The word translated Sir may also have the full Christian meaning of “Lord” (see verse 11). Most translations take the term here in the sense of Sir.

Because of the evident urgency of the situation and the nature of the official’s response to Jesus, it may be appropriate to use a strong expression to render Come with me, for example, “Do come with me” or “Come right now with me.”

In some languages it is difficult to express the temporal relation suggested by the clause before my child dies. The closest equivalent may be a conditional, for example, “if not, then my child will die.” Or the contrast may be made between such an expression as “now” and a future tense, for example, “Come with me now or my child will die.”

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 .