“Where are you going, Lord,” Simon Peter asked him is inverted from the Greek order. Again Revised Standard Version represents the Greek sentence order: “Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord where are you going?’ ” For English readers it is more effective to introduce the words of Peter before indicating that he was the one who spoke them. This is the basis for the restructuring of Good News Translation. Note also New American Bible “Lord,” Simon Peter said to him, “where do you mean to go?”

In the Greek text answered Jesus comes before the words You cannot follow me now where I am going. Where I am going is emphatic in the Greek sentence structure. The verb follow is often used in the New Testament in the sense of “to follow as a disciple” (see comments at 1.37).

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 .