Translation commentary on John 12:16

This (so most translations; New American Bible “all this”) is literally “these things,” and is in the emphatic position in the Greek sentence structure. The plural form is used here in a collective sense and so may legitimately be rendered by the singular this.

The verb translated understand normally means “to know,” but the meaning “to understand” is obvious in the present context and so appears in most translations.

At the time (so also New English Bible, Goodspeed, Phillips, Jerusalem Bible) is literally “at first” (as in many translations). The phrase is used here to contrast the disciples’ understanding when these events were taking place with their understanding when Jesus was raised to glory. For this purpose the translation “at the time” is better than “at first.” In some languages it may be necessary to make more specific the reference to this and to stipulate more clearly the reference to time. Therefore one may translate “At the time these events took place his disciples did not understand what they meant” or “… did not understand all that was involved” or “… just what all of these happenings were pointing to.”

When Jesus had been raised to glory (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “but when Jesus was raised in the glory of God”) is literally “when Jesus was glorified.” The reference is obviously to Jesus’ resurrection or exaltation, and the rendering in Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch make this information explicit. This same expression is used in John 7.39. Also see 2.22, where the phrase was raised from death is used with a meaning equivalent to raised to glory in this verse. To indicate clearly that raised to glory refers not only to the resurrection but also to the glorious results of that event, it may be necessary to translate in some languages “when Jesus had been brought back to life and made wonderful” or “… been brought back to life in a wonderful way.”

That the scriptures said this about him is literally “that these things were written about him.” But here, as elsewhere in the New Testament, “was written” is a reference to the Jewish scriptures (see verse 14 and 2.17). Said this about him may be rendered “said that this would happen to him” or “said that this is what he would experience.”

They had done this for him may be interpreted in several ways, depending on whom the subject they is assumed to be. Good News Translation (so also Phillips, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant, La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée) takes they as a reference to his disciples at the beginning of the verse, since they are apparently the subject throughout the verse. Grammatically this is the simplest solution, though it is difficult to know what action is referred to in had done this for him, unless it is their procuring the donkey, which is not mentioned in John’s account. It is possible also to understand the crowd to be the subject of this verse, and so to translate with New American Bible “they recalled that the people had done to him precisely what had been written about him.” This may also be the meaning of Jerusalem Bible (“but later … they remembered that this had been written about him and that this was in fact how they had received him”) but this translation is not clear. Finally, it is possible to take they as an impersonal construction equivalent to a passive (Moffatt “then they remembered how this had been written of him and had happened to him”). This passive construction is followed also by New English Bible, Zürcher Bibel, and Luther. The simplest solution grammatically is to assume with Good News Translation that they refers to his disciples, even though it is not clear precisely what the disciples had done for Jesus. It is, of course, possible to understand his disciples in the sense of the larger group of followers, who would remember that on this occasion they had participated in praising Jesus as he entered into Jerusalem.

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 12:16

12:16a

At first His disciples did not understand these things: The phrase His disciples refers to Jesus’ disciples. They did not realize then that Jesus’ action fulfilled a prophecy in the Scriptures. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

His disciples did not understand this at the time (Good News Translation)
-or-
His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
At that time Jesus’ disciples did not realize that what happened ⌊fulfilled this prophecy⌋ .

At first: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as At first here means “at that time” or “when they happened.” Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

At the time (Revised English Bible)
-or-
when they first happened (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
Jesus’ disciples did not understand yet

His disciples: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” or “followers.” These learners committed themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him, and they followed his teaching and example. See how you translated this term in 2:15b and 12:4.

these things: This phrase refers to what happened in verses 12–15. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

this (New Century Version)
-or-
all this (New International Version)
-or-
what happened

12:16b

but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but here connects a negative statement (12:16a) to a positive statement (12:16b–c). 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.

At first, Jesus’ disciples did not understand. But after he had been given his glory, they remembered all this. (Contemporary English Version)

• Do not use a conjunction. For example:

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. (New International Version)

after: This phrase introduces the time when the disciples finally understood.

Jesus was glorified: This clause refers to the time when God glorified Jesus by raising him to life and then taking him up to heaven. Only then would God send the Holy Spirit (see 7:39) and the Holy Spirit help the disciples understand (see 14:26). The verb was glorified is passive. There are at least two ways to translate this verb:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

after he had been given his glory (Contemporary English Version)

• Use an active verb. For example:

Jesus had received his glory
-or-
God had glorified him/Jesus

12:16c

they remembered what had been done to Him: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as had been done to Him is more literally “they did these things to him.” The Greek pronoun they almost certainly refers to the disciples. The disciples remembered what had happened and realized that what they (and others) did for Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures. They welcomed him as their Messiah as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as the Scriptures said he would. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

they had done this for him (Good News Translation)
-or-
this was what had happened to him (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
the disciples remembered that they had taken part in fulfilling the prophecies (God’s Word)

12:16d

and: The word and connects all that what was done to him with the things written down about him.

they realized that these very things had also been written about Him: After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension the disciples remembered what was written in the Old Testament about the Messiah. They realized only then that prophecies in the Scriptures referred to Jesus. It may therefore be natural to say:

realized that these things had been written about him (New Living Translation (2004))

these very things had also been written about Him: This clause indicates that the verses in the Scriptures that were quoted in 12:15 refer to Jesus. The prophets had written these things down many years before Jesus came, but they wrote about Jesus. The verb phrase had also been written is passive and there are at least two ways to translate it:

(1) Use a passive verb. For example:

these things had been written about him (New Living Translation (2004))

(2) Use an active verb. For example:

the scripture said this about him (Good News Translation)

Use the expression that is most natural in your language in this context.

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