Some commentators understand verse 26 to be merely a repetition of verse 25 in other words. They take whoever lives as a reference to physical life and will never die to physical death. The following translation results: “No living person who believes in me will ever die.” For the commentators who accept this viewpoint, the impact of the verse is to indicate that, for the believer, the only death that is really worth considering has no effect on his life.

It seems better, however, to take whoever lives to be a reference to spiritual or eternal life, and will never die as a reference to spiritual or eternal death. The meaning is, then, “the believer who is spiritually alive will never die spiritually.” This meaning seems to be the most in keeping with John’s theology, since in the Gospel of John the word “life,” when unqualified, must always be taken as a reference to spiritual or eternal life. Moreover, the double use of death in verses 25-26 is to be found also in 6.49-50; in verse 49 death is physical, but in verse 50 it is spiritual. It seems best therefore to suggest that the death in verse 25 is physical, while death in verse 26 is spiritual, and life in verses 25-26 is spiritual.

It is possible, on the basis of the Greek sentence, to take in me both with lives and believes. If so, then one may translate “whoever lives in me and believes in me will never die.” However, most commentators and translators evidently take in me only with the verb believes.

The relative clause introduced by whoever may be made conditional, for example, “if a man lives and believes in me.” In order to suggest that lives indicates a quality of living, and not mere existence, one may in some languages use such an expression as “really,” for example, “if a person really lives and believes in me.” The final part of the condition will never die may then be rendered “will really never die” or, to indicate that these words are to be understood figuratively, “he will really never die, so to speak” or “it is just as though he will never die.”

Do you believe this? must be taken as a reference to the full content of verses 25-26.

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 .