The time perspective in the last discourses is difficult, for there are frequent shifts from past to present to future. Already in verses 31-32 the shift in time perspective is seen. Verse 31 speaks of now, and at the same times speaks of the Son of Man’s glory as something that is already revealed. (Is revealed in this verse and in verse 32 translates an aorist tense, which relates to past time.) Verse 32 speaks in the future tense (God will reveal the glory of the son of Man in himself). The reason for this complexity of time sequence is John’s perspective. He writes not only from the time perspective of the actual historical setting, but also from that of the actual time of his writing, toward the end of the first century. That is, John narrates the historical situation, but at the same time he makes it relevant to his readers by introducing them into the time perspective.

Though Judas is not explicitly mentioned in the Greek text, Good News Translation does so because of the new section. New American Bible does likewise.

On the meaning of the Son of Man, see comments at 1.51.

Now the Son of Man’s glory is revealed is “Now the Son of Man is glorified” in most translations. Jerusalem Bible (“Now has the Son of Man been glorified”) and Goodspeed (“Now the Son of Man has been honored”) use the perfect tense.

There are at least two problems in the translation of this clause. The first relates to the choice of verb tense, whether present or past. Sometimes John speaks from the point of view of Jesus’ day, and sometimes from the perspective of the time of his writing. Most translators prefer to maintain the present tense (“is glorified”), but others use the past tense.

The second problem involves the meaning of the verb phrase rendered “is glorified” in most translations. “Is glorified” or “has been glorified” is meaningless. Goodspeed translates “Now the Son of Man has been honored, and God has been honored, through him”; Good News Translation relates this phrase to the revelation of the Son of Man’s glory (see also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Now the glory of the Son of Man has been revealed and through it God’s own glory”). A strong argument can be made for the meaning of “bring honor to” in the second use of this term in verse 31 (“and in him God is glorified,” that is, “and in him God is honored”). It can be argued that the Son’s obedience to the Father, which is a revelation of the Son’s true glory, is a means by which honor is brought to the Father. But this interpretation is made unlikely by the observation that the phrase “is glorified,” when applied to the Son of Man in the first part of this verse, is difficult to interpret in that light. To translate “Now is the Son of Man honored” assumes the situation at the time the Gospel was written, when the Christian community honored the Son of Man because of his sacrificial death. All in all, it is best to take the phrase “is glorified” in the sense that Good News Translation takes it in both places in this verse, since this meaning is that of the phrase throughout Chapter 12. Through his death the Son of Man reveals his true glory, and at the same time his death becomes the means by which God’s glory is revealed.

This verse presents an additional problem of translation in some languages, for such an expression as “has been revealed” would imply that the glory of the Son of Man was revealed entirely by the signs (miracles) he had performed. In reality, however, this special “glorification” is obviously a reference to Jesus’ death and resurrection. One of the added complications in the use of the tense form is in the adverb now. A literal translation with the present tense may suggest in some languages that it was Judas’ leaving which showed clearly the glory of the Son of Man. Despite the fact that the Greek text itself has the aorist tense here, it seems necessary in view of the context and the writer’s particular historical viewpoint to employ an anticipatory tense or something which will indicate an immediate future, for example, “Now the Son of Man’s glory is about to be revealed.”

It may be necessary to change is revealed to an active form, for example, “people will see the Son of Man’s glory.”

In languages in which glory must be translated by an expression meaning “honor,” the rendering may be “Now people are about to see how the Son of Man will be honored” or “… will receive honor” or “… will be shown to have honor.” But in some languages the focus of glory is essentially “wonderfulness” or “being wonderful.” Therefore one may translate “Now people will soon see how wonderful the Son of Man is.” The final clause of verse 31 may then be translated “Now people will see through Jesus how wonderful God is.”

The phrase through him indicates clearly that Jesus is the means by which people see God’s glory. Therefore Jesus may be made the causative agent of this revelation, for example, “Now Jesus will cause people to see how wonderful 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 .