The Greek expression “this sickness is not to death” means that “death will not be the final result of this sickness.” Several translations make this meaning clear, but only Good News Translation makes explicit the reference to the death of Lazarus: … will not be the death of Lazarus. It is possible that more than the death of Lazarus is referred to here. There may be a double reference—to the death of Lazarus and the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus. Such an interpretation is strengthened by the observations regarding the meaning of the phrase the means by which the Son of God will receive glory. However, while there may be a double meaning here, the primary focus is obviously the death of Lazarus. It is suggested that the translator either make explicit the reference to the death of Lazarus or translate “death will not be the final result of this sickness,” without specifying whose death is meant. To make explicit the reference to the death of Jesus is beyond the bounds of translation.

In some languages it may be difficult to say The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus, for result can be expressed only in terms of cause and effect, for example, “Because Lazarus is sick does not mean that he will die.” Such a translation may seem to be contradictory, because Lazarus did die. However, even in the form which Jesus spoke to his disciples (literally “this sickness is not to death”), there is anomaly, since the sickness did result in Lazarus’ death, though not in a permanent state of death. In some languages this aspect of permanence may be expressed by a particular form of the verb “to die.”

The last part of this verse is literally “but for the glory of God, in order that the Son of God might be glorified through it.” Rather than use the conjunction “but” to indicate the contrast, Good News Translation introduces the words this has happened (Moffatt “the end of it is”; New English Bible “it has come”; Phillips “it is going to”; New American Bible “rather it is”). Then Good News Translation transforms the noun phrase “for the glory of God” into a verb phrase to bring glory to God (so also Phillips). Some commentators understand the phrase “for the glory of God” to have the meaning “to reveal God’s glory.” Either meaning (to bring glory to God or “to reveal the glory of God”) is legitimate in light of the context. To bring glory to God means “to cause people to praise God,” which may not be the focus in the context. “To reveal God’s glory” may mean, “to reveal how powerful God is” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), which seems to be more in keeping with the words of Jesus in verse 40 (Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believed?) In some languages To bring glory to God is simply “to cause people to see how glorious God is” or “… how wonderful God is” or “in order to show people how wonderful God is.”

The last clause of the Greek sentence begins with the subordinate conjunction “so that” (Greek hina). Good News Translation makes it into a coordinate clause beginning with the conjunction and. In Greek the last two words of this clause are literally “through it,” which Good News Translation takes as a reference to Lazarus’ sickness and translates by a verb phrase will be the means by which. In the Greek phrase “through it,” the pronoun “it” is feminine and may refer either to sickness or to glory (feminine nouns in Greek). Although a few commentators understand “it” to refer to God’s glory, a majority of commentators and most translators take “it” to refer to Lazarus’ sickness. In English the verb “to be glorified” is rather awkward. Good News Translation transforms it into a more natural expression: the Son of God will receive glory (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Through it God will make known his Son’s glory”). Again glory may be understood either as “praise” or as the revelation of the true nature of the Son, but here it is specifically a reference to the revelation of the Son’s power to give life. This final clause may be expressed in some languages as “his death will also show people how wonderful the son of God is” or “because of his death people will see how glorious the Son of God is.”

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 .