8:44a
You belong to your father, the devil: The Greek text emphasizes the pronoun You. Jesus indicated that these people showed by their behavior that they were like the devil. They were closely related to him in their character and values. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
Your father is the devil (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
For you are the children of your father the devil (New Living Translation (2004))
the devil: This phrase here refers to the chief of all evil spirits, Satan. He is the enemy of God and God’s people. Because both the devil and “Satan” refer to the same being, in some languages you may want to use the same word or phrase to translate both terms.
Here are some ways to translate the devil :
• Use a local name or idiom that refers to the chief of all demons.
• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
the leader of the evil spirits
-or-
the spirit enemy of God
See how you translated this in Matthew 4:1 and Luke 4:2.
8:44b
you want to carry out his desires: This clause indicates that these people were willing and happy to obey their father, the devil. It implies that they actually obeyed him, not just that they chose or wanted to do so. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
you desire to do what your father wants (God’s Word)
-or-
you do exactly what he wants (Contemporary English Version)
8:44c
He was a murderer from the beginning: This clause probably refers to the devil’s attempts to destroy the human race beginning when God created people. He lied to Eve in order to cause the death of Adam and Eve and their descendants. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
From the very beginning he was a murderer. (Good News Translation)
-or-
He has always been a murderer. (Contemporary English Version)
8:44d
refusing to uphold the truth: This phrase here indicates that the devil has not based or grounded (established) himself in truth. He does not believe or speak the truth, particularly the truth about God. He is the enemy of truth. For example:
does not follow the truth
-or-
he was never grounded in the truth (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
He has always hated the truth. (New Living Translation (2004))
8:44e
because there is no truth in him: This clause means that the devil’s habit is to not speak the truth. For example:
There is nothing truthful about him. (Contemporary English Version)
8:44f
When he lies: This verb phrase implies that the devil lies regularly or as a habit. It is possible to translate this as a noun phrase. For example:
His lies are according to his nature
-or-
His lies reveal/show his true nature
he speaks his native language: The devil tells lies because of who he is. He is by nature a liar, and his lies display his true nature. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
he is only doing what is natural to him (Good News Translation)
-or-
he speaks out of his own character (English Standard Version)
-or-
he shows what he is really like (New Century Version)
8:44g
because: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as because here introduces the basis or reason for Jesus’ conclusion about Satan in 8:44f. The reason Jesus could say that Satan’s lies are according to his nature is that Satan is truly a liar. That is his nature.
he is a liar and the father of lies: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the father of lies is a figure of speech. It means that all lies come from Satan. For example:
he is a liar and he is the source of lies
-or-
because he is a liar and the origin of ⌊all⌋ lies
© 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.