But I have a witness on my behalf which is even greater than the witness that John gave is, more literally, “But I have the witness greater than John.” Have a witness obviously refers to the testimony that someone else gives on Jesus’ behalf and not to the testimony which Jesus himself gives. A literal rendering might be ambiguous, but the inclusion of on my behalf makes the meaning clear. New English Bible removes the ambiguity by rendering “But I rely on a testimony higher than John’s.” Good News Translation makes the noun phrase “than that of John” into a verb clause with the pronoun “that” made explicit: than the witness that John gave.

The first part of verse 36 is difficult to translate, because in many languages it is not possible to speak of an activity as “a witness.” A person may act as a witness, but an event may not. It may therefore be necessary to speak of Jesus’ deeds as being the witness, in the sense of “showing who he really is.” Accordingly, the first part of verse 36 must be radically restructured, for example, “But what I do shows what I really am in a way even more important than what was shown by what John said about me.” This initial part of verse 36 may then be followed by “What I do is precisely what my Father told me to do.” Note that in this restructuring the term work is not rendered literally, because it might refer only to physical labor.

The next two clauses in Good News Translation (what I do, that is, the deeds my Father gave me to do) are rendered in reverse order from that in the Greek text, because in English it is more natural to give the general clause first and the clause that qualifies it afterward. Here the first clause introduces Jesus’ deeds, and the second clause qualifies his deeds as those the Father gave him to do. It is, of course, possible to follow more closely the order of the Greek: “But I have a witness on my behalf even greater than the witness that John gave: the deeds my Father gave me to do. These deeds speak on my behalf….”

My Father is literally “the Father.” Once again the article “the” is used with the significance of a possessive pronoun (see verse 19).

Speak on my behalf and show translates one verb in Greek (literally “testifies”). It is not possible in some languages to talk about deeds as able to “speak.” One can, however, employ such an expression as “what I do shows who I really am,” which may be followed by the final expression in verse 36, for example, “and what I do shows that my Father has sent me.”

It should be noted that the Greek text uses the plural deeds rather than the singular “deed.” This is to call attention to the numerous “mighty deeds” that God has enabled Jesus to do.

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 .