Jesus is accused of breaking the Sabbath and making himself a god by calling God his Father. The current topic is who testifies for him.
John 5:33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
John 5:33 You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.
You have dispatched before John, and he has given evidence to the truth.
The truth isn't always obvious.
The last verse left a mystery about who would testify for Jesus. This is the first and more obvious answer. There is a bit of a joke here because Jesus is the "the truth" that is, what is not hidden, but he is hiding his true answer.
The first "unto" and "to" here is a preposition that should be translated as "before" in the sense that an issue is set "before" a judge. In Greek, this also is how
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation, but it is needed to capture the pronoun as well as the form of the verb.
- WT - Wrong Tense - The English verb "sent" is the past tense, but Greek is in the past perfect, a completed action, "have sent."
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "unto" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
- WT - Wrong Tense - The English verb "bare" is the present tense, but Greek is in the past perfect, a completed action, "have born."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation, but it is needed to capture the pronoun as well as the form of the verb.
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "unto" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
Ye -- (MW) The pronoun is used here explicitly as the subject of the sentence. Since this information is already in the verb, the sense is repetitive as we say "your yourselves."
sent -- (WT) The "sent" here is a word that means "to send off" and "dispatch." It is the source of our word "apostle." The tense is not the simple past, but the past perfect, "have sent."
unto -- (CW) The word translated as "to" means "towards," "by reason of (for)," "before" both in time and place, "in the presence of," "against," and several other types of "before." With verbs of seeing it specifically means "towards." The "unto" makes John look like an indirect object, but this is a preposition.
John, -- "John" is the Greek word translated as the English proper name.
and -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also").
he -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
bare witness -- (WT) "Bare witness" is the Greek verb that means "to give testimony" and "to bear witness." It has the sense of being true testimony. It is the verb form of the Greek word for "testimony" and "proof," which is the source of our word "martyr," and its funny spelling. The tense is the past perfect not the simple past.
unto -- This word "unto" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
truth. - The literal meaning of the Greek word for "truth" is "not hidden," and it means what is real as opposed to how things seem.
You -- (MW) The pronoun is used here explicitly as the subject of the sentence. Since this information is already in the verb, the sense is repetitive as we say "your yourselves."
have -- This helping verb "have" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past.
sent -- (The "sent" here is a word that means "to send off" and "dispatch." It is the source of our word "apostle."
to -- (CW) The word translated as "to" means "towards," "by reason of (for)," "before" both in time and place, "in the presence of," "against," and several other types of "before." With verbs of seeing it specifically means "towards." The "unto" makes John look like an indirect object, but this is a preposition.
John, -- "John" is the Greek word translated as the English proper name.
and -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also").
he -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
has -- This helping verb "has" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past.
testified -- "Testified" is the Greek verb that means "to give testimony" and "to bear witness." It has the sense of being true testimony. It is the verb form of the Greek word for "testimony" and "proof," which is the source of our word "martyr," and its funny spelling.
unto -- This word "unto" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
truth. - The literal meaning of the Greek word for "truth" is "not hidden," and it means what is real as opposed to how things seem.
ὑμεῖς [92 verses](pron 2nd pl nom) "You" is hymeis (humeis), which is the plural nominative form of the second person, "you."
ἀπεστάλκατε [60 verses] (2nd pl perf ind act) "Sent" is apostello, which means "to send off," "to send away," or "to dispatch."
πρὸς [92 verses](prep) "Unto" is from pros, which means "from (place)," "on the side of," "toward," "before," "in the presence of," "in the eyes of," "before (supplication, a judge, a witness)," "proceeding from (for effects)," "dependent on," "derivable from," "agreeable," "in comparison with," "becoming," "like," "at the point of," "in addition to," "against," and "before." It also means "dependent upon."
Ἰωάνηνn [17 verses](noun sg masc acc) "John" is from Ioannes, which is the Greek form of the name "John."
καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."
μεμαρτύρηκε [16 verses](3rd sg perf ind act) "Bare witness" is martyreo, which means "to bear witness," "to give evidence," "give a good report," "testify to," and "acknowledge the value of." It is the basis for our word "martyr."
τῇ [821 verses](article sg masc nom) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
ἀληθείᾳ [19 verses] (noun sg fem dat) "Truth" is aletheia, which means literally "the state of not being hidden," means "truth" and "reality" as opposed to appearances. -