SIL Translator’s Notes on John 16:27

16:27a

For the Father Himself loves you: This clause gives the reason that Christ would not need to ask God for the disciples. God loved them and so they could speak directly to him. The Greek text emphasizes the words the Father Himself, emphasizing that God the Father personally loves the disciples. Emphasize these words in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

for the Father loves you himself (Revised English Bible)
-or-
because the Father, ⌊yes, God the Father,⌋ loves you ⌊dearly⌋

the Father Himself: In some languages it is more natural to tell whose Father Jesus referred to. For example:

my Father himself

loves: This verb here refers to committing oneself to someone else’s welfare. God has chosen to always act to benefit and bless his people. He will answer their prayers.

16:27b

because you have loved Me: This clause gives the reason that God loved Jesus’ disciples: they loved Jesus. The Greek text emphasizes the pronouns you and Me. Because this is a long sentence, you may want to start a new sentence here. For example:

for the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you love me…. (Good News Translation)

you have loved Me: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as loved is the same as in 16:27a. The disciples had committed themselves to following and serving Jesus. They were loyal to him. There are some differences in the way that God loves his people and his people love Jesus. However, it is important to use the same or a similar/related expression so that your readers can see the connection.

you: This pronoun is plural and refers to the disciples.

have loved: The form of this verb in Greek indicates that the disciples continued to love Jesus. They did not just love him in the past. Use a verb tense that can refer to an action that began in the past and continues in the present.

16:27c

and have believed that I came from God: This expression gives the second reason God loved Jesus’ disciples. God loved them because they believed that Jesus was sent by God into the world.

have believed: The form of this Greek verb again refers to action that began in the past and continues in the present.

I came from God: This clause implies that God sent Jesus to earth as his representative. The Greek text emphasizes the word I. There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some Greek manuscripts have from God. For example:

I came from God (Good News Translation)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, English Standard Version, King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, God’s Word, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) Some Greek manuscripts have “from the Father.” For example:

I came from the Father (Revised Standard Version)

(New American Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most English translations and the UBS Handbook Greek New Testament. However, there is much doubt about the original text, and God and “the Father” are both ways to refer to God. So you may want to follow a major-language translation here.

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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