Translation commentary on John 6:11

Gave thanks is a participle in Greek which Good News Translation translates as a finite verb (so also Moffatt, New English Bible, Phillips). To God (so also Moffatt) is not expressed explicitly in the Greek text, but it is clearly implied. Phillips has “gave thanks for them” (that is, for the loaves of bread), thus supplying an object for the verb gave thanks.

Gave thanks to God must be expressed in some languages as direct discourse, for example, “said to God, ‘We thank you for this.’ ” Other languages may have “prayed to God saying, ‘Thanks’ ” or “… ‘we are grateful.’ ”

A literal translation of distributed it to the people who were sitting there may give the impression that Jesus himself distributed the bread to all the people. This interpretation can be avoided by the use of a causative, for example, “he caused it to be distributed to the people who were sitting there.”

He did the same with the fish, and they all had as much as they wanted translates only seven words in Greek. Here New English Bible has almost the precise words of Good News Translation, and Jerusalem Bible is similar: “He then did the same thing with the fish, giving out as much as was wanted.”

He did the same with the fish must be expressed in some languages in a more specific manner, for example, “He thanked God for the fish also and distributed the fish also” or “… caused the fish to be distributed to the people.” In some languages the term distributed may be readily translated “to give,” sometimes with a special form indicating a distributive plural, that is, the bread and the fish were given to people not collectively but individually.

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 6:11

6:11a

Then Jesus took the loaves: The word took here indicates that Jesus received the bread from the boy and held it in his hand. Your readers should understand that the boy wanted to give Jesus the bread. He gave it to Jesus willingly.

6:11b

and the fish: There is implied information in this phrase. The phrase means that Jesus thanked God for the fish and gave it to the people as well.

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

He did the same with the fish. (New Century Version)
-or-
He also thanked God for the fish and distributed it to the people

6:11c

gave thanks: In some languages it may be natural to say explicitly that Jesus gave thanks to God for the food. For example:

Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them (New Century Version)

Some languages may need to use direct speech instead of an expression like gave thanks. For example:

Then Jesus said to God, “Thank you for this bread.”

6:11d

and distributed to those who were seated: Jesus distributed the bread by asking the disciples to hand it out to the people who were sitting down. See Matthew 6:19. Sometimes a literal translation means that Jesus gave out the bread to everyone himself. If that is true in your language, you may need to include some implied information. For example:

he ⌊told the disciples to⌋ distribute them to those who were seated

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus…gave them to the people who were sitting there (New Century Version)
-or-
he passed the bread to the people (Contemporary English Version)

6:11e

as much as they wanted: This phrase means that everyone ate as much bread and as much fish as they wanted. You may want to translate this as a separate sentence. For example:

All the people ate as much as they wanted. (God’s Word)

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