When the people gathered around him and asked is literally “therefore the Jews gathered around him and said to him.” On “the Jews,” see Appendix I.

In some languages it would be preferable to make verse 23 the dependent temporal clause, and change the contents into the main clause, for example, “while Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Porch in the Temple, the people gathered around him….”

In some instances it may be necessary to use such a phrase as “some people,” since “the Jews” could be misunderstood to mean that all the Jews gathered around him. Moreover, these particular Jews have not been specifically identified and it would be wrong to suggest that they were precisely the same ones who confronted Jesus in earlier accounts.

Keep … in suspense is the meaning that most translators give the phrase that John uses here, though some commentators suggest that it may mean “to annoy,” a meaning it has in modern Greek. This question may be rendered in some languages “How long are you going to delay in telling us the truth?” or “How long are you going to keep us wondering?”

The plain truth, actually an adverb in Greek, means more literally “plainly” (Moffatt, Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible). New American Bible translates it “in plain words.” In Greek this last part of verse 24 literally reads “if you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” To give it more effect in English, Good News Translation places the question last and precedes it with the statement Tell us the plain truth. This expression may be rendered in some languages “Tell us clearly” or “… so that we can understand well” or “… so that we will not misunderstand.”

Here again the Greek term “the Christ” (Revised Standard Version) is a technical term referring to the Jewish Messiah, and so Good News Translation and some other English translations (New English Bible, New American Bible) render it “the Messiah.” It is impossible to determine precisely who raised this question or what motives were involved. The question may have come from those who were truly puzzled (see verse 21), but more likely it came from those who had already made up their minds regarding Jesus.

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 .