Translation commentary on John 4:48

The Greek text begins this verse with John’s favorite particle (see comments on oun under 2.18). The clause unless you see miracles and wonders comes first in the Greek order and is emphatic. The Greek text has literally “signs and wonders,” a construction (called “hendiadys”) often found in the Old Testament, in which two nouns joined by “and” are used as the equivalent of a noun modified by an adjective. “Wonders” is taken here as a way of modifying and intensifying the noun “signs.” Throughout the Gospel of John Good News Translation renders “signs” as miracles, and wonders is understood as the equivalent of an adjective, for example, “wonderful signs” or “wonderful miracles.” New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible have “signs and portents,” but “portents” connotes a forewarning of evil, which is not intended here. For languages in which it is difficult to use two terms such as “miracles and wonders,” or even “signs and wonders,” it may be useful to follow Good News Translation‘s example and use one term as a qualification of the other, for example, “wonderful miracles” or “remarkable signs.”

Although Jesus addressed the man directly, he used the plural form of “you.” Good News Translation makes this clear by translating None of you. It is important that the plural form of the verb be indicated in translation to show that Jesus’ words apply to others as well as to the official. Most English translations give the impression that Jesus is directing his remark solely to the official, without reference to others who undoubtedly were present on this occasion. In some languages it may be useful to shift the order of the conditional elements in the statement to read, “If you people do not see wonderful miracles, you will never believe.” For languages which require a grammatical object for a verb meaning “believe,” it may be possible to translate “If you people do not see me perform miracles, you will not trust me” or “… you will not have any confidence in me.”

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 4:48

4:48a

Jesus said to him: The Greek connector that the Berean Standard Bible and many English translations leave untranslated means “therefore” or “so.” Some other translations use another connector. For example:

So Jesus said to him (NET Bible)

Translate this connector in a way that is natural in your language.

4:48b

Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe: This sentence indicates that the people had to see miracles before they would believe in Jesus. If the people did not see miracles, they would not believe in Jesus. This is a double negative and means that only people who saw miracles would believe. This double negative is used to emphasize the statement.

In some languages it is more natural to translate a double negative as a positive. For example:

Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.” (New Century Version)

Jesus was saying that the only way that they would believe is if they saw signs and wonders. If they did not see signs and wonders they would not believe. Here are other ways to translate this sentence:

If people don’t see miracles and amazing things, they won’t believe. (God’s Word)
-or-
You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me. (New Century Version)
-or-
None of you will ever believe unless you see miracles and wonders. (Good News Translation)

you people: Jesus used the plural form of the pronoun you. He was speaking to the official and to others there. The Berean Standard Bible translates this as you people. If you have a plural form of the pronoun you in your language, you should use it here.

see signs and wonders: The phrase signs and wonders means “wonderful signs” or “miracles.” Jesus used signs to show people that he was the Messiah. See Miracle, Sign, Wonder, Mighty Works in Key Biblical Terms.

you will never believe: This is a strong negative. Jesus was saying that this would certainly not happen.

In some languages you will need to specify what the people will not believe. For example:

Jesus said, “If you do not see the signs that I do, then you will never believe in me.”

believe: This word includes the idea of believing the facts about who Jesus was, accepting him as the Messiah, and what he did. But it also includes the idea of trusting Jesus instead of trusting oneself or someone else. Both ideas are very closely related. If someone believes the facts about Jesus, it should result in trusting him. See how you translated this idea in 4:39, 4:41, and 4:42. Here are other ways of translating this word:

have faith (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
trust in me

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