SIL Translator’s Notes on John 1:22

1:22a

So: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So can also be translated as “therefore.” Here are some other way to translate this word:

Then they said to him (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Finally they said (New International Version)

they said to him: The pronoun they refers to the priests and Levites. The pronoun him refers to John the Baptist. In some languages it is more natural to make this explicit. For example:

the priests and helpers in the temple said to John

See the General Comment after 1:22d for a way to translate this as indirect speech.

1:22b

Who are you?: The ones asking questions were not asking for John’s name. They wanted to know his mission or social importance and why he thought he had the right to baptize. They probably felt disappointed that they could not get a satisfactory answer. In some languages it is natural to imply that they were disappointed. For example:

You (sing.) must tell us who you really are.

1:22c

We need an answer for those who sent us: The ones asking questions insisted that John answer them so that they could tell the religious leaders what he said. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

We have to take an answer back to those who sent us. (Good News Translation)
-or-
We must give an answer to those who sent us. (Revised English Bible)

those who sent us: The phrase those who sent us refers back to the religious leaders. In some languages it is more natural to identify them here. For example:

We (excl.) need an answer to give to those ⌊religious leaders⌋ who sent us.

1:22d

What do you say about yourself?: This question means about the same as the question in 1:22b. The priests and Levites wanted to know who John said he was. Translate this in a way that implies that they were becoming upset or impatient. For example:

What have you to say about yourself? (New Jerusalem Bible)

General Comment on 1:22b–d

In some languages it may be more natural to combine the questions in 1:22b and d:

22b,d You (sing.) must tell us (excl.) what/who you really are, 22c so that we can tell those who sent us.

General Comment on 1:22a–d

In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech here. For example:

22a Finally the priests and Levites 22b,d demanded to know who he said he was. 22c They told him that they had to give an answer to ⌊the religious leaders⌋ who had sent them.

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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