complete verse (John 7:43)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:43:

  • Uma: “With the result that the people just quarreled among themselves: some believed in Yesus, some did not.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore the people had different thoughts about Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the thinking of the people could not agree about Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Thus it was that the spoken-opinion of the people about Jesus was contradictory.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore because of that, the mind/thinking of the people was divided about him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “So the people weren’t in agreement in saying who Jesus was.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 7:43

John introduces this verse (as well as verses 6,11,25,28,30,33,35,40,45, and 47) with his favorite particle (oun). Here that particle indicates a climax in the narrative, and so Good News Translation introduces the verse by so.

The word division occurs in several key places in the Gospel (7.43; 9.16; 10.19). It is used to describe the inevitable results of Jesus’ coming into the world, since some believe and some do not. In some languages one can speak of a “division in a crowd,” but this expression is often understood merely in terms of a physical division, the splitting of a crowd into two groups. What is really involved here is a serious difference of opinion among the people in the crowd; therefore one can more effectively translate in some languages as “Some of the people in the crowd spoke in favor of Jesus, but others spoke against him.”

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 .