council

The Greek that is translated as “council” or “Council” in English is (back-) translated in a variety of ways:

sign

The Greek that is typically translated in English as “sign” is translated in Huehuetla Tepehua as “thing to be marveled at” (source: Larson 1889, p. 279) and in Mairasi as “big work” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (John 11:47)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (the chief priests and Pharisees talking among themselves).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (John 11:47)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 11:47:

  • Uma: “That is why the Parisi people with the leading priests had a big meeting with the other religious leaders. They said: ‘What shall we do? Because he is doing many miracles.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore immediately the Pariseo and the leaders of the priests gathered to discuss/plan, they said, ‘What on earth (ente’) can we (incl.) do to this person? He is already doing many wonder-causing signs.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the leaders of the sacrificers and the Pharisees gathered together the elders of the Jews, and when they had gathered together they said, ‘What are we going to do? Because as for this Jesus, the miracles which he does are many.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When that was so, the Pharisees and the leaders of the priests, they caused-to-be-called the other leaders of the Jews and they said, ‘What can we do then, because that person, he has been doing many amazing-things.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore the chiefs of the priests and the Pariseo gathered together their fellow judges, the members of the Sanedrin. After they had gathered, they said, ‘What would be good for us to do, since many signs which are amazing things are being done by this person?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Then the Pharisees along with the chief priests and other leaders of the Jews had a large meeting. They said, ‘What do we need to do? This man is doing many signs which no one else is able to do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Pharisee

The Greek that is a transliteration of the Hebrew Pərūšīm and is typically transliterated into English as “Pharisee” is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as Fǎlìsài (法利賽 / 法利赛) (Protestant) or Fǎlìsāi (法利塞) (Catholic). In Chinese, transliterations can typically be done with a great number of different and identical-sounding characters. Often the meaning of the characters are not relevant, unless they are chosen carefully as in these cases. The Protestant Fǎlìsài can mean something like “Competition for the profit of the law” and the Catholic Fǎlìsāi “Stuffed by/with the profit of the law.” (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 51)

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “prayer shawl”. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharisee” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts “pointing out the law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Pharisee” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts the box of the phylacteries attached to the forehead:


“Pharisees” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as Observant. He explains (p. 302): “Pharisee has become a public, universal pejorative term for a hypocrite. Pharisees were observant of the interpretation of the Covenant Code called the ‘tradition of the elders.’ They conformed their behaviors to the interpretation. Among the various groups of Jews at the time of Jesus, they were perhaps closest to Jesus in their overall concern to make a radical commitment to the will of God (as they understood it).”

See also Nicodemus.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Pharisees .

Translation commentary on John 11:47

Good News Translation introduces this verse with so (Greek oun) to indicate the relation between the report of the events to the Pharisees and their action in calling together the Council. (On oun, see under 2.18).

Good News Translation inverts the Greek order “the chief priests and the Pharisees,” since John’s readers already know about the Pharisees, but in this narrative the existence of the chief priests is new information for them. Since in verse 46 the Pharisees in question may be identified as “some Pharisees,” it is possible in verse 47 to translate “so these Pharisees and the chief priests.” In some languages “the Pharisees” would suggest that all the Pharisees were involved.

The chief priests may be expressed in many languages as “the leaders among the priests.”

Met with is more literally “called a meeting of” (see Moffatt, Goodspeed, New American Bible). Jerusalem Bible translates simply “called a meeting,” without stating who were called. There is a question in many commentators’ minds as to whether this meeting was a formal or informal gathering of the Jewish Council. This uncertainty may be why Jerusalem Bible omits an explicit mention of the Council, assuming that it was an informal gathering. Only here in John’s Gospel does the Greek word translated Council appear. It was the supreme religious court of the Jewish people, composed of seventy leaders and presided over by the High Priest. Most of its members were Sadducees, but some Pharisees were members (see the note on 3.1). The Council may be rendered in some languages “the gathering of the leaders.” In others the Council is literally “the gathering of the old men,” but not all members of this council were necessarily old men. In many languages such a phrase as “old men” may refer primarily to status rather than to age.

The question raised by the Pharisees and the chief priests (What shall we do?) may be understood in either of two ways. Most translations prefer to take this question in a deliberative sense, as Good News Translation does. But it is possible to take the question as rhetorical (New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible “What action are we taking?”; see also Luther, Zürcher Bibel, La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée). If so, the expected answer is “Nothing” (New American Bible alternative rendering “Why are we doing nothing?”).

In some languages such a verb as said must be changed into a verb for “questioning” if what follows is in fact a question, for example, “and they asked one another, ‘What shall we do?’ ”

Look at all the miracles this man is performing! is literally “because this man is doing many signs.” As elsewhere Good News Translation takes “sign” in the sense of miracle. (See the comment on 2.11).

In some languages one cannot employ such an expression as “look at” unless it is actually possible to see something going on. An equivalent would be “Think about all the miracles this man is doing” or “Remember all the miracles this man has done.”

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 .