18:32a–b

This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to indicate the kind of death He was going to die: This sentence is a parenthetical comment by the author John, not part of the main story. Some English versions have therefore placed it in parentheses. Indicate that this is parenthetical information in a way that is natural in your language.

18:32a

This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken: The Greek text more literally says, “in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled which he said….” This indicates that what Jesus had said in the past would happen (see 12:32), did happen. Jesus had said that he would be “lifted up,” and he did in fact die “lifted up” on a cross. Although Pilate had not yet decided to crucify Jesus, 18:31b shows that the Jews wanted Jesus punished with death. That fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy.

This is a purpose clause. However, it does not indicate the purpose of Jesus’ Jewish opponents. They were not trying to fulfill what Jesus had said. In your translation, avoid indicating that Jesus’ accusers said what they said because they wanted to fulfill what Jesus had said. For example:

And so what Jesus said about his death would soon come true. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
This happened in order to make come true what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he would die. (Good News Translation)
-or-
(This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.) (New Living Translation (2004))

This was to fulfill: This phrase indicates that what Jesus’ accusers said caused Jesus’ words to come true. See how you translated the word or idea of fulfill in 12:38, 13:18, and Luke 4:21.

The Jews did not directly fulfill Jesus’ words themselves, that is, they did not crucify Jesus. However, their words caused Jesus’ words to be fulfilled. They caused Jesus’ words to be fulfilled by asking the Romans to execute (punish with death) Jesus. The Romans executed people by crucifying them, while the Jewish custom was to stone (throw stones at people) people to death.

In some languages it may be natural to say explicitly to what the word This refers. For example:

In this way Jesus’ enemies caused to be fulfilled…
-or-

This happened in order to make come true… (Good News Translation)
-or-

By saying this they caused Jesus’ words to come true…

the word that Jesus had spoken: This clause refers to what Jesus said in John 3:14 and 12:32. Jesus had predicted that he would be killed by being “lifted up,” that is, by crucifixion. You may want to include a footnote with the references to John 3:14 and 12:32.

18:32b

to indicate the kind of death He was going to die: The expression the kind of death He was going to die refers to Jesus’ death by crucifixion. Jesus had said that he would be lifted up above the earth. See John 12:32–33. He died by the Roman method of punishing with death, crucifixion, not the Jewish method, stoning (killing by throwing stones). It was the Romans who put him to death. So when the Jews asked Pilate to give permission to kill Jesus, they were really requesting that Jesus be crucified.

See the note on John 12:33, where there is a very similar expression. See too how you translated that verse. Here are other ways to translate this expression:

what Jesus said about how he would die (New Century Version)
-or-
indicating the way he would die
-or-
thus fulfilling Christ’s prophecy of the method of his own death (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

General Comment on 18:32a–b

In some languages it may be natural to combine the information in these clauses. For example:

32a–b This happened so that the words Jesus spoke indicating the kind of death that he would die would be fulfilled.
-or-

32a–b (This happened so that what Jesus said about how he would die would come true.) (New Century Version)
-or-
In this way what Jesus had predicted about how he would die came true. (God’s Word)

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