The soldiers is literally “they,” but Good News Translation makes the pronominal reference explicit.

Throw dice (so also Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible) translates a Greek verb which means to get something either by casting or drawing lots (so Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, Goodspeed, Phillips), However, for contemporary readers the idea of throwing dice or tossing a coin (New English Bible “let us toss for it”) may be the nearest cultural equivalent. In some languages a generic expression may be employed, for example, “let us gamble for it.” However, in some parts of the world where there is no cultural equivalent of gambling, a parallel type of behavior can be described, for example, “let us play a game to see who wins and therefore gets the robe.”

This happened in order to make the scripture come true is literally “so that the scripture may be fulfilled.” That is, in Greek this sentence is introduced by a conjunction (hina) which means “so that” (the same construction found in 18.9). This happened to make the scriptures come true may be rendered in some languages as “This happened so as to cause to become true what was written in the holy writings.” The scripture referred to is Psalm 22.18. and the Septuagint is quoted exactly.

Gambled for is literally “cast a lot for,” but the Good News Translation uses a more generic expression, avoiding the less familiar expression “to cast lots.”

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 .