Translation commentary on John 1:50

Jesus said is literally “Jesus answered and said to them.” The literal form of these words is a Semitism, and most translations handle this expression as Good News Translation does.

Jesus’ words Do you believe … under the fig tree? appear as a question in most translations, though some take them to be a statement (Jerusalem Bible “You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree”).

In some languages sentences expressing cause and effect must preserve a particular order. Normally the cause is stated first, the effect second. In such languages the order of the clauses in the sentence Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? must be altered, for example, “Because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree, do you believe?” or “I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree. Is it just because of that that you believe?”

You will see much greater things than this must be translated with care to avoid the impression that Nathanael was going to see great objects. The term things refers not to objects but to events, that is, to “happenings.” Therefore, greater things must be understood in terms of “more spectacular happenings.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “You will experience much greater things!”

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 1:50

1:50a

Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree?: Most English translations understand that this sentence is a rhetorical question. It likely expresses Jesus’ surprise that Nathanael believed on him so quickly and easily. There are two ways of translating this rhetorical question:

• Use a rhetorical question. For example:

Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? (Good News Translation)

• Use a statement. For example:

You believe me just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. (New International Version)

Translate this rhetorical question in the way that is natural in your language for expressing surprise. The Good News Translation and the New Jerusalem Bible, in the examples above, have both supplied the word “just.” It may be natural to include the word “simply,” which can mean “just” or “only.” For example:

Do you believe simply because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? (New Century Version)

you: The pronoun you is singular and refers to Nathanael.

General Comment on 1:50a

In some languages it may be natural to reorder the clauses in 1:50a and first give the reason Nathanael believed. For example:

Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? (NET Bible)

1:50b

You will see greater things than these: The greater things that Jesus mentions probably refer to the miracles Jesus would do in future weeks and months. The word things does not refer to larger or more important objects, but to events. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

You are going to see greater things than that. (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
You will see something even greater. (Contemporary English Version)

You: This pronoun is still singular and refers to Nathanael.

these: The plural pronoun these is not in the Greek, but the Berean Standard Bible supplies it to help people understand the meaning. However, it refers specifically to Jesus telling Nathanael about the fig tree. So it may be more natural to use a singular pronoun. For example:

that (New International Version)
-or-
this (New Living Translation (2004))

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.