16:3

They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me: This sentence explains the reason why unbelievers would kill Jesus’ disciples. The reason was that they did not truly know God or Jesus himself. Here are other ways to translate this sentence:

People will do these things to you because they have not known either the Father or me. (Good News Translation)
-or-
They will act like this because they have never had the true knowledge of the Father or of me. (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
They will do this because they have not known the Father and they have not known me. (New Century Version)

They…they: This word refers to anyone who would persecute or kill the Christians.

will do these things: The phrase these things refers to persecuting Jesus’ disciples and specifically killing them. It refers back to 16:2b. Try to use a phrase that implies doing harm or evil. For example:

will do such things (New International Version)
-or-
will do these things to you (Good News Translation, God’s Word)
-or-
will act in this ⌊evil⌋ way

because: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because here introduces the reason why people will persecute Jesus’ disciples.

they have not known the Father or Me: This clause indicates that these people did not really or truly know God or Jesus. They knew who God was and they knew who Jesus was. However, they did not have a personal or close relationship with either God or Jesus. See the notes on 14:7a–b and 15:21b. Here is another way of translating this clause:

they have never ⌊truly⌋ known the Father or me

In some languages it may be natural to repeat the verb. For example:

they have not known the Father and they have not known me (New Century Version)

have not known: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as have not known here indicates a constant truth. These people had never come to know God or Jesus, and they did not at that present time either. Some think that the sense of the verb is “failed to recognize” or “did not learn that” (Jesus was God’s Son). Here are other ways to translate this Greek verb:

they don’t know (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
they have never known (New Living Translation (2004))

the Father: This phrase refers to God the Father. In some languages it is more natural to say use a personal pronoun:

my Father

Me: This word refers to Jesus. These people knew his name and his earthly home but they did not recognize that he was from God.

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