εἶπεν δὲ τοῦτο οὐχ ὅτι περὶ τῶν πτωχῶν ἔμελεν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι κλέπτης ἦν καὶ τὸ γλωσσόκομον ἔχων τὰ βαλλόμενα ἐβάσταζεν.
6(He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)
The Greek in John 12:6 that is translated as “used to steal what was put into it” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) idiomatically as jeden Groschen dreimal umdrehte or “(he was) a penny pincher” (lit. “turned over every dime three times”).
Note that Berger/Nord also don’t translate thief directly.
The Hebrew that is translated as “the poor” in English is translated in Chichewa as “people without power.” In Chichewa context this refers to those who are in the lower class in terms of both social status and political influence in a community. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Cherokee it is translated as “those who are not doing well.” “The concept of poverty was unknown to Cherokee prior to European arrival due to the sharing of resources among clan members and the shared and welfare tradition known as gadugi (ᎦᏚᎩ). In contrast, the concepts of rich and poor play a large role in the world and message or the New Testament (…) This phrase (‘those who are not doing well’), still used today for ‘poor,’ speaks to a more general understanding of well-being than the presence of monetary resources.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 45)
See also poor (Ps. 41:1).
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “thief” in English is translated in Low German as Spitzboov or “naughty boy” / “scoundrel” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1937, republ. 2006).
See also thief (parable of the wise householder) and thief (like a thief in the night).
Text under painting translated from Literary Chinese into English:
The Seventh Commandment
The holy woman washes the Lord, a wicked disciple chastises her
Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.
In the Yatzachi Zapotec translation of the Gospel of John, any reference to the evangelist and presumed narrator is done in the first person.
The translator Inez Butler explains (in: Notes on Translation, September 1967, pp. 10ff.):
“In revising the Gospel of John in Yatzachi Zapotec we realized from the start that the third person references of Jesus to himself as Son of Man had to be converted into first person references, but only more recently have we decided that similar change is necessary in John’s references to himself as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ As I worked on those changes and questioned the informant about his understanding of other passages in the Gospel, I discovered that the reader misses the whole focus of the book as an eyewitness account unless every reference to the disciples indicates the writer’s membership in the group. In view of that we went back through the entire book looking for ways to cue in the reader to the fact that John was an eyewitness and a participant in a many of the events, as well as the historian.
“When the disciples were participants in events along with Jesus, it was necessary to make explicit the fact that they accompanied him, although in the source language that is left implicit, since otherwise our rendering would imply that they were not present.”
In this verse, the Yatzachi Zapotec says: “Judas thought that not because he pitied the poor people, but rather because he was a thief. He carried the money all of us used, and he secretly took money from it.”
Following are a number of back-translations of John 12:6:
This verse is introduced with the same particle (de) as verse 4.
The verb cared about is the same one used in 10.13, which speaks of the hired man who does not care for the sheep.
Only in this verse in the Gospels is Judas described as a thief.
In languages in which it is necessary to place the positive before the negative clause, the first part of verse 6 may be altered to read “He said this because he was a thief; he didn’t say it because he cared for the poor” or “… he said this, not because he cared for the poor.”
The word translated money bag (“purse” in many translations) was originally used of a box used to carry mouthpieces of flutes. Later it was used of boxes in general, but more specifically with the meaning “money box” (so some translations). The word is used again in 13.29.
A literal translation of he carried the money bag may suggest that Judas was a low-ranking disciple who had the burden of carrying the money for the others. The implication, however, is simply that he was treasurer of the group. This meaning may be expressed in some languages as “he had charge of the money that belonged to all of them” or “he was the man responsible for keeping the money.”
Would help himself from it indicates customary or repeated action. The translation should not imply that Judas took everything that was placed in the money bag. The meaning is that Judas had the habit of helping himself from the contributions given to the disciples to be dispersed to the poor. Jerusalem Bible, though rather high level, conveys this meaning: “he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contributions.” One may also say “he took money for himself from time to time” or “from time to time he took some of the money and used it for himself.”
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 .
12:6a–b
Some English translations put 12:6a–b in parentheses to show that this is not part of the main story but is additional information. The author John was the one who provided this information. The verse explains why Judas said what he did in 12:5. Consider how it is natural to indicate that this verse is additional information in your language.
12:6a
Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief: These clauses explain why Judas suggested that they should help the poor. He wanted to encourage others to give generously to the poor. However, his reason for what he said was not because he wanted to help the poor. Instead, he said it because he hoped to steal some of the money.
Judas did not say this: The word this refers to what Judas said in 12:5. There he said that the money from selling the perfume should have been given to the poor.
not…because: This phrase introduces what was not the reason that Judas said what he did.
he cared about the poor: This clause indicates that Judas did not say what he did because he cared about (was concerned about) poor people. He did not really care for their welfare. In your translation it should be clear that Judas did not want to help poor people. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
He said this, not out of any concern for the poor (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Now Judas said this not because he was concerned about the poor (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
Judas didn’t say this because he cared about the poor (God’s Word)
but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but here connects a negative statement (not because he cared about the poor) to a positive statement (because he was a thief). This kind of sentence emphasizes the positive statement. Languages have different ways to indicate this type of emphasis. Here are some ways to show the emphasis:
• Use the conjunction but as in the Berean Standard Bible.
He said this, not out of any concern for the poor, but because he was a thief (Revised English Bible)
-or-
He did not say this because he cared about poor people, but because he was a thief
• Use a conjunction other than but. This is a common way in English to show this type of emphasis. For example:
He said this not because he cared about poor people, rather/instead he was a thief
• Do not use a conjunction. For example:
Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief (New Living Translation (2004))
• Change the order of the clauses. For example:
He said that because he was a thief, not because he cared about poor people.
You should translate this emphasis in the way that is most natural in your language.
because: This word here introduces the true reason why Judas wanted people to give money to the poor.
he was a thief: The word thief here refers to a person who secretly takes money that does not belong to him. Judas was not a professional thief or burglar. He stole money that he was supposed to protect. Translate this in a way that is natural in your language.
General Comment on 12:6a
In some languages a literal translation may suggest that Judas did care about the poor; it was just not the reason that he spoke. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to reorder the information to avoid this wrong meaning. For example:
But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. (New Century Version)
12:6b
As keeper of the money bag: This clause indicates that Judas was in charge of the disciples’ finances. He was supposed to take care of the money that they used to buy food for them all. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
he was in charge of the disciples’ money (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
He was the one who kept the money box (New Century Version)
-or-
he carried the moneybag (Contemporary English Version)
the money bag: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as the money bag refers to a small bag that held the money for Jesus and his followers. The group shared the money that was in it; it did not belong to any one person. Here is another way to make this clear:
the disciples’ money (New Living Translation (2004))
used to take: The phrase used to take indicates that Judas often stole some of the money from the disciples’ money bag. He took money from it to use for himself alone. For example:
he often stole some for himself (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he often stole from it (New Century Version)
-or-
and sometimes would steal from it (Contemporary English Version)
what was put into it: This phrase refers to the money that people gave Jesus and his disciples. The disciples used this money to buy what they needed, like food. It appears from this story that they also gave some of the money to poor people. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
the coins that people gave for it
-or-
the money kept in it (Revised English Bible)
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