The next day refers back to 12.1, and so this day was evidently a Sunday.

In Greek the verb had come is a participle, but many translations, including Good News Translation, make it a finite verb.

The Passover Festival is literally “the feast.” It is obvious, on the basis of 12.1, that “the feast” is the Passover, and so Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and French common language translation (Bible en français courant) make this fact explicit. It is particularly important to do so here, since a new section is introduced and this passage is often read publicly without the connection to verse 1 being made clear.

Like the verb had come, the verb heard is also a participle in Greek, where verses 12 and 13 are one sentence.

In some languages it is difficult to speak of “a crowd hearing.” One can, however, say “the people of the large crowd heard.”

As mentioned under verse 9, there is a problem with the phrase the large crowd. Here the definite article is not placed in brackets by the UBS Committee in the Greek text. Therefore Good News Translation has the article here, though not in verse 8. This large crowd refers to the people who had come to the Passover Feast as pilgrims, and so New English Bible translates “The next day the great body of pilgrims who had come to the festival.” However, for American English speakers it is better not to use the term “pilgrims,” because in America this word generally has a restricted meaning.

In the translation of was coming, it is necessary to use terms consistent with the fact that Jesus rode on a donkey (verse 14).

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 .