12:17a

Meanwhile: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Meanwhile indicates that the narrative is returning to the time before Jesus died. Nearly all English translations do not translate the word. Introduce this change of time in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

Now (New International Version)

many people: The phrase many people here refers to the people who were with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from the dead (11:19, 31). These people may have been part of the bigger crowd mentioned in 12:12. The words “had been with Jesus” tell who these people were. They were those who were with Jesus earlier. Here is another way to say this:

the people who had been with Jesus (Good News Translation)

The fact that these people had been with Jesus implied that they watched Jesus and saw what he did. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

the crowd that had been present ⌊and watched⌋ Jesus…

continued to testify: This phrase indicates that the people who saw Jesus raise Lazarus continued testifying (telling others what they saw). They did so regularly and often. In some languages it may be natural to make explicit what they testified about. For example:

were continuing to testify about it (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
kept telling what they had seen and heard (Revised English Bible)
-or-
kept talking about him and this miracle (Contemporary English Version)

testify: To testify means “to tell what one has personally seen and heard.” See how you translated this in 5:31–33.

12:17b

when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead: Jesus had commanded Lazarus to leave the tomb. His command gave Lazarus life and made it possible for him to obey. See 11:43. It was by calling Lazarus from the tomb that Jesus raised him to life. In some languages it may be natural to show this connection by translating 12:17b in this way:

when, calling Lazarus from the tomb, Jesus raised him from the dead
-or-
call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead (New Living Translation (2004))

from the tomb: This tomb was a cave that had a stone over it. See the notes on 11:17, 38. The stone had already been removed when Jesus called to Lazarus to come out.

raised him from the dead: The pronoun him refers to Lazarus. Jesus caused Lazarus to come back to life again. Lazarus returned to a normal human life. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

brought him back to life (God’s Word)

General Comment on 12:17

In some languages it may be natural to translate this verse as two separate sentences. For example:

There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from the dead and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. (New Century Version)

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