Translation commentary on John 13:22

The participle translated completely puzzled is also used in Acts 25.20 (Good News Translation undecided) and in 2 Corinthians 4.8 (Good News Translation in doubt). It is used in Luke 24.4 in an infinitive form (Good News Translation puzzled), and in Galatians 4.20 as a finite verb (Good News Translation so worried). In the present passage New English Bible translates “in bewilderment”; Jerusalem Bible, “wondering”; New American Bible, “puzzled”; Moffatt “at a loss”; and Phillips “completely mystified.” In some languages completely puzzled may be best expressed in a negative phrase: “They couldn’t understand at all” or “They could not figure out.”

About whom he meant (Goodspeed, New American Bible “as to whom he could mean”) is more literally “of whom he spoke.” New English Bible translates the entire verse as “The disciples looked at one another in bewilderment: whom could he be speaking of?”

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 13:22

13:22a

The disciples looked at one another: This clause indicates what Jesus’ disciples did while they wondered whom he was talking about (13:22b). Translate disciples as you did in 13:5b. In some languages it may be natural to make it explicit that these were Jesus’ disciples. For example:

His disciples stared at one another (New International Version)

13:22b

perplexed as to which of them He meant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as perplexed means “not sure, anxious, confused.” This phrase indicates what Jesus’ disciples were thinking and feeling after he said that one of them would betray him. They did not know which of them he was referring to. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

wondering which one of them Jesus meant (God’s Word)
-or-
worried and perplexed to know which of them he was talking about (NET Bible)
-or-
confused about what he meant (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
not understanding at all whom he was talking about

General Comment on 13:22a–b

In some languages it may be natural to translate 13:22b as a quotation (direct or indirect) of the disciples’ thoughts. For example:

The disciples looked at each other in confusion: which of them could he mean?
-or-
The disciples stared at one another. They asked themselves, “Who is he talking about?”

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