This verse also begins with a Semitic expression that sounds odd to the English reader: “Jesus answered and said to them.” Good News Translation has simply Jesus answered.

As mentioned under verse 14, the word for Temple in this and the following verse refers to the sanctuary itself. Moffatt, Goodspeed, and Jerusalem Bible render the word in this verse by “sanctuary” and the word in verse 14 by “temple,” in order to make the distinction.

Some commentators understand the imperative “tear down” in the sense of a conditional clause, “if you tear down.” It us true that this could be a Semitic expression in which an imperative is used with the force of a conditional. However, in the present context it is best to take the imperative with its full force, rather than as a conditional clause. All translations seem to go in this direction, and it is quite typical of the Old Testament prophets to use an imperative in an ironical sense. This seems to be the case in this instance with Jesus. However, in some languages it would be wrong to employ an imperative, since it could be interpreted as a command by Jesus for the people to destroy the Temple. Therefore, one must use a conditional; for example, “If you tear down this Temple, then in three days I will build it again.”

In choosing terms for tear down and build, it is important to employ expressions which can appropriately be applied to a building, despite the fact that in verses 21 and 22 it is made clear that Jesus is referring to his own body, and therefore to his death. However, one cannot anticipate this meaning in verse 19, since this would make nonsense of the response of the Jewish authorities recorded in verse 20.

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 .