complete verse (John 4:52)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 4:52:

  • Uma: “He asked them: ‘What time did he get well?’ They said: ‘Yesterday, at about one o’clock, he no longer had a fever.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “He asked them as to what time he got well and they said, ‘Yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon he had no more fever.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He asked them when the child got better. And they said, ‘Yesterday as the sun passed the zenith, the fever left him.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘When then did-he-become-well?’ inquired the official. ‘His fever (lit. heat of his body) left yesterday at one o’clock,’ they said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “He asked when was the stopping of the illness. Their reply, ‘Last night in the early evening” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The man asked what time he became well. He was told, ‘About seven o’clock yesterday afternoon the fever had left him.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 4:52

The tense of the verb translated got better suggests a definite change in the boy’s condition. When his son got better may be rendered “when his son began to recover” or “when his son began to get well again.”

The question asked by the official is often expressed as direct discourse; for example, “He asked them, ‘When did my son begin to recover?’ ”

It was one o’clock yesterday afternoon is literally “it was the seventh hour yesterday.” As indicated earlier (4.6), John calculated the hours of the day from about 6.00 a.m., and so “the seventh hour” would be about one o’clock in the afternoon. Most modern English translations are essentially the same.

The fever left him is the same expression used in Matthew 8.15 and Mark 1.31. It is impossible in some languages to say that the fever left him, for a fever cannot be spoken of as “coming” or “going.” However, in many instances one can say “he had no more fever” or “he grew cool again” or “he was no longer hot.”

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 4:52

4:52a

So he inquired as to the hour when his son had recovered: This is an indirect quotation. In some languages it may be more natural to translate this as direct speech. For example:

The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”

4:52b

and they told him: The pronoun they here refers to the slaves.

The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour: The servants knew exactly when the fever was healed. Consider how it is natural to say that someone’s body temperature has suddenly become normal again. For example:

his temperature went down yesterday at one in the afternoon
-or-
yesterday at one in the afternoon his temperature ⌊suddenly⌋ became normal
-or-
Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared! (New Living Translation (2004))

at the seventh hour: The Greek text that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as at the seventh hour in today’s system is 1 p.m. The Jewish day at that time started at sunrise, about 6 a.m. It is also in the middle of the day. Translate this in the way the people in your language group call that time.

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