Thus the rendering will be, Because his father 1s a har. As to Jesus’ course of thought—if we accept either of the first two renderings, it turns on the character of Satan. After stat- ing that the Jews are children of the Devil, He goes on to de- scribe the Devil as a murderer and a liar, and enlarges on the latter characteristic by saying that falsehood is his natural and peculiar element. Whenever he lies he speaks out of his own false nature, for he is a liar, and the father of the lie or of the liar. If we accept the third rendering, the thought turns rather on the character of the Jews as children of Satan. He utters first, the general charge, ye are the children of the Devil, and as such will do his works. Hence you will be both murderers and dvars. He was a murderer, and ye are seeking to kill me. He stood not in the truth, neither do ye; for, when one speak- eth a lie, he speaketh out of his own false nature, by a birth- right of falschood, since his father also is a liar.*
45. And because I (éy@ dé é7v). Render but, instead of and. You would believe falsehood if I should speak it, but because I tell you the truth, you do not believe. The J is emphatic. J, because I tell you, ete.
46. Convinceth (édéyxer). See on iii. 20. Rev., convicteth.
Sin (auaprias). Not fault or error, but sin in general, as everywhere in the New Testament.
* I adopt this rendering, though with some hesitation, as best representing what seems to me the line of thought in the whole passage, and as avoiding most of the grammatical difficulties. 1, though grammatically defensible, necessitates the awkwardness of rendering adrod as neuter, by inference or derivation from the masculine Wevorns, It is much more natural to take it as masculine. Both 1 and 2 require 6 rarhp to be taken as the predicate, where- as, having the article, it would naturally be expected to be the subject. The main objection to 3, is the omission of the subject with Aadg, which is harsh. Professor Kendrick (American edition of Meyer) cites as a parallel yet, in 2 Cor. x. 10, and very justly observes that ‘if any objection may lie ee nis construction, it does not approach in harshness to that which males 6 matnp avrot a predicate in the sense ordinari i i is adop by Westcott, and Milligan and Moulton. Nea ea ineacooe