The presence of the adverb again makes this verse more difficult to translate than may be apparent. For example, New English Bible sounds as if the same words had previously caused a division among the Jews (“These words once again caused a split among the Jews”). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch resolves the problem of “again” by rendering “Because of this assertion the Jews were again divided in their opinion regarding Jesus.”

In some languages one must make specific the causal relation between the words and the resulting division, for example, “These words of Jesus caused the Jews to be divided again.”

It is important to avoid giving the impression that there was a physical division or separation in the group. It may be necessary to specify that the division was one of argument or viewpoint, for example, “again they argued among themselves” or “again they had two different opinions.”

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 .