Here also Jewish authorities is literally “the Jews.” In Greek “the Jews” is repeated, but the Good News Translation replaces its second occurrence by the relative pronoun who. The Greek expression “if anyone” is rendered as anyone who, and the pronoun “he” as Jesus. Jesus has not been mentioned for several verses while the man born blind has been the topic of conversation. For that reason Good News Translation and some other translations (see Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) make the pronominal reference “he” explicit.

In some languages it may be necessary to stipulate the basis of the parents’ fear of the Jewish authorities, for example, “They were afraid of what the Jewish authorities might do to them.” The relative clause beginning who had already agreed … may then be expressed as causative, for example, “because the Jewish authorities had already agreed that….”

Messiah translates the Greek word “Christ” (see Revised Standard Version), but in the present context this word is used as a reference to the Messiah of Jewish hope (see 1.20).

The point is that the Jews had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah, not that anyone “who admitted that Christ had done this thing” (Phillips), would be expelled from the synagogue. Who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah may be rendered “who said to others that Jesus was the Messiah” or “who told other people, Jesus is the Messiah,” since the Greek verb translated believed that literally is “confess that.”

Would be expelled from the synagogue appears in the New English Bible as “should be banned from the synagogue”; Revised Standard Version has “was to be put out of the synagogue.” The intensity of the threatened punishment is not indicated by John. There was a type of suspension, lasting for thirty days, during which time the suspended man was forbidden to have any dealings with Israelites except those of his immediate family. He could, however, attend the religious services of the community. But John seems to suggest a permanent excommunication, by which it would be impossible for the man even to attend the religious services of the synagogue.

In view of the evident intent of the author of this Gospel to suggest a more permanent exclusion from the synagogue, it may be necessary in some languages to say “to cause them no longer to be members of the synagogue” or “to exclude them from ever coming to the synagogue” or “to forbid them ever in the future to join with those of the synagogue.” Note that in this passage synagogue must be understood not as a building but as a group of people, though it may be possible to express the concept of “excommunication” in terms of exclusion from a particular place of worship.

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 .