8:41a

You are doing the works of your father: The Greek text emphasizes the word You. The word is plural and refers to the religious leaders who opposed Jesus. Jesus here implied that their true father was not Abraham, or God, but Satan, the evil one. However, you should not make that explicit in your translation here. Jesus did not make it explicit until verse 44. Here is another way to translate this clause:

No, you are imitating your real father. (New Living Translation (2004))

8:41b

“We are not illegitimate children,” they declared: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as We are not illegitimate children is more literally “We were not born of sexual immorality” (New American Standard Bible). The speakers said that they were legal, legitimate (born to a married couple) sons. Their parents were married. They therefore had a full right to call Abraham their ancestor and to claim God’s blessing and approval. Translate this clause with an expression that is natural in your language and suitable to read in public. In some languages it may be most natural to translate this as a positive statement:

We are legitimate children.
-or-
We are true/legal sons.

We: The Greek text emphasizes the pronoun We in the sentence. The emphasis suggests that the speakers contrasted themselves with Jesus, who they thought might be illegitimate (not legitimate). If you have a choice between an inclusive and an exclusive first-person pronoun, you should use an exclusive one here.

8:41c

Our only Father is God Himself: This clause indicates that the speakers thought that because they were Jews they were God’s children. They again implicitly contrasted themselves with Jesus. Apparently they suspected that Joseph was not his biological father. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

The only Father we have is God himself. (New International Version)
-or-
God is our Father, and God alone. (Revised English Bible)

General Comment on 8:41b–c

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of 8:41b–c. For example:

41c “God himself is the only Father we have,” 41b they answered, “and we are his true sons.” (Good News Translation)

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