The Greek word translated evening may refer to any time in the late afternoon (see 20.19; Matt 14.15, 23). As the following verse indicates, it was not yet dark when Jesus’ disciples went down to the lake.

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 .