The sisters sent Jesus a message is more literally “So the sisters sent to him, saying.” The participle “saying,” a Semitic way of introducing direct discourse, need not be translated. The word translated “so” by Revised Standard Version represents John’s favorite particle (oun), which also need not usually be translated by a given word. Good News Translation makes explicit the reference to Jesus in this verse, since the preceding two verses are focused on Lazarus, with a passing mention of the Lord in verse 2. Jerusalem Bible also makes explicit the reference to Jesus (“The sisters sent this message to Jesus”), and so does New American Bible (“The sisters sent word to Jesus to inform him”). The same is true of Phillips (“So the sisters sent word to Jesus”). In some languages the only way one can “send a message” is “send a person with a message” or “send a person to tell” or “send a messenger who is to say.”
The word translated Lord may merely be the equivalent of “Sir” (New English Bible). However, most commentators and translators take this word here to have the full Christian sense of Lord. Receptor languages tend to employ three different ways of expressing the Christian sense of Lord: (1) Some use a term which designates primarily “leader,” “ruler,” “one who commands,” or “chief.” (2) Others use a term which designates primarily a religious attitude toward, for example, “the one whom we worship” or “the one we reverence.” (3) Still other languages use an expression which indicates the majesty or glory of the person referred to, for example, “the glorious one,” “the wonderful one,” or “the one who has majesty.”
Your dear friend (Phillips, New English Bible “your friend”) is literally “he whom you love” (Jerusalem Bible “the man you love”), a descriptive phrase for speaking of a close friend. To translate literally, as many translators do, may connote something evil, and this danger should be guarded against. On the basis of this phrase, some have taken Lazarus to be the disciple whom Jesus loved (13.23; 19.26; 20.2; 21.7), but there is little ground for this conclusion. In some languages the closest equivalent to your dear friend is “your close friend,” “your cherished friend,” or “one who is truly your friend.”
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 .