We believe now, not because of what you said is literally “no longer because of what you said do we believe,” in which the focus is obviously on not because of what you said.
Two problems are involved in translating this statement of the Samaritans. In such construction some languages require that the positive clause precede the negative clause. If so, one may translate “We believe now because we ourselves have heard him, and it is not because of what you said.” A second problem is that some languages may require a shift of the negative from the clause of cause to the verb “to believe,” for example, “We do not believe because of what you said, but we do believe because we ourselves have heard him speak” or “… have heard what he has said.”
It should be noted that John focuses attention upon the Samaritans throughout verses 28-42. Although only implicitly referred to in verse 28 (they hear the woman’s testimony about Jesus), they are mentioned in verse 30 (they left and went), verse 39 (many of the Samaritans … believed), verse 40 (the Samaritans came to him … begged him), verse 41 (many more believed), and verse 42 (they told … we believe … we have heard … we know).
Except for Luke 2.11 this verse is the only mention in the Gospels of the title Savior as applied to Jesus during the course of his earthly life, though it is used in that sense twice in Acts and several times in Paul’s writings. In the Old Testament, God is the one who saves his people, and sometimes he is referred to as their Savior; in Luke 1.47 Mary says, “My soul is glad because of God my Savior,” a statement based on an Old Testament passage (1 Sam 2.1-10). However, in the light of the fact that Samaria was largely under the influence of Greek culture, it may be better to look for the background of this term in the Greek world, where it was applied to gods, emperors, and various heroes.
Terms for Savior generally reflect two kinds of contexts. One refers to “the one who rescues” or “the one who delivers” (implying “from danger” or “from bondage”). The other involves the concept of restoration, and may be rendered “the one who restores” or “the one who makes us able again.” For the phrase the Savior of the world it may be necessary to use a clause, for example, “the one who rescues the people of the world” or “the one who restores again all people.”
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 .