8:57

You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?: This is a rhetorical question. The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus used it as a rebuke. They rebuked him because he implied that he had seen Abraham. There are at least two ways to translate this rebuke:

• Use a rhetorical question. For example:

You are not fifty (50) years old yet, so how can you have seen Abraham?

• Use a statement. For example:

Because you are not yet fifty (50) years old, you cannot have seen Abraham.

Translate this rebuke in a way that is most natural in your language. It may be natural to break it into two sentences. For example:

“You are not even fifty years old!” they said. “How could you have seen Abraham?” (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 8:57

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the clauses. For example:

You have never seen Abraham! You are not even fifty years old. (New Century Version)
-or-
How can you say you have seen Abraham? You have not lived even fifty (50) years.

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