7:5

For even His own brothers did not believe in Him: This sentence is background information, so the Berean Standard Bible has placed this clause in parentheses. The background information explains why Jesus’ brothers said what they did in 7:3-4. They said that because they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. So they did not understand what Jesus’ purpose and plan on earth was. It is also possible to translate this clause using a negative with the verb instead of with the noun brothers. For example:

(Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.) (New Century Version)

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For here means “because.” It introduces an explanation of why Jesus’ brothers just said what they did.

even His own brothers: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as even indicates surprise. The author indicated that one would expect that Jesus’ brothers believed in him. It is natural to expect that Jesus’ brothers believed, even if others did not.

did not believe in Him: Jesus’ brothers did not accept that he was the Messiah, the Chosen Savior sent from God. The word believe includes the idea of believing the facts about who Jesus was and what he did. But it also includes the idea of trusting Jesus instead of trusting oneself or someone else. Both ideas are very closely related. If someone believes the facts about Jesus, it should result in trusting him. See how you translated similar phrases in 1:12b and 6:40b.

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

had no faith in him (Revised English Bible)
-or-
had not yet become his followers (Contemporary English Version)

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