“Yes, Lord!” she answered is literally, “she says to him, ‘Yes, Lord’.” A more dramatic effect is attained by placing Martha’s answer first, and then the words she answered; and so Good News Translation rearranges the sentence order. (See also verse 23).

I do believe translates a verb in the perfect tense in Greek, which most translations render “I believe.” John often uses the perfect tense of the verb “to believe” where one might expect the present tense (see 6.69, for example). If the use of the perfect tense has any significance here, it is to indicate that Martha continues in her belief that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. On the other hand, it may indicate nothing more than an emphatic force, as suggested by the Good News Translation rendering I do believe.

On the use of the term Messiah, see comments at 1.41. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, which does not use the technical term Messiah, translates “Yes, I believe that you are the promised Savior.”

For Jesus as the Son of God, see 1.49.

Who was to come into the world (so also New English Bible, Goodspeed, Moffatt) is literally “The one coming into the world.” In 6.14 Jesus is spoken of as the prophet who was to come to the world, the same descriptive phrase used here of Jesus as the Son of God. Was to come into the world is difficult in some languages, since it involves a past reference was and a future reference to come. It is sometimes possible to translate “who was destined to come into the world,” but such a passive expression may not be possible in some languages. Therefore it may be necessary to employ a full and explicit statement of what is meant, “whom God promised would come into the world” or “of whom God said, ‘He will come into the world’.”

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 .