Translation commentary on John 19:30

In Greek this verse begins with a temporal clause (Revised Standard Version “When Jesus had received the vinegar”). Good News Translation, along with several other translations, uses an independent clause.

If a literal rendering of Jesus took the wine would imply “Jesus received the wine in his hands,” it may be necessary to say “Jesus sucked the wine and swallowed it,” since Jesus’ hands were fixed to the cross.

It is finished is the same verb rendered had been completed in verse 28.

Then he bowed his head and died is literally “and bowing the head, he handed over the spirit.” Good News Translation starts a new sentence, beginning with Then. Good News Translation translates “he handed over the spirit” in the same way it translates the verb used in the parallel verses in (Mark 15.37) and (Luke 23.46), that is, simply he … died. Some commentators understand “the spirit” in 19.30 to be the Holy Spirit and see in the phrase “he handed over the spirit” a fulfillment of what John referred to in 7.39: Jesus said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were going to receive. But this interpretation is highly improbable and should not be introduced in translation.

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 19:30

19:30a

When Jesus had received the sour wine: This clause indicates that Jesus sucked or sipped some wine out of the sponge. For example:

After Jesus drank the wine (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
When Jesus had taken it (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

In some languages it may be natural to translate this as an independent clause. For example:

Jesus sucked the wine and swallowed it (TH)
-or-
Jesus drank the wine (Good News Translation)

19:30b

He said, “It is finished.”: The clause It is finished indicates that Jesus had finished doing what God sent him to do. It is the same Greek verb as in 19:28a. In some languages it is more natural to use an active verb. For example:

I have finished ⌊what God sent me to do⌋ .
-or-
I have completed ⌊my work⌋ .
-or-
Now all that had to happen has happened. (Otomi Back Translation)

19:30c

And bowing His head: The phrase bowing His head indicates that Jesus allowed his head to drop forward and rest on his chest. He did not hold it up any more.

He yielded up His spirit: This phrase indicates that Jesus died. He allowed his spirit to return to God. It is not the usual way to refer to death. It implies that Jesus chose to give up (hand over) his spirit to his Father. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

surrendered his spirit
-or-
died (God’s Word)

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