In Greek, this entire verse is in the form of a question, which this time expects a positive response. That is, the question is so phrased as to assume that the Messiah would be a descendant of David and that he would be born in Bethlehem. New English Bible retains the question form. “Does not Scripture say that the Messiah is to be of the family of David, from David’s village of Bethlehem?” Matthew 2.5-6 also refers to the popular Jewish belief of the first century that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. The Old Testament passage referred to is Micah 5.2. John’s style here is ironical. He implies by this quotation that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, though he was brought up in Galilee. The crowds were unable to fathom the truth that Jesus had come from God.

For a treatment of the phrase The scripture says, see the discussion under verse 38.

The Messiah will be a descendant of King David is expressed in some languages as “King David will be the ancestor of the Messiah.” In other languages one may use a term for lineage, for example, “the Messiah will belong to the lineage of King David”; and for lineage some languages use rather extensive figurative expressions, for example, “the root of King David,” “the rope of King David” or “the vine of King David.” Although the Greek text does not include the marker King before David, Good News Translation has done so because its readers may not be familiar with this figure in Jewish history. The second time he is referred to he is spoken of merely as David, since the reference to David is then old information.

A literal translation of the town where David lived could be misleading, since it might suggest that David lived in Bethlehem throughout his life. The real meaning is that Bethlehem was “the hometown of David,” the town from which he came.

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 .