12:47a
As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him: The Greek text emphasizes the word I, which refers to Jesus. For example:
It is not I who am the judge of those who hear my words and do not keep them.
-or-
I am not the one who will judge those who refuse to obey my teachings. (Contemporary English Version)
anyone who hears My words and does not keep them: The word anyone refers to any person who has rejected Jesus. Use the noun or pronoun that is natural in your language. It may be singular or plural. For example:
those who hear me but don’t obey me (New Living Translation (2004))
My words: This phrase refers to Jesus’ message or teachings. For example:
my teachings (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
my message (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
what I say
and: This word introduces something that is not expected. You would expect that someone who heard Jesus’ words would obey them. However, here Jesus spoke about those who did not obey. Translate this word in a way that is natural in your language to indicate something not expected. For example:
but (New Living Translation (2004))
does not keep them: This phrase indicates that this individual does not obey Jesus’ words. Here is another way to translate this phrase:
does not obey them (New Century Version)
I do not judge him: These words indicate that Jesus himself is not the one who condemns these people. This was not his purpose in coming into the world. Jesus referred to the future as well as the present, and in some languages it may be natural to use future tense. For example:
I will not judge (Good News Translation)
-or-
I don’t condemn (God’s Word)
General Comment on 12:47a
In some languages it may be natural to follow the Greek text and reorder the clauses in 12:47a. For example:
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person. (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
If anyone hears my message and does not obey it, I will not judge him. (Good News Translation)
12:47b
For: This word means “because” and is an introduction to the reason why he is not the judge. For example:
because (New Century Version)
I have not come to judge the world: The reason why Jesus came into the world was not to judge the people of the world. There was a different reason. See the General Comment on 12:47b–c for another way to order this information. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
I did not come to judge the world (New Century Version)
-or-
I didn’t come to condemn the world (God’s Word)
judge: The word judge in this context means “condemn and punish.” See Key Biblical Terms Judge, Judgement B.3.
the world: The phrase the world here refers to the people of the world. For example:
the people of this world (Contemporary English Version)
12:47c
but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but here connects a negative statement (12:47b) to a positive statement (12:47c). This kind of sentence emphasizes the positive statement. Languages have different ways to indicate this type of emphasis. Here are some ways to show the emphasis:
• Use the conjunction but as in the Berean Standard Bible.
• Use a conjunction other than but. This is a common way in English to show this type of emphasis. For example:
I did not come to judge the people of the world; rather I came to save them.
• Do not use a conjunction. For example:
I did not come to judge the world. I came to save the world.
• Change the order of the clauses. For example:
I came to save the people of this world, not to be their judge. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. (New Living Translation (2004))
You should translate this emphasis in the way that is most natural in your language.
to save the world: In some languages it may be natural to use a pronoun rather than repeating the noun world from 12:47b. However, that may lose some of the emphasis on the world. For example:
but to save it (Good News Translation)
save: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as save here means “rescue or free from sin.” The result is that Jesus will not judge or condemn a person that he has saved. That means that he will not punish that person.
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