Last time, we looked at a big biblical concept—slavery—that required thoughtful explanation in a cultural context where the concept is completely unknown. In that case, a single idea had to be clearly developed and expressed across a whole passage. Today, we turn to a different kind of challenge: a single verse packed with multiple unfamiliar references and ideas, all crammed into just a few words. This is what we faced when we came to John 18:28, which reads in the NIV:

Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

Much of what’s needed to understand this verse is implied. Even those of us who have access to good resources on biblical backgrounds and Jewish culture can struggle to grasp the full significance packed into it. Recognizing this, the NIV translators included some of the most necessary background information in their rendering. For instance, “palace of the Roman governor” translates a single Greek word: πραιτώριον (Praetorium in Latin), which can mean “fortress” or “headquarters.”

The Mamusi team had to make a series of interpretive and explanatory decisions to communicate this verse clearly. What follows is a phrase-by-phrase breakdown (following the order of the Greek text, which I’ve translated very literally into English) along with some of the challenges we encountered and the solutions we found.

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“So they led Jesus from Caiaphas”

After reading verses 15–18, which describe Peter’s denials, it’s not immediately clear who “they” refers to here in verse 28. Like the NIV translators, we felt it necessary to clarify this for our audience. Earlier in the chapter (verse 3), soldiers and officials sent by the chief priests and Pharisees—led by Judas—come and arrest Jesus. These same officials take him to Annas (verse 13), and then we’re told Annas sends him to Caiaphas (verse 24).

Though Judas disappears from the narrative and soldiers are no longer named, the mention of purity concerns in this verse and the authority with which the people speak to Pilate in the next verse made it clear: we’re now dealing with the actual Jewish leaders. So we followed the NIV in explicitly stating that “the Jewish leaders” led Jesus.

It’s worth noting that different English translations handle this differently. The ESV uses the pronoun “they,” keeping closer to the Greek, while the NLT calls them “his accusers.”

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“Into the Praetorium”

As mentioned earlier, John’s original audience likely had no trouble understanding Praetorium. But for Mamusi speakers—living far removed from Roman rule—we needed to give some cultural and historical context.

Since Pilate isn’t introduced until the next verse, we inserted a short explanatory sentence beforehand: “Before this, Rome had sent Pilate to lead the area of Judea.” (Mamusi has no native terms for “governor” or “province,” as those concepts come from a foreign political system.)

Having established who he is, we then described the Praetorium as Pilate’s “big house.” In Mamusi culture, only important people have big houses, and those houses host meetings, ceremonies, and other community gatherings. The only other person in our translation with a “big house” is God—the Jerusalem temple is translated as “God’s Big House.”

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“It was early morning”

This one was thankfully straightforward. Mamusi has a natural idiom that literally translates to “the head of the morning”—a poetic way to describe the time when the sky begins to lighten. The challenge was just deciding where to place it in the verse. After testing different options, we ended up placing it midway through the description of Jesus being transferred.

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“And they did not enter the Praetorium”

This clause is key, but when translated literally, it didn’t resonate during community checking. After some discussion, we found a helpful cultural analogy.

In Mamusi villages, “men’s houses” are restricted spaces—especially during times of preparation for initiation rites. Rather than say “women aren’t allowed to enter,” Mamusi speakers say “women wait outside,” which implies a strong cultural taboo.

We used this expression—“they waited outside”—and found it communicated the idea of ritual restriction very effectively, without bringing in unrelated cultural associations.

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“So that they wouldn’t be made unclean”

This isn’t about physical cleanliness, but ceremonial purity. The Mamusi word for “dirty” only refers to physical dirt, so we opted for a phrase meaning “bad skin,” which demands a non-literal interpretation. Combined with “waited outside” and the next phrase, the implication of ritual impurity came through clearly.

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“But they may eat the Passover”

Three challenges came up here:

1. Continuity of meaning: We decided to keep this connected to the previous clause, reframing it as: “because they were afraid that their skin would be bad and they would thus be unable…”
2. Cultural expectations around feasting: In Mamusi, if someone is disqualified from a feast due to shame or a grudge, they simply don’t attend. Feasts are communal experiences, and inclusion is deeply valued. So instead of “eat the Passover,” we used a phrase meaning “go to the feast.” This encompasses the whole multi-day experience rather than only the meal.
3. Unfamiliarity with Passover: There’s no native word for Passover, but our team had already developed a descriptive phrase: “Feast About the Skipping-Over Journey.” This ties into the Exodus story and works well with themes of liberation and crossing. However, this phrase is long, and using it mid-sentence risked disrupting the flow. To smooth things out, we inserted a background sentence: “The Feast About the Skipping-Over Journey was now approaching.” That gave us space to explain why the leaders stayed outside.

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The Final Mamusi Translation

Here’s what our Mamusi translation ended up with, followed by a literal English back-translation:

Mamusi:

Ngaenyae saene, Roum kulele Pailet mae mumaoyae urao Yutia. Yutame nera kemanna usongana ketosalepe Kaiapas la kaepa kunna wae kengatepae Yesus nena kela la Pailet waleyae usongana. Werong le Laong Lotangana Kana, nae parangrang. Annowaena kituwala ngaoputu, kurumae aere kemoto mae wera pesao ngalla na palopunara la kela la Werong naene.

Literal English:

Long ago, Rome sent Pilate to lead the area of Judea. The Jews’ big men left Caiaphas at the head of the morning and brought Jesus, and they went to Pilate’s big house. The Feast About the Skipping-Over Journey was now approaching. Therefore they waited outside, because they feared that their skin would be bad and they would thus be prevented from going to that Feast.

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This was a particularly challenging verse to translate in a way that’s clear, natural, and accurate. Thankfully, not every verse takes this much work—but every verse does deserve careful attention.

There are faster ways to do Bible translation. There are methods that don’t take this much time, don’t involve this much conversation, and don’t require this much reworking. They may or may not result in a translation that communicates faithfully. But as for us, we’re finding something more valuable than efficiency around the translation table: discipleship.

We’re being discipled and disciplined by God’s Word. We’re sharpening each other. We’re growing in our capacity to listen, to express, to understand, and to be transformed. And in the end, this slow and methodical approach produces something far better: a translation that is not only accurate, but one that speaks clearly and naturally to our audience—so they can hear the Word as it was meant to be heard.

Yes, it’s slow. Yes, it’s costly. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

In the next post, I’ll conclude this series by diving into one last delightful bit of grammar—how complex structures of possession helped us identify a specific character earlier in John 18.