The verb translated receive in this verse is the simple form of the verb (Greek lambanō), while the verb translated receive in the previous verse has a prepositional prefix (Greek paralambanō). However, it is agreed that the words are synonyms in this passage.
The verb translated believed is a participle in Greek, and it is in apposition with the indirect object of the verb gave. However, the restructuring of Good News Translation carries through the meaning of the Greek and is more natural for the English reader.
It is important in rendering the verb “believe” to indicate more than merely accepting the truth about some statement. John’s use of the expression believed in him refers certainly to confidence and trust placed in Christ as the Word. Therefore, it is not merely “believed what he said,” but “trusted in him” or “put their confidence in him” or, as expressed idiomatically in some languages, “hung onto him with the heart” or “leaned their weight upon him.”
The word translated right appears elsewhere in John’s Gospel (5.27; 17.2; 19.10,11). It carries the idea of “authority” or “right,” not the meaning of “power.” It is difficult in some languages to find an appropriate equivalent for right as the term is used here. The closest equivalent may be an expression of possibility; for example, “he made it possible for them to become God’s children.” It may be expressed as direct discourse in some languages, for example, “now he said, ‘You can become God’s children.’ ” In other languages, it may be best simply to use a causative expression, for example, “so he caused them to become God’s children.” In still other instances it may be important to express some delegation of right or permission. It may be expressed in some languages as a kind of “position” or “status,” for example, “he gave them the place of being God’s children.”
In him represents “in his name,” but in biblical thought “the name” of a person is often equivalent to the person himself and to what he is (for example, in John, Jesus is the Messiah, Son of God, Savior of the world). See 14.13 for a more detailed discussion.
Although in many languages it is impossible to make the distinction, it is interesting to note that in John’s Gospel believers are referred to as God’s children and never as “God’s sons.” According to the Gospel of John, Jesus is the only Son of God.
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 .