My message is literally “my words” (Greek rema), the same noun used in 8.47 (of God’s words). Most translations render “my words.” But my message may also be rendered in some instances “what I have said” or “what I say.”

Does not obey it may be rendered “does not do what I have said” or “does not obey what I have told him to do.”

In some places the Gospel of John indicates that Jesus does not judge (see 3.17; 8.15), while in other passages it indicates that Jesus is the judge (see 5.22 and 27; compare 8.16 and 26). The apparent contradiction may be resolved by the observation that Jesus’ purpose in coming into the world was to save it, not to judge it. However, the inevitable outcome of his coming into the world means judgment, because some refuse to accept him.

I will not judge him may perhaps be best understood in this context in terms of “condemn him,” since the emphasis here is upon a type of judgment which results in condemnation.

As noted elsewhere, certain receptor languages require the positive before the negative statement. Therefore, one may translate the last sentence of verse 47 “I came into the world in order to save people. I did not come in order to condemn them.”

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 .