From this point until the raising of Lazarus in verse 44 the narrative moves very rapidly. The reference of They is not explicit in the Greek text, though the reference must be to the people (verse 33) and them (verse 37), rather than to Martha and Mary. The stone would doubtless have been too heavy for the women to take away, and in their state of mourning they would probably not in any case have been able to move the stone. They took the stone away may be rendered “some of the people there took the stone away.” There is no indication of the particular manner in which the stone was taken away, but if it was leaning against the entrance to the cave, it would be possible to say “they pushed the stone away.” However, it is better to use some general expression for movement, for example, “moved the stone away” or “caused the stone to be moved,” rather than to suggest a particular manner of removing the stone.

Jesus looked up is literally “Jesus lifted his eyes up.” As the Jerusalem Bible note indicates, the meaning is that Jesus “looked up to heaven,” and this meaning is expressed explicitly in Moffatt and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. A useful equivalent in many languages is “he looked up toward heaven” or “… toward where God was.”

In Good News Translation Jesus’ words to the Father are rendered in the present tense and so are given a timeless meaning. In most translations these words refer to a specific response to a request. Note, for example, Jerusalem Bible “Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.” It is true that the verb translated listen to in Good News Translation is in the aorist indicative, which normally expresses action already accomplished. However, there is no earlier reference to a specific prayer of Jesus in this narrative, nor any mention of an answer given. It is possible to take the aorist indicative in a timeless sense, and Good News Translation does so, as seems best in the present context. Here the verb tense expresses, not an action already accomplished, but Jesus’ absolute confidence in knowing that the Father will accomplish what he asks. God has already heard Jesus’ prayer, even before it is uttered, since Jesus always remains in perfect fellowship with the Father. In order to express the timeless element in the verb listen to, it may be necessary to add a qualifying adverb, for example, “that you always listen to me.” The focus here, of course, is not merely upon “hearing,” but upon “heeding” or “responding to.”

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 .