Translation commentary on John 9:22

Here also Jewish authorities is literally “the Jews.” In Greek “the Jews” is repeated, but the Good News Translation replaces its second occurrence by the relative pronoun who. The Greek expression “if anyone” is rendered as anyone who, and the pronoun “he” as Jesus. Jesus has not been mentioned for several verses while the man born blind has been the topic of conversation. For that reason Good News Translation and some other translations (see Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) make the pronominal reference “he” explicit.

In some languages it may be necessary to stipulate the basis of the parents’ fear of the Jewish authorities, for example, “They were afraid of what the Jewish authorities might do to them.” The relative clause beginning who had already agreed … may then be expressed as causative, for example, “because the Jewish authorities had already agreed that….”

Messiah translates the Greek word “Christ” (see Revised Standard Version), but in the present context this word is used as a reference to the Messiah of Jewish hope (see 1.20).

The point is that the Jews had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah, not that anyone “who admitted that Christ had done this thing” (Phillips), would be expelled from the synagogue. Who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah may be rendered “who said to others that Jesus was the Messiah” or “who told other people, Jesus is the Messiah,” since the Greek verb translated believed that literally is “confess that.”

Would be expelled from the synagogue appears in the New English Bible as “should be banned from the synagogue”; Revised Standard Version has “was to be put out of the synagogue.” The intensity of the threatened punishment is not indicated by John. There was a type of suspension, lasting for thirty days, during which time the suspended man was forbidden to have any dealings with Israelites except those of his immediate family. He could, however, attend the religious services of the community. But John seems to suggest a permanent excommunication, by which it would be impossible for the man even to attend the religious services of the synagogue.

In view of the evident intent of the author of this Gospel to suggest a more permanent exclusion from the synagogue, it may be necessary in some languages to say “to cause them no longer to be members of the synagogue” or “to exclude them from ever coming to the synagogue” or “to forbid them ever in the future to join with those of the synagogue.” Note that in this passage synagogue must be understood not as a building but as a group of people, though it may be possible to express the concept of “excommunication” in terms of exclusion from a particular place of worship.

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 9:22

9:22a

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews: These clauses begin the author’s explanation of why the man’s parents answered the way that they did. It gives background or parenthetical information. The man’s parents were afraid of what the Jewish leaders would do if they said that Jesus had healed their son. Some English translations put 9:22–23 in parentheses to indicate that it is background information and not part of the main story. You should indicate this in a way that is natural in your language.

the Jews: The phrase the Jews here refers to the Jewish leaders who were against Jesus. It does not refer to all Jews because the parents of the man were themselves Jews.

9:22b

For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue: These clauses explain why the parents were afraid. The Jewish religious leaders had already decided to reject or expel (throw out) anyone who said that Jesus was the Messiah. Here are other ways to translate these clauses:

for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue (NIV93)
-or-
who had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue (Good News Translation)
-or-
because they had already made an agreement that if anyone said that Jesus was the Messiah they would remove him from the synagogue

the Jews: The words the Jews here refer to the Jewish religious leaders. These were the people in charge of the synagogue worship. Because these people were just mentioned in 9:22a, it may not be necessary to say this explicitly again. For example:

they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue (New Living Translation (2004))

anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ: This phrase refers to those who declared that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

if anyone said that Jesus was the Messiah, he
-or-
anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah (Contemporary English Version)

the Christ: This phrase is a title that Jewish people used for the savior that God had promised to send. Christ is the Greek word that means “anointed one.” The title refers to the man God had appointed to save Israel from their enemies. See how you translated this in John 1:20 and 4:25, and see Christ, Messiah in Key Biblical Terms.

would be put out of the synagogue: This expression here indicates that people who believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be punished by the synagogue. Scholars disagree about whether this was a temporary and limited punishment (banned from being a leader) or something more serious. If more serious, they might not even allow that person to worship in the synagogue. The verb phrase would be put out is passive. It means “would be thrown out” or “would be expelled.” There are at least two ways to translate this verb phrase:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

should be banned from the synagogue (Revised English Bible)
-or-
would be expelled from the synagogue (Good News Translation)

• Use an active verb. The religious leaders themselves would put such people out of the synagogue. For example:

The Jews had already agreed to put anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ out of the synagogue. (God’s Word)

Translate this expression using the verb form that is most natural in your language. The idea is that if anyone believed that Jesus was the Messiah, their privileges at the synagogue were limited or removed. In your translation, avoid implying that these people were in the synagogue building and would be forced to leave.

the synagogue: In every town and village in Israel, people met together regularly for religious purposes. The building where the Jews gathered was called the synagogue. The organization of the people who met there was also called the synagogue. The main activities that took place in their meetings were reading and teaching the Scriptures, praying, and worshiping God.

People who said they believed in Jesus were forbidden to join in at least some of these activities in any synagogue. So in this context the phrase the synagogue refers to Jewish religious activities in general, not to one specific building. In some languages it may be necessary to use a plural form to make this clear. For example:

their synagogues
-or-
their religious community
-or-
Jewish gatherings/meetings

See also how you translated the word synagogue in 6:59.

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