en_tn/jhn/01/19.md

the Jews sent ... to him from Jerusalem

The word "Jews" here represents the "Jewish leaders." AT: "the Jewish leaders sent ... to him from Jerusalem" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche)

He freely stated, and did not deny

The second phrase says in negative terms the same thing that the first phrase says in positive terms. This emphasizes that John was telling the truth. AT: "He told them the truth freely" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-doublenegatives)

What are you then?

"What then is the case, if you are not the Messiah?" or "What then is going on?" or "What then are you doing?"