^5:24“I tell you the solemn truth,⁴⁵ the one who hears⁴⁶ my message⁴⁷ and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned,⁴⁸ but has crossed over from death to life. ^5:25I tell you the solemn truth,⁴⁹ a time⁵⁰ is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ^5:26For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, ^5:27and he has granted the Son⁵¹ authority to execute judgment,⁵² because he is the Son of Man.

^5:28“Do not be amazed at this, because a time⁵³ is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ^5:29and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.⁵⁴^5:30I can do nothing on my own initiative.⁵⁵ Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just,⁵⁶ because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.⁵⁷

More Testimony About Jesus

^5:31“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ^5:32There is another⁵⁸ who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. ^5:33You have sent to John,⁵⁹ and he has testified to the truth. ^5:34(I do not accept⁶⁰ human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) ^5:35He was a lamp that was burning and shining,⁶¹ and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time⁶² in his light.

^5:36“But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds⁶³ that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds⁶⁴ I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. ^5:37And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people⁶⁵ have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,⁶⁶^5:38nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. ^5:39You study the scriptures thoroughly⁶⁷ because you think in them you possess eternal life,⁶⁸ and it is these same scriptures⁶⁹ that testify about me, ^5:40but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

^5:41“I do not accept⁷⁰ praise⁷¹ from people,⁷²^5:42but I know you, that you do not have the love of God⁷³ within you. ^5:43I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept⁷⁴ me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept⁷⁵ him. ^5:44How can you believe, if you accept praise⁷⁶ from one another and don’t seek the praise⁷⁷ that comes from the only God?⁷⁸

^5:45“Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.⁷⁹^5:46If⁸⁰ you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. ^5:47But if you do not believe what Moses⁸¹ wrote, how will you believe my words?”

Read in Logos

John 5:24: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Footnotes

45 Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
46 Or “obeys.”
47 Or “word.”
48 Grk “and does not come into judgment.”
49 Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
50 Grk “an hour.”
51 Grk “him.”
52 Grk “authority to judge.”
53 Grk “an hour.”
54 Or “a resurrection resulting in judgment.”
55 Grk “nothing from myself.”
56 Or “righteous,” or “proper.”
57 That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”
58 To whom does another refer? To John the Baptist or to the Father? In the nearer context, v. 33, it would seem to be John the Baptist. But v. 34 seems to indicate that Jesus does not receive testimony from men. Probably it is better to view v. 32 as identical to v. 37, with the comments about the Baptist as a parenthetical digression.
59 John refers to John the Baptist.
60 Or “I do not receive.”
61 He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah was “a flame like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.
62 Grk “for an hour.”
63 Or “works.”
64 Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.
65 The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to clarify that the following verbs (“heard,” “seen,” “have residing,” “do not believe”) are second person plural.
66 You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Compare Deut 4:12. Also see Deut 5:24 ff., where the Israelites begged to hear the voice no longer—their request (ironically) has by this time been granted. How ironic this would be if the feast is Pentecost, where by the 1st century a.d. the giving of the law at Sinai was being celebrated.
67 Or “Study the scriptures thoroughly” (an imperative). For the meaning of the verb see G. Delling, 2:655–57.
68 In them you possess eternal life. Note the following examples from the rabbinic tractate (“The Sayings of the Fathers”): 2:8, “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come”; 6:7, “Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.”
69 The words “same scriptures” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the referent (“these”).
70 Or “I do not receive.”
71 Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
72 Grk “from men,” but in a generic sense; both men and women are implied here.
73 The genitive in the phrase τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ (tēn agapēn tou theou, “the love of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“God’s love”) or an objective genitive (“love for God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ; M. Zerwick, , §§36–39). If so, the emphasis would be on the love God gives which in turn produces love for him, but Jesus’ opponents are lacking any such love inside them.
74 Or “you do not receive.”
75 Or “you will receive.”
76 Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
77 Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
78 Several early and important witnesses (𝔓66, 75 B W a b sa) lack θεοῦ (theou, “God”) here, thus reading “the only one,” while most of the rest of the tradition, including some important , has the name ({א A D L Θ Ψ 33 𝔐}). Internally, it could be argued that the name of God was not used here, in keeping with the NT practice of suppressing the name of God at times for rhetorical effect, drawing the reader inexorably to the conclusion that the one being spoken of is God himself. On the other hand, never is ὁ μόνος (ho monos) used absolutely in the NT (i.e., without a noun or substantive with it), and always the subject of the adjunct is God (cf. Matt 24:36; John 17:3; 1 Tim 6:16). What then is to explain the shorter reading? In uncial script, with θεοῦ written as a nomen sacrum, envisioning accidental omission of the name by way of homoioteleuton requires little imagination, largely because of the succession of words ending in -ου: ΤΟΥΜΟΝΟΥΘ ΥΟΥ. It is thus preferable to retain the word in the text.
79 The final condemnation will come from Moses himself—again ironic, since Moses is the very one the Jewish authorities have trusted in (placed your hope). This is again ironic if it is occurring at Pentecost, which at this time was being celebrated as the occasion of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is evidence that some Jews of the 1st century looked on Moses as their intercessor at the final judgment (see W. A. Meeks, The Prophet King [], 161). This would mean the statement Moses, in whom you have placed your hope should be taken literally and relates directly to Jesus’ statements about the final judgment in John 5:28–29.
80 Grk “For if.”
81 Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.