7:13a-b

Yet no one would speak publicly about Him for fear of the Jews: In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of 7:13a and 7:13b. For example:

13b But the people were afraid of their leaders, 13a and none of them talked in public about him. (Contemporary English Version)

7:13a

Yet: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Yet indicates contrast. The people wondered about Jesus, but no one wanted to say anything publicly.

Here are other ways to indicate the contrast:

But (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
However (NET Bible Bible)

no one would speak publicly about Him: This clause indicates that people quietly whispered their opinions but did not say anything in public.

no one: These words refer to the many people who had come to Jerusalem. None of these people would say anything about Jesus in public.

would speak publicly: This phrase means that no one in the crowd chose to speak in public. To speak publicly means to speak in public where anyone could hear them. They did not want the Jewish leaders to hear them. That is why they were careful about who they talked to and how loudly they talked.

about Him: The pronoun Him refers to Jesus. In some languages it is more natural to use the proper name here. For example:

about Jesus (New Century Version)

7:13b

for fear of the Jews: The ordinary people were afraid that their religious leaders would be angry with them if they heard them talk about Jesus. In some languages it may be more natural to translate this phrase as a verb clause. For example:

because they were afraid of the Jews (God’s Word)

the Jews: As in 7:1c and 7:11a, this phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. The people who were afraid were also Jews. What John said is that the crowd of ordinary Jews was afraid of the Jewish leaders. For example:

the people were afraid of their leaders (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders (New Living Translation (2004))

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