7:11a
So: In the Greek text this clause connects to the previous sentence with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So. It introduces a result of Jesus’ coming secretly: the Jewish leaders were forced to ask where he was. Some translations does not explicitly translate this conjunction, but you should do so if it is natural in your language.
the Jews were looking for Him at the feast: The Jewish leaders expected that Jesus would be at the festival and they wanted to know where he was. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
at the Feast the Jews were watching for him (New International Version)
-or-
The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
During the festival the leaders looked for Jesus (Contemporary English Version)
the Jews: This is a term often used in John to refer to the Jewish religious leaders who opposed Jesus. In 7:12a John used the phrase “the crowds” to refer to all the Jews. That means that the Jews here probably refers to just a group of Jews, the leaders. See how you translated this term in 7:1c. In some languages it is more natural to be more explicit. For example:
the Jewish leaders (NET Bible Bible)
for Him: The pronoun Him refers to Jesus.
7:11b
and asking, “Where is He?”: In some languages it is more natural to use an indirect quote here. For example:
asking where he was (Revised English Bible)
-or-
kept asking if anyone had seen him (New Living Translation (2004))
and asking: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and asking is more literally “and they were saying.” This phrase here introduces a question, so it may be more natural to use a word like asking, as the Berean Standard Bible does. In some languages you may also need to explicitly say who they were talking to. For example:
and asking ⌊people⌋
Where is He?: The Greek question that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Where is He? is more literally “Where is that one?” Some commentaries say that this is a slightly insulting way to refer to Jesus. It implies that the leaders did not think that he was good. Consider how it is natural to imply this in your language. For example:
Where is that man? (New International Version)
-or-
Where is that person?
In other languages it may be necessary to name Jesus. For example:
Where is that Jesus?
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