John 15:22
New International Version
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

New Living Translation
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

English Standard Version
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Berean Standard Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

Berean Literal Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

King James Bible
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

New King James Version
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

New American Standard Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

NASB 1995
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

NASB 1977
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Legacy Standard Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Amplified Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have [the guilt of their] sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Christian Standard Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin.

American Standard Version
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“If I did not come speaking with them, they would have no sin, but now there is no covering for their sin.”

Contemporary English Version
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

Douay-Rheims Bible
If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

English Revised Version
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If I hadn't come and spoken to them, they wouldn't have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

Good News Translation
They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not come and spoken to them; as it is, they no longer have any excuse for their sin.

International Standard Version
"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

Literal Standard Version
if I had not come and spoken to them, they were not having sin; but now they have no pretext for their sin.

Majority Standard Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

New American Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.

NET Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But they no longer have any excuse for their sin.

New Revised Standard Version
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

New Heart English Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Webster's Bible Translation
If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

Weymouth New Testament
"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin.

World English Bible
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Young's Literal Translation
if I had not come and spoken to them, they were not having sin; but now pretext they have not for their sin.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Hatred of the World
21But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.…

Cross References
Ezekiel 2:5
And whether they listen or refuse to listen--for they are a rebellious house--they will know that a prophet has been among them.

John 9:41
"If you were blind," Jesus replied, "you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

John 15:23
Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.

John 15:24
If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.

John 16:9
in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;


Treasury of Scripture

If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.

they.

John 3:18-21
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…

John 9:41
Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

John 12:48
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

cloke.

Romans 1:20
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Romans 2:1
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

1 Peter 2:16
As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

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Case Cloak Cloke Excuse Guilty However Pretext Reason Sin Stands Teacher
John 15
1. The union of Jesus and his members shown under the parable of a vine.
18. The hatred of the world.
26. The office of the Holy Spirit.














(22) If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin.--In this and the following verses (John 15:22-25) our Lord shows the sinfulness of the world's hatred, because it was in the face of His revelation to them by both word (John 15:22) and work (John 15:24). Apart from this revelation, their sin would have belonged to the times of ignorance, which God overlooked (Acts 17:30-31). It would have been the negative evil of men who know not. It was now the positive evil of men who, knowing the truth, wilfully reject it.

But now they have no cloke for their sin.--Better, as in the margin, they have no excuse for their sin. The Greek phrase occurs only here in the New Testament. The word "cloke" as used with sin is familiar to us from the exhortation in the Book of Common Prayer. The idea is rather to cover up, to hide as with a garment, so that they may not be seen; whereas here the idea is of excuse for manifest sin.

Verse 22. - If I had not come, as the incarnate Word of God, if I had not fulfilled the promises and come forth from God into the world to reveal the Father, and spoken to them, made known to them the thought and Spirit of God, made it possible for them to know the essence of the only true God, they had had no sin; they would not have resisted the highest love, their alienation in this respect would not have been a violation of the most solemn and gracious demands of the Father. The greatest sin is the refusal of the most complete revelation, and by the side of this all other sin becomes comparatively trivial. Our Lord could not have spoken of the hatred of himself or his disciples (so Lucke and Meyer) as this sin, because it would have been obviously impossible to hate a non-existent revelation or revealer. It is the deeper fall which is consequent upon a deliberate rejection of the highest love. Formerly, they would have been in the condition of those whose sins of ignorance God overlooks (Acts 17:30), and to whose ἁμαρτήματα in the past God has exercised πάρεσις, in anticipation of the coming grace. But now (Luke in numerous places uses this expression to form a strong contrast) they have no excuse or pretext for their sin, or concerning their sin. They can plead no justification. The word πρόφασις is an λεγόμενον, and is not "cloak or covering," but "palliation or excuse" for manifest sin. So long as men have seen no deeper into the nature of God than they can go with the aid of mere phenomena or ratiocination on the details of creation, their fears and even their hatreds formulated into grim legend, or uncouth idols, or repellent hypothesis, are a natural outcome of a nature so corrupt; but they ought to have found in Christ a deeper revelation, a summons to service and adoring love. In rejecting the idea of God which I have set before them they have no excuse. St. Paul (Romans 1:20) declares that those who have defamed the great characteristic of God which may be learned from nature are without excuse. Certainly our Lord does not say this here.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
If
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

I had not come
ἦλθον (ēlthon)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2064: To come, go.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

spoken
ἐλάλησα (elalēsa)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2980: A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. Utter words.

to them,
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

they would not be guilty of sin.
εἴχοσαν (eichosan)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

Now,
νῦν (nyn)
Adverb
Strong's 3568: A primary particle of present time; 'now'; also as noun or adjective present or immediate.

however,
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

they have
ἔχουσιν (echousin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

no
οὐκ (ouk)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

excuse
πρόφασιν (prophasin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4392: A pretext, an excuse. From a compound of pro and phaino; an outward showing, i.e. Pretext.

for
περὶ (peri)
Preposition
Strong's 4012: From the base of peran; properly, through, i.e. Around; figuratively with respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time.

their
αὐτῶν (autōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

sin.
ἁμαρτίας (hamartias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 266: From hamartano; a sin.


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NT Gospels: John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken (Jhn Jo Jn)
John 15:21
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