complete verse (John 5:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 5:5:

  • Uma: “There was a man there, he had been sick thirty-eight years.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There was a person there who had been sick for thirty eight years.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was there a person who had been sick a long time because 38 years was the length of his sickness.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There was a man there who had been sick for thirty eight years.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was one person there who was a man, who had been ill for thirty eight years already.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “There was a man there who had been sick for thirty-eight years.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 5:5

That the man had been sick for thirty-eight years indicates at once the completeness and the wonder of healing. His lameness was not something of a temporary nature; he had probably been lame all his life—in other words, he was thirty-eight years old.

Through the Greek term identifying the man as being sick merely means “weak,” it seems clear that this weakness was lameness, because he is told to get up and take up his bed and walk. It may be necessary in some languages to use a term for sick which means essentially “lame.” Otherwise, a term for “sick” might suggest some kind of debilitating fever or infectious disease, which probably would not have lasted for 38 years.

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 5:5

Paragraph 5:5–7

Jesus met a man who had been lame for thirty-eight (38) years. Jesus asked the man if he wanted to get well.

5:5

One man there: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as One man is more literally “a certain man.” This expression here introduces a major character in this incident. In some languages there are other ways of introducing a major character in a story. For example:

Now a certain man was present there
-or-
Among them was a man (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Beside the pool was a man (Contemporary English Version)

had been an invalid for thirty-eight years: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as an invalid is the same word as in 5:3a. It includes weakness or disability (lack of ability) of any sort. In some languages it is more natural to refer to the specific illness, saying that the man was lame. For example:

who had been lame for 38 years

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