In Greek there is a definite contrast between what I say (lalia) and my message (logos). The first focuses attention on the audible or spoken word, while the second emphasizes the meaning or the message involved in these words. Phillips translates the first “my words” and the second “what I am saying.” New English Bible attempts to make the same distinction, though at a rather high level of speech: “Why do you not understand my language? It is because my revelation is beyond your grasp.”

The verb rendered cannot bear in Good News Translation (so also Revised Standard Version, New American Bible) is literally “unable to hear” (Phillips “cannot hear”). The question is whether the verb “to hear” has the force of “to grasp” (New English Bible “beyond your grasp”; Jerusalem Bible “cannot take in”) or “to listen to” (Moffatt “unable to listen to”). Most translations, including Good News Translation, prefer the latter meaning. That is, the focus is on the unwillingness of these people to accept Jesus’ message, rather than on their inability to understand its meaning. Though the Greek text literally says “you are not able to hear my message,” there was obviously nothing wrong with the people’s hearing or even with their capacity to listen. It was their fundamental unwillingness to accept the message which prevented their understanding what Jesus was talking about. Therefore, in many languages you cannot bear to listen to my message may be rendered “you refuse to listen to my message.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .