the Jews (the authorities in Jerusalem)

In the English Good News Bible (2nd edition of 1992), this occurrence of the Greek hoi Ioudaioi, traditionally “the Jews” in English, is translated with “the authorities (in Jerusalem)” in contexts that imply that the referred groups are hostile to Jesus For an explanation of the differentiated translation in English as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see the Jews.

complete verse (John 9:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 9:18:

  • Uma: “But the Yahudi rulers, they did not believe that he was really the blind man earlier, and that he could suddenly see. That is why they called his mother and father in order to meet with them,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But those leaders of the Yahudi did not believe that this person had really been blind and could see now, therefore they called his mother-father and questioned them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the leaders of the Jews, they could not believe that he was a cured blind person. Therefore they called his mother and father,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But the rulers of the Jews refused/didn’t-want to believe that that man who could-see now was-born already-blind if they didn’t first ask his parents. Therefore they had-them -called” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those leaders of the Judio didn’t believe that he had been blind in the past and then had been made well, that’s why they sent for his parents.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But the Jews didn’t believe that the man speaking had been blind. They believed only when they had summoned the father and mother of the man who had been blind.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 9:18

The Jewish authorities is literally “the Jews”; see Appendix II.

Were not willing to believe is literally “did not believe” (Revised Standard Version), but several translations see this meaning in John’s words (Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “would not believe”; New American Bible “refused to believe”).

A literal translation of were not willing to believe that he had been blind and could now see may seem anomalous in some languages, since it was perfectly clear to the Jewish authorities that the man could now see. It may therefore be necessary to translate “were not willing to believe that this man who could at that time see had previously been blind.” In English the adverb now can indicate contemporaneous time as well as present time, but in this type of context it may be necessary to translate now as “at that particular time.”

They called his parents must not be translated as to imply they shouted to them. Since the process of “calling” in this type of context is rather complex, it may be necessary to translate with two different verbs, for example, “ordered the man’s parents to come before them” or “commanded that the man’s parents be brought before them.”

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 .