Home must mean the place where the disciples were staying in Jerusalem, rather than their homes in Galilee. The purpose of this verse is to remove the disciples from the scene, in order to prepare the way for the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene. If a literal translation of went back home would mean that the disciples returned to their home town, one must translate “went back to where they were staying.”

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 .