I am not seeking honor for myself may be rendered “I am not trying to cause myself to be praised” or “I am not seeking to have people praise me” or “I am not asking people to honor me.”

The second sentence of this verse is literally “there is one seeking and judging,” and the one referred to is God the Father. It is obvious that the understood object of the verb seeking is Jesus’ honor, referred to in the first half of this verse, and most modern translations make this reference explicit. What is meant by the verb judges is more difficult. Most translations are fairly literal at this point, though Phillips renders “he is the true judge” and Jerusalem Bible “and is the judge of it” (that is, of Jesus’ glory). Good News Translation understands it to mean judges in my favor. The meaning appears to be that God judges fairly by giving Jesus the honor due to him and by condemning those who refuse to give him proper honor. The entire verse appears in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch as “I seek no honor for myself. Another seeks it, and he is the judge.” But there is one who is seeking it may be expressed as “there is someone else who seeks to have me praised” or “… desires that I should be honored.”

The final expression, judges in my favor, may be rendered “decides in my favor” or “judges advantageously to me.” Or it may be possible to say “he is the one who judges rightly.” Such a translation suggests, of course, that God’s judgement is correct in finally assigning honor to Jesus.

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 .