complete verse (John 1:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:24:

  • Uma: “Those messengers of the Parisi people also said: ‘If you (sing.) are not the Redeemer King, you (sing.) are not the prophet Elia, you (sing.) are also not the prophet that was promised, why are you (sing.) baptizing people?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “These priests had been told to go there by very religious Yahudi called Pariseo.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for these people who were asking John, they were the sent ones of the Pharisees.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon those-aforementioned whom the Fafariseo (Pharisees) had sent said,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those ones who were questioning, who were Pariseo, who had been sent by their fellows, (i.e. fellow Pariseo),” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Those men who went to talk with John were the messengers of the Pharisees.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 1:24

The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees is the meaning given this verse in Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and the Anchor Bible. Others (New English Bible, Goodspeed, Good News Translation margin) take this with a meaning similar to Moffatt: “Now some Pharisees had been sent to him.” Both translations are possible on the basis of the Greek, but the translation represented by Good News Translation has in its favour that it represents the more difficult translation in the context. The difficulty is that priests and Levites would normally not have belonged to the Pharisaic group, but would have been Sadducees. However, by the time this Gospel was written, these distinctions were no longer important, because the Pharisees were then the only representatives of Judaism. In fact, for John the Pharisees have become synonymous with the religious leaders of the Jewish people, who have the right to pass judgment. Generally they are connected with Jerusalem as here (see 3.1; 7.32,47f; 9.13,15f,40; 11.46f,57; 18.3).

The passive expression had been sent can, of course, be made active by inversion, for example, “The Pharisees were the ones who had sent the messengers.” It is important, moreover, that a glossary note identify the Pharisees as a strict religious sect of Judaism. In publications containing other books of the New Testament, cross references can be given to other places where the Pharisees and their beliefs are mentioned.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 1:24

Paragraph 1:24–28

In this paragraph the Pharisees questioned John about his right to baptize people. John answered by saying that someone was standing among them who was much greater than he was.

1:24

Then: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then here introduces an explanation. The Good News Translation and some other English translations do not translate this word. The Greek word can also be translated as “also.” For example:

Some Pharisees had also been sent to John. (Contemporary English Version)

You should introduce this explanation in the way that is most natural in your language.

the Pharisees who had been sent: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Pharisees who had been sent can also be translated as “they had been sent from the Pharisees.” There are at least two ways to understand this expression:

(1) At least some of the men who were sent were Pharisees. For example:

Then the Pharisees who had been sent asked him (New Living Translation (2004))

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, King James Version, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

(2) The Pharisees sent these people. For example:

The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation)

The New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, NET Bible, and New Revised Standard Version can be understood either way. Here is what these translations all say:

they had been sent from the Pharisees

You may be able to translate this in a way that can be understood either way. However, if this is not possible, you may follow interpretation (1) or the national translation. The difficulty with both alternatives above is that in Jesus’ time most priests and Levites were Sadducees and not Pharisees. That was also true of the Jewish religious leaders in general. Probably, the Pharisees did not have the authority to send a group of priests and Levites as representatives. Nor is it probable that all of the men sent to question Jesus were Pharisees. But it is very possible that some of them were. So you may want to follow this example:

Some Pharisees who had been sent asked him

Pharisees: The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group or party. It was very important to them to obey all of the Jewish religious laws very carefully and exactly.

Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Transliterate the word Pharisees using the sounds of your language. You may need to indicate that it refers to a group of people. For example:

Farises
-or-
Farisi members
-or-
Parise followers

• Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain bel:24iefs. For example:

people belonging to the Farise religious group
-or-
members of the religious group called the Farasi

If you translate Pharisees in this second way, you will probably want to use a shorter translation after this. You probably do not want to include the full explanation every time you translate the word. You may want to follow one of the first set of examples in the rest of John.

You may want to add a footnote explaining more about the Pharisees, especially if you translated the word the first way. Here is a sample footnote:

The Pharisees was a Jewish religious group. It was very important to them to obey all of the Jewish religious laws very carefully.

See Pharisee in Key Biblical Terms.

who had been sent: This is a passive verb phrase. There are several ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

Some of those who had been sent were Pharisees. (God’s Word)

• Use an active verb. For example:

The religious leaders had sent some Pharisees.

• Use a noun referring to a group of people sent on a mission. For example:

some Pharisees in the group of representatives

See the General Comment at the end of 1:25b on how to combine verses 24 and 25.

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