The Temple area was surrounded on all four sides by covered porches which were open on the inside, facing the Temple, but closed on the outside. It is generally believed that Solomon’s Porch was the one on the eastern side, but there is no certainty as to that.

Verse 23 is a continuation of the sentence which begins in Greek with verse 22; it literally begins “and Jesus was walking….” It is better to take the verb as a simple past progressive (was walking) than to see in it a customary action of Jesus (Moffatt “used to walk”). Jerusalem Bible sounds as if Jesus was pacing the floor: “and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon.” The word translated Temple does not refer to the sanctuary proper, but to “the Temple precincts” (New English Bible). New American Bible has “in the temple area.” Good News Translation restructures verses 23 and 24 slightly, making verse 23 an independent clause and verse 24 a dependent clause. In Greek, verse 24 is an independent sentence in itself.

In some languages the choice of a verb to translate was walking depends upon the way one interprets this manner of walking. Often there are three distinct verbs for walking: one would mean walking through the Temple, the second would imply strolling around in the Temple looking at various objects, while the third would suggest walking back and forth in the area. Either the second or the third meaning seems appropriate for this particular context.

The phrase Solomon’s Porch can be misconstrued if translated literally, since it may suggest a porch belonging specifically to Solomon. It was, of course, a porch associated with the name of Solomon. Therefore it may be best to translate as “Jesus was walking in a porch called Solomon’s Porch” or “… in a place called Solomon’s Porch.” Such an expression will avoid the misunderstanding that Jesus was walking in a porch which actually belonged to Solomon.

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 .