This verse tells why the Son of Man must be lifted up; it is so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Good News Translation and most other modern translations take the phrase in him (Greek en autō) with the verb “to believe” and so render believes in him. A number of commentators point out that the preposition in (Greek en) is never elsewhere used in John’s Gospel with the verb “to believe.” The usual expression is literally “into him” (Greek eis auton). For this reason a few translations connect the phrase in him with eternal life rather than with believes. For example, Jerusalem Bible reads “so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (see also New American Bible, Zürcher Bibel). But in New Testament Greek the preposition eis (“into”) is frequently used as an equivalent to the preposition en (“in”); and the construction “believes in (eis) him” is no more strange than “eternal life in (eis) him.” New English Bible makes the object of faith explicit, while connecting the phrase in him with the idea of eternal life: “so that everyone who has faith in him may in him possess eternal life.” If one is convinced that the phrase “in him” must be connected with the idea of eternal life, rather than that of believing, it may be necessary to render as New English Bible does, since some languages require that the object of faith be made explicit. New English Bible does not add to the text; it simply makes the object of faith explicit, while connecting “in him” with the concept of eternal life. For the one who believes, eternal life is a present experience; he shares now in the life that God gives. This idea, of course, does not exhaust the concept of eternal life. Eternal Life continues to be the possession of the believer, but one strong emphasis in the Gospel of John is the present experience of eternal life for those who believe.

The point has been made (see the comments on 1.4) that eternal life is primarily qualitative; it describes the quality of life a man has when God rules in his life. The phrase eternal life comes from a Hebrew phrase, literally “life in the (coming) age.” For the Hebrews “the coming age” was the age in which God would destroy the power of sin and evil in the world and set up his own rule of love and peace. In the earliest notions of this coming age, it was probably not looked upon as something that would never end; it was not “eternal” in our sense of the word. However, there is no doubt that by New Testament times “life in the age” was looked upon by many Jews as an everlasting experience. In the New Testament it definitely has this meaning, even though the main emphasis is always on the quality of life one experiences when God rules his life. That is, in the Gospel of John eternal life is basically qualitative, but it is also conceived of as life that never ends, because it comes from God.

The indefinite relative clause everyone who believes in him may be rendered in many languages as a conditional clause; for example, “if anyone believes in him.” It is also possible to express the meaning of the indefinite relative clause by “all”; for example, “all who believe in him.” As noted in other contexts, believes in him involves far more than mere intellectual assent. It is equivalent in most languages to “puts his trust in him” or “shows complete loyalty to him” or, expressed figuratively, “leans on him” or “hangs on him.”

In many languages eternal is expressed as a negative, “that which never ends,” but it may be expressed positively as “that which goes on and on.” However, since the meaning of eternal life certainly involves a qualitative distinction, and thus is not a matter of mere continued existence, some translations employ such qualifiers as “real” or “new”; for example, “will have real life that never ends.” Such a phrase tends to focus upon the distinctive features of this new life in Christ, and so helps to avoid the idea that those who believe in Jesus will simply never die.

In some languages, however, there is no noun for “life.” One must employ some verbal expression, since life really does refer to an event or state, and is not an object. In such languages one may be able to say “really live unendingly” or “never come to the end of real living.”

If one adopts the interpretation of “eternal life in him,” it is necessary to indicate that Jesus is the instrumentality or agent by which this eternal life is possible. This meaning is expressed in many languages as a causative, for example, “will have unending life because of him” or “he will cause such people to have unending life.”

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 .