King James Version
John 5
47 verses with commentary
The Healing at the Pool of Bethesda
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
John mentions 'a feast' without specifying which, perhaps indicating that all Jewish feasts find fulfillment in Christ. This trip to Jerusalem begins a pattern of conflict with religious authorities who will eventually crucify Him. The unspecified feast reminds us that Christ, not ceremonies, brings true healing and restoration. His going to Jerusalem shows He willingly confronts opposition.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **A feast of the Jews.**—The writer does not tell us what feast this was, and we must be content to remain without certain knowledge. There is, perhaps, no Jewish feast with which it has not been identified, and it has been even proclaimed confidently that it must have been the Day of Atonement! (Caspari, *Chron. and Geogr., Introd., Eng.* Trans., p. 130). Our reading is to be regarded as the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-16. And as Moses, &c.--**Here now we have the "heavenly things," as before the "earthly," but under a veil, for the reason mentioned in Joh 3:12. The crucifixion of Messiah is twice after this veiled under the same lively term--"uplifting," Joh 8:28; 12:32, 33. Here it is still further veiled--though to us who know what it means, rendered vastly more instructive--by reference to the braze...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. market: or, gate
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
John provides geographical detail: 'Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.' The name Bethesda means 'house of mercy' or 'house of outpouring'—ironically, a place of paralysis waiting for mercy. The five porches held multitudes of disabled people. This setting becomes the stage for Jesus' demonstration of divine merc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Now there is at Jerusalem.**—We have no certain knowledge of the time referred to in the last, nor of the place referred to in this, verse. For “sheep-market,” we should read with the margin, *sheep-gate* (Nehemiah 3:1; Nehemiah 3:32; Nehemiah 12:39). This gate was known well enough to fix the locality of the pool, but is itself now unknown. St. Stephen’s Gate, which has been the traditional...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-16. And as Moses, &c.--**Here now we have the "heavenly things," as before the "earthly," but under a veil, for the reason mentioned in Joh 3:12. The crucifixion of Messiah is twice after this veiled under the same lively term--"uplifting," Joh 8:28; 12:32, 33. Here it is still further veiled--though to us who know what it means, rendered vastly more instructive--by reference to the braze...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.' The scene is desperate—blind, lame, paralyzed people waiting for an uncertain cure. The 'moving of the water' refers to periodic disturbance, superstitiously believed to have healing properties. Religion without power produces waiting, not healing. The multitude represents humanity's h...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **In these lay a great multitude.**—The word “great” before multitude, and the latter clause of the verse “waiting for the moving of the water,” and the whole of John 5:4, is omitted by most of the oldest MSS., including the Sinaitic and the Vatican, and is judged to be no part of the original text by a consensus of modern editors, including Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, and Westcott and Hor...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14-16. And as Moses, &c.--**Here now we have the "heavenly things," as before the "earthly," but under a veil, for the reason mentioned in Joh 3:12. The crucifixion of Messiah is twice after this veiled under the same lively term--"uplifting," Joh 8:28; 12:32, 33. Here it is still further veiled--though to us who know what it means, rendered vastly more instructive--by reference to the braze...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse (omitted in many manuscripts) explains the troubling of the water. Whether original or not, it reflects first-century beliefs about angelic intervention in natural phenomena. The theological point remains: people sought healing through ritual means, but Christ offers healing through relationship. Reformed theology emphasizes that ceremonies point beyond themselves to Christ.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-21. not to condemn, &c.--**A statement of vast importance. Though "condemnation" is to many the issue of Christ's mission (Joh 3:19), it is not the object of His mission, which is purely a saving one.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus encounters 'a certain man' who had been infirm 'thirty and eight years.' The specific duration—almost four decades—emphasizes the hopelessness of his condition. This wasn't recent illness but lifelong affliction. No natural recovery was possible after 38 years. The man represents those beyond human help, for whom only divine intervention suffices. Jesus singles him out from the multitude.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Thirty and eight years.**—The period expresses, not his age on the one hand, nor the time of his being at Bethesda on the other, but the time during which he had suffered from the infirmity. Helpless and friendless, having spent half the lot of human life in that condition, he appeals without an uttered word to the Mercy which is present in the House of Mercy; and to him alone of those He he...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-21. not to condemn, &c.--**A statement of vast importance. Though "condemnation" is to many the issue of Christ's mission (Joh 3:19), it is not the object of His mission, which is purely a saving one.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' question seems strange: 'Wilt thou be made whole?' After 38 years, wouldn't the answer be obvious? Yet Jesus probes the man's desire and will. Long illness can produce resignation; some become identified with their condition. True healing requires willingness to change. The question also invites faith—recognizing Jesus as one who can heal. Before acting, Jesus engages the man's will.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) And now Jesus sees him lying there among the throng of sufferers, and every ache of every limb, and. every sorrow of every heart told of the perfection of life marred by the curse of sin; but this man’s own sin had left its mark upon him, which men may read and condemn, though within the whited fairness of their own outer deeds, the soul’s life was by sin palsied to its very core. But he hears...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-21. not to condemn, &c.--**A statement of vast importance. Though "condemnation" is to many the issue of Christ's mission (Joh 3:19), it is not the object of His mission, which is purely a saving one.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The man responds with excuses: 'Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.' He explains why the pool hasn't healed him—no helper, too slow. His answer reveals he's still looking to the pool, not to Jesus. His hope is in the water; his problem is competition. Jesus will bypass the pool entirely, showing He needs n...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) What does the question mean? Will this Stranger, whom he has never seen before, do for him what none of those who often saw him had ever done? Will he watch for the bubbling water, and place him first in it? Is there one being in all the world who regards his state as calling for loving pity, rather than scornful loathing?
**I have no man.**—There is an eloquence of helplessness more powerful ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-21. not to condemn, &c.--**A statement of vast importance. Though "condemnation" is to many the issue of Christ's mission (Joh 3:19), it is not the object of His mission, which is purely a saving one.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Christ's authoritative command 'Rise, take up thy bed, and walk' demonstrates His power to heal instantaneously without ritual or process. The three imperatives progress logically: rise (receive life), take up thy bed (acknowledge healing), walk (live in the power of healing). This physical healing illustrates spiritual salvation: we who were dead in sin are raised to new life (Ephesians 2:5), tak...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Jesus saith unto him.**—There is no formal demand, or formal statement of faith as preceding the healing. (Comp., *e.g.,* Notes on Matthew 13:58; Mark 9:24.) Men have often wondered at this. If faith is an expression in words or anything outside man, then there is room for wonder; but if it be a living principle, the “seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27), then surely we may seek in v...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-21. not to condemn, &c.--**A statement of vast importance. Though "condemnation" is to many the issue of Christ's mission (Joh 3:19), it is not the object of His mission, which is purely a saving one.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.' Healing is instantaneous and complete. After 38 years of paralysis, he immediately walks and carries his mat. The command ('take up thy bed') ensures the miracle is visible—carrying the mat demonstrates complete recovery. No recovery period, no physical therapy—divine healing is total. The addition 'and on the same day was ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **The man was made whole.**—The sufferer was known; the healing is in the striking form that none could gainsay.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Joh 3:22-36. Jesus in the Neighborhood of the Baptist--His Noble Testimony to His Master.
**22-24. land of Judea--**the rural parts of that province, the foregoing conversation being held in the capital.
**baptized--**in the sense explained in Joh 4:2.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The cure at the pool of Bethesda.(1-9)
The Jews' displeasure.(10-16)
Christ reproves the Jews.(17-23)
Christ's discourse.(24-47)
**Verses 1-9**
We are all by nature impotent folk in spiritual things, blind, halt, and withered; but full provision is made for our cure, if we attend to it. An angel went down, and troubled the water; and what disease...
Read full commentary →The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The Jews challenge the healed man: 'It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.' Their first response to a 38-year paralytic walking is legal accusation. Religious bureaucracy sees violation before miracle. The irony is sharp: they care more about mat-carrying than man-healing. Law without love produces this blindness—missing divine work because it doesn't fit categories.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **The Jews therefore said unto him.**—But what they cannot deny they can cavil at. One might have expected from human hearts wonder and thankfulness that the man could walk at all. We find from the formalism which had bound the letter round men until it had well nigh crushed all heart out of them, the murmur that the carrying of his bed was not lawful on the Sabbath. This is not the only plac...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Joh 3:22-36. Jesus in the Neighborhood of the Baptist--His Noble Testimony to His Master.
**22-24. land of Judea--**the rural parts of that province, the foregoing conversation being held in the capital.
**baptized--**in the sense explained in Joh 4:2.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for...
Read full commentary →He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The healed man's answer 'He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk' shifts responsibility to Jesus while acknowledging His authority to heal. His obedience to Jesus' command despite Sabbath prohibition shows prioritizing the Healer's word over religious tradition. Christ's authority supersedes ceremonial law.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **He that made me whole.**—The man bases the use of his power upon the will of Him who had given it. That has been the one divine voice he has heard, and it cannot be wrong for him to obey it.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Joh 3:22-36. Jesus in the Neighborhood of the Baptist--His Noble Testimony to His Master.
**22-24. land of Judea--**the rural parts of that province, the foregoing conversation being held in the capital.
**baptized--**in the sense explained in Joh 4:2.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for...
Read full commentary →Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The interrogators' focus on 'What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?' reveals their priority—catching a Sabbath violator matters more than celebrating healing. This exemplifies how religious externalism can blind us to God's work. They care more about regulation than restoration.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **What man is that which said unto thee . . .?**—They pass over the giving of the power, and quote only the command which comes under their technical prohibition. The life and strength of once-palsied limb is as nothing; the fact that this man was breaking their tradition is secondary. The real motive is a charge against Him whose power the body of the Jewish people was feeling as a life-curr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-26. between some of--**rather, "on the part of."
**and the Jews--**rather (according to the best manuscripts), "and a Jew,"
**about purifying--**that is, baptizing, the symbolical meaning of washing with water being put (as in Joh 2:6) for the act itself. As John and Jesus were the only teachers who baptized Jews, discussions might easily arise between the Baptist's disciples and such Jew...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for...
Read full commentary →And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. a multitude: or, from the multitude that was
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
That the healed man 'wist not who it was' shows Jesus' quiet departure and lack of self-promotion. Jesus had 'conveyed himself away' (withdrawn) because of the crowd, avoiding both acclaim and premature confrontation. This demonstrates Christ's control over the timing of His conflicts and His disinterest in personal fame.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **For Jesus had conveyed himself away.**—The second clause of this verse, as is shown by the marginal rendering, was not intended by our translators to convey the impression that a crowd had assembled round the scene of the miracle, and that to avoid this Jesus passed away from the place. In that case the man must have known who He was. Still the English does probably convey this meaning to m...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-26. between some of--**rather, "on the part of."
**and the Jews--**rather (according to the best manuscripts), "and a Jew,"
**about purifying--**that is, baptizing, the symbolical meaning of washing with water being put (as in Joh 2:6) for the act itself. As John and Jesus were the only teachers who baptized Jews, discussions might easily arise between the Baptist's disciples and such Jew...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for...
Read full commentary →Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus finds the man in the temple and warns: 'Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.' This connects sin and suffering (though not always causally—see John 9:3) and warns against returning to former ways. Physical healing should lead to spiritual transformation. The 'worse thing' may be final judgment—physical healing matters little if the soul remains sick. Je...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Afterward.**—There is no mark of time. Probably it was on the same day. Perhaps the first use of his restored power was to go to the Temple and pay his thank-offering to God.
**Sin no more.**—These words connect his past sufferings with individual sin. He has been freed from the effects, but if they have been truly remedial he has been freed from the cause too. He is in God’s house. Let him...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27-30. A man, &c.--**"I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? Said I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Bride is not mine, why should the people stay with me?? Mine it is to point the burdened to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, to tell them there is Balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for...
Read full commentary →The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The man's reporting to the Jews that 'it was Jesus which had made him whole' appears either naively informative or deliberately betraying. John doesn't clarify his motive, but the result is intensified opposition to Jesus. Even acts of witness can be used for hostile purposes when hearts are hardened.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **The man departed, and told the Jews.**—We are not told what reason underlay his report to the Jews. It is natural that he should give the answer which he could not give before (John 5:13), and that he should wish to secure himself from the charge of Sabbath-breaking by supplying his authority. The narrative does not suggest that he did this in a tone of defiance, which has been found here f...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27-30. A man, &c.--**"I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? Said I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Bride is not mine, why should the people stay with me?? Mine it is to point the burdened to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, to tell them there is Balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for...
Read full commentary →Jesus Is Equal with God
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The Jews' persecution of Jesus 'because he had done these things on the sabbath day' reveals the conflict between Christ's redemptive mission and religious traditionalism. Their focus on 'these things' (healing, commanding to carry a bed) rather than the miracle's compassionate purpose shows how externalism corrupts true religion. Christ came to fulfill, not abolish, the Sabbath's purpose.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) The words, “and sought to slay Him,” should be omitted. They have been inserted in some MSS. to explain the first clause of John 5:18. For “He had done,” read *He was doing.* The word is in the imperfect tense, expressing continuance or custom. It is either that from this one instance they generalise a law of practice to justify their persecution, or that some of the earlier unrecorded miracl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27-30. A man, &c.--**"I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? Said I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Bride is not mine, why should the people stay with me?? Mine it is to point the burdened to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, to tell them there is Balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
Those eased of the punishment of sin, are in danger of returning to sin, when the terror and restraint are over, unless Divine grace dries up the fountain. The misery believers are made whole from, warns us to sin no more, having felt the smart of sin. This is the voice of every providence, Go, and sin no more. Christ saw it necessary to give this caution; for it is common for...
Read full commentary →But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto , and I work.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus defends His Sabbath work: 'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.' God doesn't cease all activity on Sabbath—He sustains creation, gives life, exercises providence. If the Father works, the Son works. This claim to partnership with God in continuous divine activity asserts equality. Jesus' Sabbath healing isn't law-breaking but God-imitating. He shares the Father's prerogative of sovereign ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **My Father worketh hitherto **(or, *up to this moment*)***.***—They charge Him with breaking the law of God. His answer to this charge is that His action was the result of His Sonship and unity with that God. The very idea of God implied action. This was familiar to the thought of the day. Comp., *e.g.,* in the contemporary Philo, “God never ceases working; but as to burn is the property of ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27-30. A man, &c.--**"I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? Said I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Bride is not mine, why should the people stay with me?? Mine it is to point the burdened to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, to tell them there is Balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-23**
The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the fin...
Read full commentary →Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The Jews' response confirms they understood Jesus' claim: 'Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.' Calling God 'Father' in the intimate sense Jesus used claimed unique relationship. They correctly understood—Jesus asserted equality with God. This wasn't misunderstanding; Jesus...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) For “had broken,” read *did He break,* and for “His Father,” *His own Father.* They recognise as beyond doubt what He means by the term “My Father,” and the attribute of ceaseless energy. It was a claim which none other had ever made, that God was in a peculiar sense His own Father. They feel it is a claim to divinity, a “making Himself equal with God.”
**The more to kill him.**—This implies ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31-34. He that, &c.--**Here is the reason why He must increase while all human teachers must decrease. The Master "cometh from above"--descending from His proper element, the region of those "heavenly things" which He came to reveal, and so, although mingling with men and things on the earth, is not "of the earth," either in Person or Word. The servants, on the contrary, springing of earth, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-23**
The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the fin...
Read full commentary →Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus explains His relationship to the Father: 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.' This isn't inferiority but unity. The Son doesn't act independently because Father and Son always act in harmony. Jesus sees and imitates the Father's actions perfectly. This is not i...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **The Son can do nothing of himself.**—The key to this and the following verses is in the relation of Father and Son, from which they start. The Jews saw in this equality with God blasphemy, and sought to kill Him. Men have since seen and now see in it inferiority, and a proof that Christ did not claim for Himself the glory which the Apostle claims for Him in the prologue (John 1:1-18), and w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31-34. He that, &c.--**Here is the reason why He must increase while all human teachers must decrease. The Master "cometh from above"--descending from His proper element, the region of those "heavenly things" which He came to reveal, and so, although mingling with men and things on the earth, is not "of the earth," either in Person or Word. The servants, on the contrary, springing of earth, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-23**
The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the fin...
Read full commentary →For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.' Divine love produces complete transparency—the Father shows the Son everything. Greater works are coming—presumably resurrection and final judgment (verses 21-29). These will produce marvel (thaumazo)—astonishment at divine power. The Bethesda healing i...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **For the Father loveth the Son.**—Do men deny His divinity? God is His Father. There is, therefore, oneness of essence. The unity of His work with God’s work has for its basis the Eternal Love, which showeth to the Son all that the Father doeth. As the relation of Son implies moral inability to do anything apart from the Father, so the relation of Father implies moral necessity to impart all...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31-34. He that, &c.--**Here is the reason why He must increase while all human teachers must decrease. The Master "cometh from above"--descending from His proper element, the region of those "heavenly things" which He came to reveal, and so, although mingling with men and things on the earth, is not "of the earth," either in Person or Word. The servants, on the contrary, springing of earth, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-23**
The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the fin...
Read full commentary →For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.' Raising the dead is God's exclusive prerogative (Deuteronomy 32:39). Jesus claims this same power—giving life to whomever He chooses. The 'whom he will' emphasizes sovereign choice. This isn't mere prophetic delegation (Elijah, Elisha raising dead) but divine prerogative exercised sovereignly. Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) The following verses (John 5:21-29) show what these greater works are. They are the Resurrection and the judgment; but these are regarded as spiritual as well as physical, as present as well as future. Once again the background of the thought is to be found in John 5:17. Resurrection and Judgment were the work of the Father—“My Father worketh hitherto;” but the manifestation in limits of spac...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31-34. He that, &c.--**Here is the reason why He must increase while all human teachers must decrease. The Master "cometh from above"--descending from His proper element, the region of those "heavenly things" which He came to reveal, and so, although mingling with men and things on the earth, is not "of the earth," either in Person or Word. The servants, on the contrary, springing of earth, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-23**
The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the fin...
Read full commentary →For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.' The Father has delegated all judgment to the Son. This is not absence of divine judgment but its execution through the Son. The one who gives life also pronounces judgment. Those who reject His life-giving word face His judicial sentence. Judgment is inseparable from the revelation they've received.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **For the Father judgeth no man.**—Better, *For not even doth the Father judge any man;* and if not the Father, to whom judgment belongs, then none other but the Son to whom He hath committed all judgment. To judge (comp. John 5:29) is the opposite of to quicken in the previous verse. The fact that the Son hath power to judge is correlative with His power to quicken whom He will. The spiritua...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**35-36. The Father loveth, &c.--**See on Mt 11:27, where we have the "delivering over of all things into the hands of the Son," while here we have the deep spring of that august act in the Father's ineffable "love of the Son."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-23**
The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the fin...
Read full commentary →That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.' The purpose of delegating judgment to the Son is that He receive equal honor with the Father. Refusing honor to the Son refuses honor to the Father who sent Him. This is the clearest claim to worship: whatever honor belongs to God belongs equally to Chri...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**35-36. The Father loveth, &c.--**See on Mt 11:27, where we have the "delivering over of all things into the hands of the Son," while here we have the deep spring of that august act in the Father's ineffable "love of the Son."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-23**
The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the fin...
Read full commentary →Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse contains three astounding promises to those who hear Christ's word and believe the Father: eternal life (present possession), no condemnation (judicial acquittal), and passing from death to life (completed transition). The perfect tense 'hath' indicates present, permanent possession of eternal life—not future hope but current reality. 'Shall not come into condemnation' promises believer...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Verily, verily, I say unto you.**—(Comp. John 5:19; John 5:25, and Note on John 1:51.) For “shall not come into condemnation,” read *doth not come into judgment.* (Comp. Note on John 3:18.)
The repeated “verily” introduces, as elsewhere, one of the deeper spiritual truths which He came to teach. This truth explains the “whom He willeth” of John 5:21 to have no limit but that of human recept...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-29**
Our Lord declared his authority and character, as the Messiah. The time was come when the dead should hear his voice, as the Son of God, and live. Our Lord first refers to his raising those who were dead in sin, to newness of life, by the power of the Spirit, and then to his raising the dead in their graves. The office of Judge of all men, can only be exercised by one who has ...
Read full commentary →Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.' The 'hour is coming, and now is' describes inaugurated eschatology—future realities breaking into the present. The dead who hear are spiritually dead, awakened by Christ's word. 'Hearing' implies more than auditory reception—it means receiving with ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **The hour is coming.**—The same solemn words repeat in another form the same great truth. The reference here, as in the whole of this paragraph (John 5:21-27), is to the spiritually dead. This is shown by the “now is,” which cannot be applied to the physical resurrection (comp. John 5:28), and cannot be explained by the instances of physical restoration to life during the earthly ministry of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Joh 4:1-42. Christ and the Woman of Samaria--The Samaritans of Sychar.
**1-4. the Lord knew--**not by report, but in the sense of Joh 2:25, for which reason He is here styled "the Lord."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-29**
Our Lord declared his authority and character, as the Messiah. The time was come when the dead should hear his voice, as the Son of God, and live. Our Lord first refers to his raising those who were dead in sin, to newness of life, by the power of the Spirit, and then to his raising the dead in their graves. The office of Judge of all men, can only be exercised by one who has ...
Read full commentary →For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.' God possesses life essentially—not derived from any source but self-existent. Jesus claims the same: life 'in himself.' This is not creaturely life received from another but divine life possessed intrinsically. While 'given' in eternal generation, the Son possesses life as the Father does—absolutely, ess...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **Hath he given to the Son.**—Better, *gave He to the Son also.*
**Life in himself.**—The Son has spoken of the dead hearing His voice and living, but this giving of life to others can only be by one who has in himself an original source of life. This the Father has, and this the Son also has. To the Son in His pre-existent state it was natural, as being equal with the Father. To the Son who ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Joh 4:1-42. Christ and the Woman of Samaria--The Samaritans of Sychar.
**1-4. the Lord knew--**not by report, but in the sense of Joh 2:25, for which reason He is here styled "the Lord."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-29**
Our Lord declared his authority and character, as the Messiah. The time was come when the dead should hear his voice, as the Son of God, and live. Our Lord first refers to his raising those who were dead in sin, to newness of life, by the power of the Spirit, and then to his raising the dead in their graves. The office of Judge of all men, can only be exercised by one who has ...
Read full commentary →And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.' Judgment authority is given because He is 'Son of man'—the Daniel 7:13-14 figure receiving dominion. His humanity qualifies Him to judge humans: He knows human experience, faced temptation, understands weakness. The one who became human will judge humanity. This combines divine authority with experiential identi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **Hath given.**—As above, *gave.* The “also” after judgment should be omitted. In these verses, as before, the two relations of Father—Son, Life—Judgment, are emphatic. Both Life and Judgment can belong to God only, but both are the Father’s gift to the Son.
**The Son of man.**—Render, *a son of man.* The term differs by the striking omission of articles from the usual term for the Messiah, a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Joh 4:1-42. Christ and the Woman of Samaria--The Samaritans of Sychar.
**1-4. the Lord knew--**not by report, but in the sense of Joh 2:25, for which reason He is here styled "the Lord."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-29**
Our Lord declared his authority and character, as the Messiah. The time was come when the dead should hear his voice, as the Son of God, and live. Our Lord first refers to his raising those who were dead in sin, to newness of life, by the power of the Spirit, and then to his raising the dead in their graves. The office of Judge of all men, can only be exercised by one who has ...
Read full commentary →Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.' Jesus anticipates amazement and counsels against premature astonishment—greater things are coming. Physical resurrection will occur: 'all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.' This is universal—every human who has died will be raised by Christ's voice. The same voice that spoke creat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Marvel not at this**—i.e., that He has Himself a source of life and authority to judge. There shall follow from this “greater works,” at which they shall marvel. There is an hour coming (here not with the addition “and now is,” verse .25) when the victory over physical death shall also make manifest this life, for “all that are in the graves” shall hear His voice, and the final judgment sha...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Joh 4:1-42. Christ and the Woman of Samaria--The Samaritans of Sychar.
**1-4. the Lord knew--**not by report, but in the sense of Joh 2:25, for which reason He is here styled "the Lord."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-29**
Our Lord declared his authority and character, as the Messiah. The time was come when the dead should hear his voice, as the Son of God, and live. Our Lord first refers to his raising those who were dead in sin, to newness of life, by the power of the Spirit, and then to his raising the dead in their graves. The office of Judge of all men, can only be exercised by one who has ...
Read full commentary →And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.' Two resurrections, two outcomes. 'Done good' describes those whose works demonstrate faith—good works are faith's evidence, not salvation's cause. 'Done evil' describes those whose lives manifest unbelief. Resurrection is universal; its outcome depends ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Damnation**.—Better, *judgment.* See Note on John 3:20. On “done good” and “done (*practised*) evil,” see Notes on John 3:20-21. It is remarkable that these are the only instances where the words here and there used for “practice” and for “evil” occur in St. John. This double opposition, and the use of words which He does not use again, support the distinction in the earlier Note. The passa...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. cometh ... to--**that is, as far as: for He remained at some distance from it.
**Sychar--**the "Shechem" of the Old Testament, about thirty-four miles from Jerusalem, afterwards called "Neapolis," and now "Nablous."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-29**
Our Lord declared his authority and character, as the Messiah. The time was come when the dead should hear his voice, as the Son of God, and live. Our Lord first refers to his raising those who were dead in sin, to newness of life, by the power of the Spirit, and then to his raising the dead in their graves. The office of Judge of all men, can only be exercised by one who has ...
Read full commentary →Witnesses to Jesus
I can of mine own self do nothing : as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.' Jesus reaffirms dependence on the Father—not inadequacy but perfect alignment. His judgment is just because it reflects the Father's will, not personal agenda. Independence from the Father would mean injustice; dependence ensures righteo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) For “the will of the Father which hath sent Me,” in the last clause, read, with nearly all the best MSS., *the will of Him that sent Me.* (Comp. John 5:36-37.)
The verse is the expression, once again, but now with special reference to judgment, of the thought with which the discourse opened, and which runs as a current through the whole. (Comp. Notes on John 5:19; John 5:22). As in all His wo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-8. wearied ... sat thus--**that is, "as you might fancy a weary man would"; an instance of the graphic style of St. John [Webster and Wilkinson]. In fact, this is perhaps the most human of all the scenes of our Lord's earthly history. We seem to be beside Him, overhearing all that is here recorded, nor could any painting of the scene on canvas, however perfect, do other than lower the concepti...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus acknowledges that His testimony alone wouldn't be legally valid ('If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true'), referencing Jewish law requiring multiple witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6). Yet He will demonstrate that multiple witnesses do attest to Him: the Father, John the Baptist, His works, and Scripture. This shows Christ's respect for proper testimony while affirming His divine mis...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **If I bear witness of myself.**—This verse is the link between the thoughts of Christ’s person (John 5:17-30) and the witness to Him (John 5:32-40). He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), and does not even bear witness of Himself. If He did, it would be on technical grounds not to be credited. He meets the objection then doubtless in their minds, and soon expressed in their words. (Comp. ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-8. wearied ... sat thus--**that is, "as you might fancy a weary man would"; an instance of the graphic style of St. John [Webster and Wilkinson]. In fact, this is perhaps the most human of all the scenes of our Lord's earthly history. We seem to be beside Him, overhearing all that is here recorded, nor could any painting of the scene on canvas, however perfect, do other than lower the concepti...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus refers to 'another that beareth witness of me'—likely the Father (as v. 37 clarifies), though John the Baptist is also in view. His certainty ('I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true') rests on the Father's testimony through works, Scripture, and the Spirit. Reformed theology emphasizes that saving faith requires the Spirit's internal witness confirming Scripture's externa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **There is another . . .**—*i.e.,* the Father. The reference to the Baptist is excluded by the words which follow. The difficulty which has been seen in this indirect reference to the Father is removed if we connect the words closely with those preceding them. The point is in the fact that another, different in personality from Himself, bore witness of Him. (Comp. John 8:50; Matthew 10:28, *e...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-8. wearied ... sat thus--**that is, "as you might fancy a weary man would"; an instance of the graphic style of St. John [Webster and Wilkinson]. In fact, this is perhaps the most human of all the scenes of our Lord's earthly history. We seem to be beside Him, overhearing all that is here recorded, nor could any painting of the scene on canvas, however perfect, do other than lower the concepti...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus reminds them 'Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth,' referencing the delegation's inquiry (John 1:19-27). John's testimony was consistent and reliable—he pointed to Christ. That they consulted John shows their desire for prophetic guidance, yet they rejected his testimony about Jesus. This illustrates how seekers can resist truth when it challenges their assumptions.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Ye sent . . .**—Both verbs are perfects. Better, therefore, *Ye have sent; He hath borne witness.* The pronoun “ye” is emphatically opposed to the “I” of the following verse. They sought human witness. He had witness which was divine. The object of John’s mission was to bear witness of the Light (John 1:7), and this he did to them (John 1:19 *et seq.*)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-12. How is it that thou--**not altogether refusing, yet wondering at so unusual a request from a Jew, as His dress and dialect would at once discover Him to be, to a Samaritan.
**for, &c.--**It is this national antipathy that gives point to the parable of the good Samaritan (Lu 10:30-37), and the thankfulness of the Samaritan leper (Lu 17:16, 18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus clarifies His purpose in citing John's testimony: 'that ye might be saved.' He doesn't need human witness for His own validation but offers it for their benefit. This reveals Christ's gracious condescension—He provides multiple witnesses suited to human understanding to enable salvation. God's self-revelation aims at redemption, not mere vindication.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **But I receive not testimony . . .**—There is no reason for changing the word. The substantive, and verbs from John 5:31, have been rendered by “witness,” and it is better to keep it here. The English also fails to give the article, and is therefore misleading. He did receive witness from men—had received witness from John—but this was not *the witness* upon which all was based. Its purpose ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-12. How is it that thou--**not altogether refusing, yet wondering at so unusual a request from a Jew, as His dress and dialect would at once discover Him to be, to a Samaritan.
**for, &c.--**It is this national antipathy that gives point to the parable of the good Samaritan (Lu 10:30-37), and the thankfulness of the Samaritan leper (Lu 17:16, 18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus characterizes John as 'a burning and a shining light'—burning with Holy Spirit fire, shining with reflected glory. The past tense 'ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light' indicates their initial enthusiasm had waned. Popular enthusiasm for prophets often proves superficial, fading when their message confronts sin or demands change.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) **He was a burning and a shining light.**—Better, *He was the lamp that is lighted and* (then) *giveth light.* The statement of the Prologue, “He was not the Light, but came to bear witness of the Light” (John 1:8), shows how important this change is. The word rendered “light” occurs again in Matthew 5:15; Matthew 6:22; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16; Luke 11:33-34; Luke 11:36; Luke 12:35; Luke 15:8; 2...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-12. How is it that thou--**not altogether refusing, yet wondering at so unusual a request from a Jew, as His dress and dialect would at once discover Him to be, to a Samaritan.
**for, &c.--**It is this national antipathy that gives point to the parable of the good Samaritan (Lu 10:30-37), and the thankfulness of the Samaritan leper (Lu 17:16, 18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish , the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus claims 'greater witness than that of John'—His works themselves testify that the Father sent Him. Miracles serve as divine credentials (cf. Acts 2:22). The phrase 'the same works...bear witness of me' indicates that Christ's works are not His own but the Father's working through Him, validating His mission.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(36) For “hath given Me” read, with the better MSS., *gave Me.* The pronouns in “But I have” and in “that I do,” are emphatic.
In this verse He returns to the thought of John 5:32. The parenthesis in John 5:33-35 show that John was not the other there spoken of, and this verse shows that the special form of witness which He referred to was that of the works, which works He was then doing, and the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-12. How is it that thou--**not altogether refusing, yet wondering at so unusual a request from a Jew, as His dress and dialect would at once discover Him to be, to a Samaritan.
**for, &c.--**It is this national antipathy that gives point to the parable of the good Samaritan (Lu 10:30-37), and the thankfulness of the Samaritan leper (Lu 17:16, 18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares that the Father Himself has borne witness about Him, likely referencing the voice at His baptism (Matthew 3:17) and the Father's testimony through works and Scripture. The condemnation 'Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape' indicates spiritual deafness and blindness. Natural faculties cannot perceive divine revelation apart from grace.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(37) **Hath borne witness of me.**—The marginal reference interprets this testimony of the Father by the voices from heaven spoken at the Baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration Both are indeed illustrations, and are naturally suggested by the imagery of voice and shape in the latter half of the verse; but one was at this moment in the future, and the other was a definite event which would hav...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-14. thirst again ... never thirst, &c.--**The contrast here is fundamental and all comprehensive. "This water" plainly means "this natural water and all satisfactions of a like earthly and perishable nature." Coming to us from without, and reaching only the superficial parts of our nature, they are soon spent, and need to be anew supplied as much as if we had never experienced them before...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus diagnoses the root problem: 'Ye have not his word abiding in you.' Possessing Scripture differs from having God's word 'abiding' (dwelling, remaining) within. Their proof? 'Whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.' Genuine possession of God's word produces faith in Christ; rejection of Christ reveals the word's absence regardless of biblical knowledge.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(38) **Abiding in you.**—This striking thought of the word taking up its abode in the mind, and forming the mind in which it dwells, meets us only in St. John. (Comp. John 15:7; 1John 2:14; 1John 2:24; 1John 3:9; 1John 3:17; and Note on John 6:36.) They had, indeed, the word of God, but they had it not as a power ever living in them. They locked it up with sacred care in ark and synagogue, but it ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-14. thirst again ... never thirst, &c.--**The contrast here is fundamental and all comprehensive. "This water" plainly means "this natural water and all satisfactions of a like earthly and perishable nature." Coming to us from without, and reaching only the superficial parts of our nature, they are soon spent, and need to be anew supplied as much as if we had never experienced them before...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-38**
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice o...
Read full commentary →Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.' This can be read as command ('Search the scriptures') or statement ('You search the scriptures'). Either way, the irony is sharp: those who diligently study Scripture looking for life miss the One Scripture testifies about. The Scriptures point to Christ; missing Him while reading them misses...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(39) **Search the scriptures.**—Better, *Ye search the Scriptures.* The question whether the mood is imperative or indicative, whether we have here a commandment to examine the writings of the Old Testament canon, or a reference to their habit of doing so, is one which has been discussed through the whole history of New Testament exposition, and one on which the opinion of those best qualified to ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-18. give me this water, &c.--**This is not obtuseness--that is giving way--it expresses a wondering desire after she scarce knew what from this mysterious Stranger.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-44**
The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possi...
Read full commentary →And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.' The problem isn't intellectual but volitional—'ye will not come.' Scripture points to Christ; they won't follow the pointer. The life they seek through study is found in Him; they refuse to come. Unbelief is not inability but unwillingness. The evidence is sufficient; the will resists. This explains why religious experts reject Christ—their wi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(40) **And ye will not come to me.**—The real hindrance is once more traced to the will. (See Note on John 3:9.) It is moral, not intellectual. The result of a true willingness to know the truth is certain, not problematic. “Ye search because ye think ye have: if ye were willing to come, ye should really have.”
The lesson is wide in its bearing. The Rabbinic spirit is not confined to Rabbis, nor i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-18. give me this water, &c.--**This is not obtuseness--that is giving way--it expresses a wondering desire after she scarce knew what from this mysterious Stranger.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-44**
The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possi...
Read full commentary →I receive not honour from men.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares 'I receive not honour from men,' indicating that human approval is neither His goal nor need. His mission proceeds from the Father's will, not popular acclaim. This statement contrasts sharply with the religious leaders who craved human honor (v. 44). Christ's independence from human validation models true spiritual leadership.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(41) **I receive not honour.**—The word is better rendered *glory* here, and in John 5:44. Jesus continues to dwell, in the remainder of the discourse (John 5:41-47), on the true cause of their incredulity. “Ye will not come to Me,” is the central thought. But were they, then, to follow this young Teacher, while they themselves had schools and disciples who held their teaching sacred, and their pe...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-18. give me this water, &c.--**This is not obtuseness--that is giving way--it expresses a wondering desire after she scarce knew what from this mysterious Stranger.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-44**
The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possi...
Read full commentary →But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' penetrating diagnosis—'ye have not the love of God in you'—identifies the core problem. He's not saying they don't love God, but that God's love is absent from them (objective genitive). Without receiving and being transformed by God's love, they cannot recognize or receive His Son. Love for God flows from experiencing His love.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(42) **Ye have not the love of God.**—The principle which excludes the seeking honour from men, is the love of God. They were, they said, jealous for God’s honour. The first precept of the Law, and the foundation of the Theocracy, was the love of God. This every Jew professed, and bound round brow and arm the holy texts which declared it (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 11:13-21). The Pharisees mad...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-18. give me this water, &c.--**This is not obtuseness--that is giving way--it expresses a wondering desire after she scarce knew what from this mysterious Stranger.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-44**
The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possi...
Read full commentary →I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.' Jesus came representing the Father; He was rejected. False messiahs came self-appointed; they were received. The irony exposes misplaced trust. Those who reject God's authorized representative accept self-authorized pretenders. History confirmed this—Bar Kokhba and others were follow...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(43) **I am come in my Father’s name.**—So far from self-assertion or honour-seeking, He came in the name of, as representing, the Father, guided only by His will, doing only His work (John 4:34). Had they loved the Father, they must have received and reverenced His Son (John 8:42; Matthew 21:37 *et seq.*)*.* The absence of love is at the root of the rejection. The true Israelite became the true C...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-20. Sir, I perceive, &c.--**Seeing herself all revealed, does she now break down and ask what hopes there might be for one so guilty? Nay, her convictions have not reached that point yet. She ingeniously shifts the subject from a personal to a public question. It is not, "Alas, what a wicked life am I leading!" but "Lo, what a wonderful prophet I **got into conversation with! He will be a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-44**
The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possi...
Read full commentary →How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another , and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?</strong> Jesus diagnoses the fundamental barrier to faith: the human craving for peer approval versus divine approval. The Greek <em>doxan para allelōn lambanontes</em> (δόξαν παρ᾽ ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες, "receiving glory from one another") describes a reciprocal system of human validat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(44) **How can ye believe . . .?**—The emphasis is again on the pronoun. It is not possible that *ye* should believe in Me, as our whole position is entirely different. Ye receive glory from men. I do not (John 5:41). I am come in My Father’s name (John 5:43). Ye do not seek the glory which is from God. We are, then, in wholly distinct spheres of life, and action, and thought. To believe would be ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-20. Sir, I perceive, &c.--**Seeing herself all revealed, does she now break down and ask what hopes there might be for one so guilty? Nay, her convictions have not reached that point yet. She ingeniously shifts the subject from a personal to a public question. It is not, "Alas, what a wicked life am I leading!" but "Lo, what a wonderful prophet I **got into conversation with! He will be a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-44**
The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possi...
Read full commentary →Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.</strong> Jesus delivers a devastating indictment: the very Scriptures the Jewish leaders claimed as their foundation would become their accuser. The Greek <em>mē dokeite</em> (μὴ δοκεῖτε, "do not think") warns against a false assumption—that Jesus would serve as prosecutor at th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(45) **Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.**—His words were words of direct accusation, which must have cut to the very quick. He had come from the Father, and it might have seemed to follow from what He said, that He would accuse them to the Father. He guards against this misinterpretation. Love cannot accuse; He cannot be an accuser. He is ever a judge, only because love must judg...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-24. Woman, &c.--**Here are three weighty pieces of information: (1) The point raised will very soon cease to be of any moment, for a total change of dispensation is about to come over the Church. (2) The Samaritans are wrong, not only as to the place, but the whole grounds and nature of their worship, while in all these respects the truth lies with the Jews. (3) As God is a Spirit, so He ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 45-47**
Many trust in some form of doctrines or some parties, who no more enter into the real meaning of those doctrines, or the views of the persons whose names they bear, than the Jews did into those of Moses. Let us search and pray over the Scriptures, as intent on finding eternal life; let us observe how Christ is the great subject of them, and daily apply to him for the life he b...
Read full commentary →For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.' Moses, whom they claimed to follow, wrote about Christ. If they truly believed Moses, they would recognize the one Moses anticipated. The Pentateuch contains messianic prophecy—the seed of the woman, Shiloh, the Prophet like Moses. Genuine faith in Moses leads to faith in Christ; claiming Moses while rejecting Christ revea...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(46) **For had ye believed Moses.**—The present incredulity springs from that of the past. If they had really believed Moses, they would have seen in the whole spirit of the Pentateuch a manifestation of God, which would have led them to the fuller manifestation in Christ. Worship, and sacrifice, and offering, and priesthood, were all meant to teach. Their very name for “law” (*Thorah*) meant “ins...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-24. Woman, &c.--**Here are three weighty pieces of information: (1) The point raised will very soon cease to be of any moment, for a total change of dispensation is about to come over the Church. (2) The Samaritans are wrong, not only as to the place, but the whole grounds and nature of their worship, while in all these respects the truth lies with the Jews. (3) As God is a Spirit, so He ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 45-47**
Many trust in some form of doctrines or some parties, who no more enter into the real meaning of those doctrines, or the views of the persons whose names they bear, than the Jews did into those of Moses. Let us search and pray over the Scriptures, as intent on finding eternal life; let us observe how Christ is the great subject of them, and daily apply to him for the life he b...
Read full commentary →But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
'But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?' The final verse creates devastating logic: if they don't believe Moses' writings (which they claim to follow), how will they believe Jesus? Scripture rejection leads to Christ rejection. Inability to receive written revelation precludes receiving living revelation. Those who deny the truth of Scripture have no foundation for rece...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(47) The emphasis of the contrast here is not between “writings” and “words,” but between “his” and “My.” It is a repetition of the thought of the previous verse, with an advance in time. They had not believed Moses, and therefore had not believed Him. They do not believe, for they do not read the spiritual meaning of the writings of Moses even now. What ground of hope is left? His words, revealin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-24. Woman, &c.--**Here are three weighty pieces of information: (1) The point raised will very soon cease to be of any moment, for a total change of dispensation is about to come over the Church. (2) The Samaritans are wrong, not only as to the place, but the whole grounds and nature of their worship, while in all these respects the truth lies with the Jews. (3) As God is a Spirit, so He ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 45-47**
Many trust in some form of doctrines or some parties, who no more enter into the real meaning of those doctrines, or the views of the persons whose names they bear, than the Jews did into those of Moses. Let us search and pray over the Scriptures, as intent on finding eternal life; let us observe how Christ is the great subject of them, and daily apply to him for the life he b...
Read full commentary →