in the household) on into the Age. The son continuously remains (dwells; abides) on into the Age.
36 "Therefore, if the Son should (or: would) at some point liberate or begin to make (or: set) you free, you folks will progressively exist being free ones in your very essence and being.
37 "I have seen and know that you people are Abraham's seed (offspring; descendants), but now you men continue seeking to kill Me, because My word (message; thought; idea; discourse) is not continuing to have room and make progress within you guys.
38 "I am habitually speaking things which I Myself have seen, [being] at the side of (or: present with) the [other MSS: My] Father, and you folks are yourselves therefore habitually doing [p75: speaking] things which you hear (or: heard) at the side of your father [with other MSS: ... and so are you people then by practice doing what you have seen at the side of the Father?]."
39 In calculated reply, they said to Him, "OUR father is Abraham!" Jesus then says to them, "If (or: Since) you folks are Abraham's children, be continually doing Abraham's deeds (actions; works). [other MSS: If you folks were Abrahams' children, were you ever doing Abraham's works (deeds; acts)?]
40 "So now, proceed in seeking to kill Me! (or: Yet now you are continually seeking to kill Me; [note: the verb "seeking" is either present imperative or present indicative]) – a Man (person; human) Who has spoken to you the truth which I hear from (or: heard at) God's side (or: in the presence of God). Abraham does not do this (or: did not do this).
41 "You folks habitually do your father's works (deeds; actions)." Therefore they said to Him, "We ourselves were not born out of prostitution (or: fornication). We have one Father: God!"
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you folks would have been, and continued, loving Me, for I Myself came forth and am arrived here (or: and here I am) from out of the midst of God. For neither have I come from Myself (= on My own initiative), but rather that One sent Me away with a mission (commissions and sends Me forth as an Emissary, [His] Representative).
43 "How (Through what [situation]) is it that you folks consistently do not understand (have personal, experiential knowledge of) the matter of My discourse or the way I’m speaking (= Why don't you understand what I'm saying)? Because you have no power (are unable) to continue hearing My word (or: to repeatedly or progressively listen to My message, thought or idea).
44 "You folks, in particular, are (exist and have your being) from out of, and have your source in, the ancestor who cast [an object] through [someone] (or: the father, the devil; or: the devil father; or: the father – the one thrusting [words or issues] through [folks/groups] and dividing them), and you are habitually wanting (willing; intending; purposing) to be constantly doing your father's passionate cravings (full-rushing over-desires). That one was existing being a murderer (a killer of humanity) from [his/its] beginning (or: from [the] start; from [its] origin; or: from headship, chieftainhood, government or rule), and he/it has not stood and does not now stand within the Truth (or: it had not made a stand in union with reality), because truth is not (openness and reality does not exist) within him (or: it). Whenever he/it may be speaking the lie, he/it is continuing speaking from out of his own things – because he/it is (or: continues existing being) a liar, and its father [note: either the father of the lie, or of the liar].
45 "On the other hand – because I Myself am continually saying the truth (speaking reality)! – you folks are not presently trusting or believing Me (or: in Me).
46 "Who of you is presently correcting Me about error (or: demonstrating a proof about My being wrong; making a convincing argument which refutes Me and exposes Me about having missed the target; convicting me concerning sin)? Since (or: If) I am habitually speaking truth (reality), how (through what [situation]) is it that you folks are not trusting Me or believing in Me?
47 "The person continuing in being (existing in essential being) out of the midst of God (= having God as his source and being) is constantly hearing (repeatedly and habitually listening and paying attention to [implies obeying]) the effects of the things God says (results of God's flow of declarations; spoken words from God). Because of this, you folks are not presently in the habit of hearing (or: listening; paying attention [and obeying]): because you are not presently existing from out of God."
48 The Jews (= religious authorities) calculated a reply and said to him, "Are we not expressing it beautifully (or: finely; ideally) when we are saying that you yourself are a Samaritan and constantly have (or: continuously hold or possess) a demon (a Hellenistic concept and term: = an animistic influence)?"
49 Jesus decidedly replies, "I Myself do not have (or: habitually possess) a demon, but to the contrary, I continuously honor (bring value to) My Father, and yet you yourselves are repeatedly dishonoring (or: devaluing) Me.
50 "Now by habit I am not seeking My glory or reputation. He is the One constantly seeking [it] and making decisions (continuously sifting, separating and judging).
51 "It is certainly so (or: Amen, amen; = You can count on it)! I am now saying to you folks, if anyone should keep watch over, so as to hold in custody, protectively guard, note and observe My word (message; thought; idea), he can (or: would) under no circumstances (or: may by no means) at any point gaze upon death, so as to contemplate it, be a spectator to it or look at it with interest and attention [note: a Hebrew idiom for 'experiencing' death], on into the Age."
52 The Jews (= religious authorities) said to Him, "Now we have come to personally know (have intimate experiential knowledge) that you presently have a demon (= an animistic influence)! Abraham died (or: is dead), also the prophets, and yet here you are now saying, 'If anyone should hold, protect, note and observe my word (message; idea) he by no means (under no circumstances) may taste of (= partake of or participate in) death, on into the Age.
53 "You are yourself not greater than our father Abraham – who died – are you? Even the prophets died! Who are you continually making yourself [to be]?"
54 Jesus decidedly replies, "If I should ever glorify Myself (build a reputation for Myself), My glory is (or: My reputation exists being) nothing. My Father – of Whom you keep saying, "He is our God" [with other MSS: that He is your God] – is actually the One continuously and progressively glorifying Me (bringing a manifestation of Me which calls forth praise; building My reputation).
55 "Now you have not intimately or experientially known Him, yet as for Myself, I have seen and thus know Him – and if ever (or: even if) I should say (or: = Suppose I say) that I have not seen nor know Him, I will be a liar, like you folks. But to the contrary, I have seen and know Him (or: am acquainted with Him), and I continuously hold in custody, protectively guard, note and observe His word (message; thought; idea).
56 "Abraham, your father, was exceedingly glad (or: exulted) to the end that he could see My day, and he saw (caught sight of; beheld; observed; perceived) [it] and then was graced (or: favored; or: rejoiced; was made glad)."
57 Therefore the Jews (= religious authorities) said to Him, "You are not yet holding (or: having) fifty years – and you have seen Abraham [p75, Aleph, Sin-syr & Coptic read: and Abraham has seen you]?"
58 Jesus says to them, "It is certainly so (Amen, amen; Count on it)! I am telling you, before Abraham comes (or: was to come) into being, I am (or: I continuously exist; or: I repeatedly had being; or: I am Being; I am continuous Existence)."
59 They therefore lifted up stones so that they could hurl (throw; cast) [them] upon Him. But Jesus had been suddenly concealed (was at once hidden), and then He went out from the Temple grounds [Aleph, A & others add: even (or: and) passing through the midst of them as He was proceeding, and He thus was passing by].