In the overall context of this passage, the oneness which Jesus shares with the Father grows out of his obedience to the Father, by which he is able to do the same deeds as the Father. Elsewhere in John’s Gospel the oneness of nature or being that Christ shares with the Father is emphasized, but in the present context the emphasis seems to be that Christ reflects the Father in all that he says and does.

In some languages it is grammatically impossible to say The Father and I are one, particularly in languages which require a concord between a plural subject and a predicate numeral such as “one.” For example, in most Bantu languages it is impossible to pluralize the numeral “one.” One can, however, say “the Father and I are just like one person” or “… are the same as one person.” One may in some languages also say “are joined together as one person.”

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 .