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John 20 General Notes
Special concepts in this chapter
The tomb
The tomb in which Jesus was buried (John 20:1) was the kind of tomb in which wealthy Jewish families buried their dead. It was an actual room cut into a rock. It had a flat place on one side where they could place the body after they had put oil and spices on it and wrapped it in cloth. Then they would roll a large rock in front of the tomb so no one could see inside or enter.
"Receive the Holy Spirit"
If your language uses the same word for "breath" and "spirit," be sure that the reader understands that Jesus was performing a symbolic action by breathing, and that what the disciples received was the Holy Spirit, not Jesus' breath. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-symaction and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/holyspirit)
Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter
Rabboni
John used Greek letters to describe the sound of the word, and then he explained that it means "Teacher." You should do the same, using the letters of your language.
Jesus' resurrection body
No one is sure what Jesus' body looked like after he became alive again. His disciples knew it was Jesus because they could see his face and touch the places where the soldiers had put the nails through his hands and feet, But he could also walk through solid walls and doors. It is best not to try to say more than what the ULB says.
Two angels in white
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all wrote about angels in white clothing with the women at Jesus' tomb. Two of the authors called them men, but that is only because the angels were in human form. Two of the authors wrote about two angels, but the other two authors wrote about only one of them. It is best to translate each of these passages as it appears in the ULB without trying to make the passages all say exactly the same thing. (See: Matthew 28:1-2 and Mark 16:5 and Luke 24:4 and John 20:12)