In Greek verse 23 is introduced by the words “Jesus told her,” but Good News Translation places the words of Jesus first to make them more emphatic. Most translations render the Greek verb “will rise again,” but Good News Translation makes it explicit by translating will rise to life. Martha immediately assumes that Jesus refers to the Jewish belief in the resurrection, which is to take place on the last day, when all God’s people will rise again to life. Once again the misunderstanding of one of Jesus’ hearers enables him to present a deeper truth. Martha accepts the doctrine of resurrection on the last day, but this is of no immediate hope and consolation to her, and so Jesus makes explicit in the following verse what he meant by his statement Your brother will rise to life. These words may be translated simply “Your brother will live again” or “… will become alive again.”

She replied is literally “Martha says to him,” but better English style is achieved by the use of a pronoun in place of a noun.

In many languages one cannot say the last day without indicating the relation of the day to a given event. In some languages one may use the expression “the last day of the world” or “at the end of the world” or “at the end of the age” or even “… of time.”

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 .