I have done … in your presence is literally “I have shown you” (Revised Standard Version). New English Bible translates “I have set before you”; and Jerusalem Bible “I have done … for you to see.” Certain problems may be involved in a more or less literal translation of I have done … in your presence. The rendering of Jerusalem Bible “I have done … for you to see” might suggest that Jesus had performed miracles only in order to show off his power. This was evidently not Jesus’ intent, for he was not concerned with performing spectacles. It is possible to translate “I have done many good works which you have seen” or “you have seen many good works which I have done.”

Which the Father gave me to do is literally “from the Father” (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, “from my Father” Jerusalem Bible). Most translations render this clause literally, though New English Bible has “done by my Father’s power” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “at the command of my Father.” The clause is meant to emphasize that what Jesus has done he has done either at the Father’s command or through the Father’s power. This clause may be rendered “which my Father told me to perform.” Depending, however, upon the construction of the first part of this verse, one may employ a complete sentence, for example, “my Father told me to do these works” or “it was my Father’s power which made me able to do these works.”

Do you want to stone me? is literally “do you stone me?” (Revised Standard Version). In the present context the verb “to stone” denotes intention, and so New English Bible translates “for which of these would you stone me?” The Revised Standard Version rendering (so also Jerusalem Bible “for which of these are you stoning me?”) could imply that the persons are actually in the process of stoning Jesus while he is speaking to them. The causal relation between the good works and the stoning may be expressed in some languages as “because of which of these works do you want to stone me to death?” or “which one of these good works has caused you to want to stone me to death?”

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 .