Use of the word "Faltaba"

Question

I am having difficulty translating the following sentence from the book of John 6:4 (NVI): Faltaba muy poco tiempo para la fiesta judía de la Pascua. First, the choice of words is confusing to me. It seems to be saying that "There was missing little time for the fiesta..." However, the context of this sentence in the NIV is that "The fiesta was near"
• Is there any reason for using "para" rather than "hasta" as in "There was little time until the fiesta? • What is the proper interpretation of faltaba, since the idea of "time missing" is difficult for me to grasp?

Answer 1

"Faltaba" here means "There was left". "Faltaba muy poco tiempo" = "There was little time left". When "faltar" is used with time expressions, it normally takes "para":

Queda mucho (tiempo) / poco (tiempo) / un día / una semana /... para...

Answer 2

maybe....

There was very little time left for Jewish Easter

(are you translating from Spanish into English or viceversa?)

"time left before ..." would be more normal/better English. - samdie, Aug 30, 2010

I agree, little time left, makes sense. I was having difficulty making the definition of " to miss" fit the sentence. I appreciate your comments - jgundy, Aug 30, 2010