20:29a

Jesus said to him: This phrase introduces what Jesus replied to Thomas. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

Then Jesus told him (New Century Version)

Because you have seen Me, you have believed: The earliest Greek manuscripts did not have punctuation, so there was no question mark here. There are two ways to interpret this sentence:

(1) It is a statement, not a question. For example:

You believe because you see me. (New Century Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version)

(2) It is a rhetorical question, expecting the answer “yes.” For example:

Do you believe because you see me? (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and many English translations and Bible scholars. However, the meaning of the two interpretations is nearly the same. So you may want to follow interpretation (2) if a major language translation in your area follows it.

There may be a stronger rebuke in a rhetorical question than in a statement. Either way, the rebuke here is gentle at most. The rebuke is that Thomas should have believed what the other disciples said and not only when he saw Jesus. Yet the next verse speaks about the importance of the disciples seeing Jesus’ signs. But people in the future would have to believe without seeing, and they are blessed in 20:29b.

General Comment on 20:29a

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the clauses in 20:29a. For example:

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed…” (New International Version)

20:29b

blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed: This sentence probably implies that those who believe in Jesus without seeing him are more blessed than Thomas (see 4:48). He did not mean that Thomas himself was not blessed. It is important to avoid this wrong meaning. To do this you may want to use a comparative. For example:

⌊Even more⌋ blessed are those who have not seen ⌊me⌋ and yet have believed ⌊in me⌋ .

See the General Comment on 20:30a for ways to rearrange the information in this clause.

blessed are: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as blessed here refers to being in a good situation, enjoying God’s favor. When God does something good to a person and is kind to him, that person is blessed. See how you translated this word in 13:17, Matthew 5:3–11, and Luke 6:20–22. For example:

Great is the joy of those…

those who have not seen and yet have believed: This expression refers to people who trust Jesus without ever seeing him during this life. It includes everyone who would believe in him after he returned to heaven. In some languages it may be necessary to add an object, indicating that Jesus was referring to people seeing him. For example:

those who believe without seeing me (Good News Translation)

and yet: The Berean Standard Bible has added the word yet in order to indicate that what follows is not expected. People expect that if someone does not see, he will not believe. But Jesus spoke about those who would believe in him although they did not see him. You may also want to indicate that this is not expected. For example:

Blessed are those who haven’t seen me but believe. (God’s Word)

have believed: The Greek verb form that the Berean Standard Bible translates as have believed can refer to beginning to believe. Some translations make that meaning explicit. However, the verb can also refer to believing in general. Because Jesus is making a general statement, it may be more natural to use a general form of the verb.

When the word believed is used without an object, it is usually a short way of saying “believe in Jesus.” So this word includes the idea of believing the facts about Jesus (here that he rose from the dead). 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. Here are other ways to translate this idea:

have faith in me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
believed ⌊in me⌋

General Comment on 20:29b

In some languages it may be more natural to rearrange the information in this sentence. For example:

How happy are those who believe without seeing me! (Good News Translation)
-or-
The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
But they will be full of joy who believe even though they have not seen me.

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