Festival of Booths was near

The Greek that is translated as “the Festival of Booths was near” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as das Laubhüttenfest stand vor der Tür or “the Festival of Booths was just around the corner” (lit: “right in front of the door”). This idiomatic translation plays on semantic parallels between the “booths” and “doors.”

festival of Tabernacles

For translations of the Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “festival of Tabernacles” see here.

the Jews (Jewish people)

In the English Good News Bible (2nd edition of 1992), this occurrence of the Greek hoi Ioudaioi, traditionally “the Jews” in English, is translated with a term that refers to the Jewish people or is not translated at all if it implicitly refers to the Jewish people (for example “Passover” instead of “Passover of the Jews”). For an explanation of the differentiated translation in English as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see the Jews.

complete verse (John 7:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:2:

  • Uma: “At that time, it was almost the big day of the Yahudi people called the Feast of Huts.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then the festival of the Yahudi was near when they live in little-shelters.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “In a short time from then the Jews will celebrate the Feast that is called the Feast of the Shelters.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When it was near-in-time to the fiesta of the Jews called Field-shelters,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But when their fiesta called Fiesta of Shelters was near,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But now it was near the time the Jews celebrated the celebration in which they made huts from branches.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “The festival was approaching when the Jews gathered together and erected their shelters in which they lived during the festival.”
  • Chol: “It was already near the time when the Jews celebrated, when they made temporary houses.”
  • Aguaruna: “The Jews’ festival was about to arrive when they celebrated, remembering when their ancestors made temporary shelters.”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “The time was approaching for the Jews to observe the festival of the little houses.”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “And the festival of us Israelites was about to take place which is called the Feast of the House of Leaves.” (Source for this and four above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Feast of Booths (Sukkot) .

Translation commentary on John 7:2

The Festival of Shelters took place approximately six months after the Passover Festival mentioned in 6.4. This fact indicates that the temporal marker in verse 1 (after this) may have a wide distribution of meaning.

The Festival of Shelters was the Jewish autumn harvest festival. It was also known as the “feast of Booths” (New American Bible; see Moffatt), because people celebrated it by living in the vineyards in temporary huts made of tree branches. The original purpose for living in the vineyards during this period was to guard the grape harvest against the ravages of animals, but the practice later gained the significance of commemorating the time that the Israelites lived in tents during their wanderings in the desert. Shelters, the most popular of all Jewish festivals, was often known simply as “the Festival.” It lasted from the 15th to the 21st of Tishri (September-October), and the eighth day (the 22nd of Tishri) was a day for special celebrations. For basic information regarding this festival, see Leviticus 23.33-36,39-43; Deuteronomy 16.13-15.

Festival of Shelters should be translated as to indicate that during this festival people lived in shelters; for example, “a festival in which people used shelters” or “… stayed in shelters” or even “a festival in which people built shelters for themselves.”

The time … was near may be rendered in some languages as “it was almost the day for” or “only a few more days before.”

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 .