The Messiah is a translation of the Greek “the Christ” (see Revised Standard Version), not the transliteration of the Hebrew “Messiah.” However, whenever “the Christ” is used of the expected Messianic figure in Jewish thought, Good News Translation translates this term the Messiah (see also New English Bible and New American Bible). As in other contexts, Messiah may be rendered “the specially chosen one” or “the one whom God has specially chosen” or “… designated.” Some translations, however, use “the promised Savior” or “the Savior whom God had promised.” A number of translations simply employ a transliteration of “Messiah.”

The Messiah will not come from Galilee! is actually a question expecting a negative answer in the Greek text. In New English Bible it is indicated by “Surely the Christ is not to come from Galilee?” As it is translated in Revised Standard Version (“Is the Christ to come from Galilee?”), the reader is not made to see that a negative reply is expected. In some languages it is possible to preserve the rhetorical question if an answer is given immediately following, for example, “Will the Messiah come from Galilee? No, indeed.”

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 .