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John 7:15-17
New English Translation
John 7:15-17
New English Translation
15 Then the Jewish leaders[a] were astonished[b] and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”[c] 16 So Jesus replied,[d] “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.[e] 17 If anyone wants to do God’s will,[f] he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.[g]
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- John 7:15 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.
- John 7:15 tn Or “began to be astonished.” This imperfect verb could also be translated ingressively (“began to be astonished”), but for English stylistic reasons it is rendered as a simple past.
- John 7:15 tn Grk “How does this man know learning since he has not been taught?” The implication here is not that Jesus never went to school (in all probability he did attend a local synagogue school while a youth), but that he was not the disciple of a particular rabbi and had not had formal or advanced instruction under a recognized rabbi (compare Acts 4:13 where a similar charge is made against Peter and John; see also Paul’s comment in Acts 22:3).sn He has never had formal instruction. Ironically when the Jewish leaders came face-to-face with the Word become flesh—the preexistent Logos, creator of the universe and divine Wisdom personified—they treated him as an untaught, unlearned person, without the formal qualifications to be a teacher.
- John 7:16 tn Grk “So Jesus answered and said to them.”
- John 7:16 tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.
- John 7:17 tn Grk “his will.”
- John 7:17 tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”
New English Translation (NET)
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