9When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
The Greek that is translated as “was raised from the dead” is translated as “rose from the dead” (Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac), “came up again from where he was buried” (Huehuetla Tepehua) or “returned from among the dead” (Ojitlán Chinantec). (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
In the EnglishGood News Bible (2nd edition of 1992), this occurrence of the Greek hoi Ioudaioi, traditionally “the Jews” in English, is translated with “Judeans” or “people from Judea.” For an explanation of the differentiated translation in English as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see the Jews.
Following are a number of back-translations of John 12:9:
Uma: “Many Yahudi people heard that Yesus was in Betania, that is why went in throngs wanting to see him. And they also wanted to see Lazarus, whom Yesus had made live yesterday.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Many people came to know that Isa was there in Betani, therefore they went there. They went there not just because of Isa, but they also wanted to see Lasarus, whom Isa had made alive from his death.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Many people heard that Jesus was there in the village of Bethany, and they went there. They not only wanted to see Jesus, but rather they wanted to see also Lazarus, the one whom he had raised from the dead.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Many Jews heard-reported that Jesus was in Betania, so they went there. But not only on-account-of Jesus did they go, but rather in order also to see Lazarus to whom he gave-life.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Many many Judio heard the news that Jesus was at Betania, that’s why they went there. Their purpose in going wasn’t only because of Jesus, but on the contrary so that they would also see Lazaro, who had been made alive again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Many Jews learned that Jesus was in Bethany. They went to see him. But they didn’t go just to see Jesus, they also wanted to see Lazarus whom Jesus caused to be resurrected from the tomb.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
A large number of people represents one textual tradition (New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Goodspeed, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Luther); “the great crowd” of Revised Standard Version (Zürcher Bibel, Moffatt, Phillips, New American Bible) represents a second textual tradition. The choice of text is difficult, since the text that includes the definite article “the” has such poor structure that there is doubt whether John could have written it. On the other hand, the text which omits “the” is obviously the easier text and could be the result of some scribe’s attempt to remove the difficulty of the other text. A similar problem exists in 12.12. The UBS Committee supports the manuscript reading which includes the definite article, but places the definite article in brackets to indicate serious doubt regarding the text at this point. Here, as elsewhere, scholarly opinion is divided, and the translator is free to choose either possibility.
The word rendered large number of people is mentioned in four places here and in the following section (verses 9,12,17,18). In these verses it is difficult to differentiate one use of the word from another. On the whole, it may be best to identify the “crowd” of verses 9 and 17 as one group and the “crowd” of 12 and 18 as another. However, it may be also possible to distinguish three groups: the large number of people of verse 9, the people of verse 17, and the crowd of verses 12 and 18.
That Jesus was in Bethany is literally “that he was there.” Good News Translation makes both person and place explicit. Similarly, whom Jesus had raised from death is literally “whom he had raised from death.”
The contrast in the phrases not only … but also is difficult in some languages because the elements are not parallel. It may be necessary to restructure the second part of verse 9 to read “They went because Jesus was there, and they also went in order to see Lazarus, the one Jesus had caused to live again.” It is also possible to translate because of Jesus “in order to see Jesus.” By making the two expressions parallel (“in order to see Jesus” and “in order to see Lazarus”), it is easier to treat the contrasting elements not only … but also. However, as noted elsewhere, it may be necessary to place the positive before the negative, that is, “They went in order to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from death. They also went in order to see 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 .
Many people came to see Jesus. But they also came to see Lazarus because Jesus raised him from the dead. As a result, the chief priests decided that they needed to kill Lazarus in addition to Jesus.
Here are some other possible titles for this section:
The chief priests decided to kill Lazarus too
-or-
The plot to kill Lazarus
12:9a
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there: This clause introduces a new part of the story, telling what happened next. Introduce this new event in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
Now a large crowd of Judeans learned that Jesus was there (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany. (God’s Word)
a large crowd of Jews:
The phrase a large crowd of Jews here refers to the local people, inhabitants of Judea, the province that included Jerusalem. For example:
a large crowd of Judeans (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
a large number of people (Good News Translation)
learned that Jesus was there: The people heard the news that Jesus had gone to Bethany. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
heard of Jesus’ arrival (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
found out that Jesus was in Bethany (God’s Word)
-or-
heard that Jesus was in Bethany (Good News Translation)
12:9b
And they came: This clause indicates that the Jews who learned that Jesus was in Bethany went there. In some languages it may not be natural to use a word like came here. For example:
they went there (God’s Word)
not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus: These people came/went to Bethany hoping to see both Jesus and Lazarus. Seeing Jesus was not their only reason for coming, but it was one reason. Translate this expression in a way that is natural and clear in your language. For example:
not only because they wanted to see Jesus, but also because they wanted to see Lazarus
-or-
not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus (God’s Word)
-or-
to see him and also to see Lazarus (New Living Translation (2004))
General Comment on 12:9a–b
In some languages it may be natural to combine the information in 12:9a–b. Then you would make “the great crowd of the Jews” (rather than “they”) the subject of the verb “came.” For example:
A lot of people came when they heard that Jesus was there. They also wanted to see Lazarus…. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Hearing that Jesus had arrived, a crowd of Jewish people came ⌊to Bethany⌋ . They hoped/wanted to see Jesus and Lazarus as well
12:9c
whom He had raised from the dead: The word whom introduces some information about Lazarus. It refers to the narrative in John 11, telling how Jesus made Lazarus alive after he died. This information explains why the people wanted to see him. For example:
because Jesus had raised him from death (Contemporary English Version)
General Comment on 12:9
In some languages it is more natural to break this information into more than one sentence. For example:
A large crowd of Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. (New Century Version)
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