Once again (see verses 6-9) the testimony of John the Baptist interrupts the prologue. This interruption show how important the author of the Gospel understood the testimony of John the Baptist to be, especially since cried out denotes a solemn proclamation and is used of prophetic activity (see 7.28,37 and 12.44). For the meaning of the verb spoke about, see verse 7. Spoke about is in the present tense and cried out is in the perfect tense in Greek. In this context, these tenses have essentially the same significance, that is, they point to the present significance of John’s testimony.
It may be necessary in some languages to indicate to whom John spoke or cried out, for example, “John spoke to the people about him. He cried out to them.” The important components of meaning in the expression cried out are the loudness of voice and the urgency of the message, equivalent in some languages to “shout with insistence” or “shout strongly” or “shout urgently.” It is important to avoid terms which may seem contradictory, for in some languages a translation of spoke and of cried out may appear to be contradictory; in the one instance one would simply say “he spoke,” but in the other, “he shouted.”
He comes after me (see 1.27,30) is, of course, a reference to the historical appearance of Jesus, while he existed before I was born is a reference to the eternal pre-existence of the Word (see verse 1). He comes after me must be rendered as a temporal expression and not one of position, that is to say, Jesus followed John in time. However, since Jesus’ manifestation of himself was later than that of John, it may be necessary in some languages to use the future tense, for example, “he will come later.” However, such a translation must not suggest any special interval of time between the ministry of John the Baptist and that of Jesus.
He is greater than I am must be interpreted as expressing greater importance, for example, “he is more important than I am.” It may be expressed in some languages as “he is stronger than I am” (though in such instances the term “strong” has nothing to do with physical strength). In other languages the concept of importance may be related to leadership in the sense of “he is more of a chief than I am.”
It is important to avoid a translation of he existed before I was born which could suggest merely that Jesus was older than John, a meaning often conveyed by translations which render “existed” as “lived.”
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 .