complete verse (John 11:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 11:10:

  • Uma: “But people who walk in the darkness will certainly trip, because there is nothing that enlightens them.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But if we (dual) walk at night, we (dual) stumble because we (dual) are in the dark.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But if there is someone walking at night, he will stub his foot because it is no longer light.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But if the night is when-he-walks, he will stumble, because it is dark and he has no light/a light is not with/in him (ambiguous).'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But the one walking in the night time stumbles because there’s no longer any light.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But when he walks in the night, he will stumble because there isn’t light where he goes.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 11:10

Evidently the people of Jesus’ day believed that it was necessary for a person to “have light in himself” in order for him to see. Accordingly the two parts of this verse supplement each other. A person stumbles at night not only because of the lack of external light, but also because he has no light.

He has no light can be misleading, since it may suggest that “he has no torch.” It is important to understand the passage as referring to an internal source of light or capacity to see in the darkness.

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 .