John 8:25

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Crusader13

Crusader13

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I came across a passage the other day while reading my Douay Rheims bible and I noticed that the translation was rather unique. In John 8:25 it says: “They said therefore to him: Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak unto you.”

However, in other versions, both Catholic and Protestant, the translations are quite varied. For example the NIV says: “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied.

KJV: Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

NRSV: They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all?

RSV: 25 They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Even what I have told you from the beginning.

So what is the correct translation or MOST accurate I should say? It would seem that the DR would point more towards Jesus’ divinity, but I’m not sure if that’s how this passage should be translated.
 
The Gospel of John has the Divinity of Jesus
FULLY developed, even from the get-go,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1
 
GLam8833 said:
The Gospel of John has the Divinity of Jesus
FULLY developed, even from the get-go,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1
Click to expand...
One of my favorite passages… 😃
 
Dom Bernard Orchard’s 1953 A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, on page 997, on this verse, after discussing a few possible translations, concludes:
Considering, however, the depth of incomprehension which the Jewish question supposed, it seems better to follow the exposition, wholly or partly given by the Greek interpreters and most satisfactorily worded by St Chrysostom and his school: ‘Indeed, why do I continue to speak to you at all?’ Such a rebuke, similar to Mk 9:18, is not alien to the context, and it has the advantage of doing justice to the verb *lalo *and to the particle kai.
 
GLam8833 said:
The Gospel of John has the Divinity of Jesus
FULLY developed, even from the get-go,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1
Click to expand...
Careful, while true, it would be wrong to hold that the Synoptic Gospels do not also teach the Divinity of Christ even from the beginning. While the language may not be quite as explicit as the Johannine prologue, it is certainly there.

Benedicat Deus,
Latinitas
 
Let’s use the Berean Literal Bible, straight from the Greek text:
Therefore they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I am saying to you from the beginning.”
Click to expand...
Or, Young’s Literal Translation (YLT), which is also from the Greek text:
They said, therefore, to him, ‘Thou — who art thou?’ and Jesus said to them, ‘Even what I did speak of to you at the beginning…’
Click to expand...
So they are both literal versions. The original Greek text [source] actually says “… from the beginning what also I am saying to you.” So it does not directly point to His divinity.

However, luckily for us, the divinity of Christ does not hinge entirely on this single verse.
 
Crusader13 said:
I came across a passage the other day while reading my Douay Rheims bible and I noticed that the translation was rather unique. In John 8:25 it says: “They said therefore to him: Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak unto you.”
…
So what is the correct translation or MOST accurate I should say? It would seem that the DR would point more towards Jesus’ divinity, but I’m not sure if that’s how this passage should be translated.
Click to expand...
From the JB:
John 8:25 So they said to him, ‘Who are you?’ Jesus answered:
'What I have told you from the outset. h

This footnote from the JB might clarify. [Line breaks and a paragraph break added. The NJB footnote is the same except it chops out the last sentence.]

8h. A very obscure text; it is variously rendered
‘Why, in the first place, am I speaking to you?’;
‘Why should I speak to you at all?’;
‘What I have been telling you from the beginning’;
‘Precisely what I am telling you’.

Our translation resembles this last but preserves the idea of temporal priority which leads up to the following ‘then’ of v. 28, thus: as it is, the Jews have the opportunity of knowing Christ from his words; afterwards, when they know him as one ‘lifted up’ (12:32+), it will be too late. The Vulg. translation ‘(I am) the Beginning who speak to you’ is grammatically impossible.
 
Jesus in this discourse w/ the Jews
leads them to the belief in His divinity,
He several times mentions His seeing,
hearing and being taught by
the Father, and finally reveals His Glory
by saying:“Before Abraham was, I Am!”
John 8:58
 
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