I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
Parallel Translations
-
I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
-
And I sawe and bare recorde that this is the sonne of God.
-
And I sawe, and bare record that this is that Sonne of God.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (42)
Passages linked to John 1:34 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 2:7 I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.
- John 1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!”
- Matthew 4:3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
- Psalms 89:26-27 He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!’ I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
- 1 John 5:20 We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
- John 20:31 but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
- Romans 1:4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
- Revelation 2:18 “To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: “The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things:
- John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
- Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
- Matthew 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
- Matthew 27:40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
- Matthew 27:43 He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
- Matthew 27:54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
- Mark 1:1 The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- John 3:35-36 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
- John 5:23-27 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
- John 10:36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’
- John 11:27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”
- John 19:7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”
- Hebrews 1:1-2 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
- Hebrews 1:5-6 For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?” When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”
- 1 John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.
- 1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil.
- 1 John 4:9 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
- 1 John 4:14-15 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
- 1 John 5:9-13 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is God’s testimony which he has testified concerning his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
- Matthew 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
- Matthew 4:6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
- Matthew 8:29 Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
- Matthew 11:27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
- Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
- Mark 1:11 A voice came out of the sky, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
- Luke 1:35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.
- Luke 3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”
- Hebrews 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
- 2 John 1:9 Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ, doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
- John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
- John 6:69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
- John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”
- John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 34. I saw and testified. He means that what…
34. I saw and testified. He means that what he declares is not doubtful; because God was pleased to make him fully and thoroughly acquainted with those things of which he was to be the witness to the world; and it is worthy of notice, that he testified that Christ was the Son of God, because he who gives the Holy Spirit must be the Christ, for to no other belongs the honor and the office of reconciling men to God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain This word (That) pointeth out unto us some excellent…
This word (That) pointeth out unto us some excellent thing, and maketh a difference between Christ and others, whom Moses and the Prophets commonly call the sons of God, or the sons of the most high.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 34 And I saw, and bare record that this…
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
Ver. 34. Aud I saw and bare record] They that would persuade others, must be strongly persuaded themselves ("We believed, therefore have we spoken," 2Co 4:13; and "knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men," 2Co 5:11); or at least they must seem so to be, as those odious apostates, Judas, Demas, Ecebolus, Speiser, Pendleton, Harding (Bishop Jewel’s adversary), who was one while a thundering preacher, wishing he could cry out against Popery as loud as the bells of Osney; and exhorting the people after this sort (as Mr Fox testifieth) a little before King Edward VI died, -that if trouble come, they should never shrink from the true doctrine of the gospel which they had received; but take it rather for a trial sent by God, to prove them, whether they would abide by it or no. All which to be true (saith mine author) they can testify that heard him, and be yet alive; who also foreseeing the plague to come, were then much confirmed by his words. (Acts and Mon.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain But when I saw that, I could not but…
But when I saw that, I could not but believe, and also bear an open testimony to the world, that this man was not mere man, but the eternal Son of that God, who sent me to baptize with water; reserving still to himself the Divine power of blessing that holy sacrament, and conferring the Holy Ghost in regenerating habits, working like fire, in purging away the dross of souls, and like water, washing away the filth of sin, Mat 3:11; Joh 3:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And I saw,.... The Spirit descending from heaven as…
And I saw,.... The Spirit descending from heaven as a dove, and lighting upon Jesus, and remaining some time on him; this he saw with his bodily eyes:
and bore record; at the same time, before all the people that were with him, when he baptized Jesus:
Read full note →
that this is the Son of God; the natural, essential, and eternal Son of God; who being sent in the fulness of time, had assumed an human nature, in which he became subject to all ordinances, and had the Spirit without measure bestowed on him; and which was an evidence who he was, and of what he came about.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I saw it - That is, the Spirit so…
I saw it - That is, the Spirit so descending and abiding on him. And testified - From that time.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 34. This is the Son of God—At the baptism,…
34. This is the Son of God—At the baptism, God’s own voice attested to the Baptist’s ear, This is my beloved Son, marking him to view as the sole and single One among all the beings of the universe.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 34. And I saw, and bare record] Better, And…
34. And I saw, and bare record] Better, And I have seen and have borne witness. ‘I have seen’ is in joyous contrast to ‘I knew Him not,’ Joh_1:31; Joh_1:33. ‘Have borne witness’ is the same verb as in Joh_1:7-8; Joh_1:32 : hence ‘witness’ is preferable to ‘record’ both here and in Joh_1:32.
the Son of God] The Messiah. This declaration of the Baptist agrees with and confirms the account of the voice from heaven (Mat_3:17).
Read full note →
These verses, 32–34, prove that S. John does not, as Philo does, identify the Logos with the Spirit.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (34) And I saw and bare record.—Better, and I…
(34) And I saw and bare record.—Better, and I have seen and have borne witness, as in Joh_1:32. The result of personal conviction was, that he forthwith testified to others, and continued to do so until the present. One of the sayings taught to his scholars was, “He was (existed) before me.” The revelation of the baptism and the voice heard from heaven (Mat_3:17) has given to this its true meaning. Teacher has now learnt, and learner is now taught, that Jesus is this pre-existent Being, the Messiah, the Son of God.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I for my part have seen and have borne…
I for my part have seen and have borne testimony that this is the Son of God. The Old Testament standpoint which John occupied enabled him from the first to identify the Messiah with the "Son of God;" but surely this is the record of the first occasion when the Baptist recognized the token that One who sustained such relation with the Father stood before him. There is much in this Gospel and the synoptic narrative to show that the disciples (Mat_16:16, Mat_16:17) identified the Christ with the Son of God. The tempter and the demoniacs are familiar with the idea. (Mat_4:1-11 Mar_3:11 5:7) The high priest at the trial and the Roman centurion, (Mat_26:63 Mat_27:40 Mar_14:61) Nathanael, (Joh_1:49) Martha, (Joh_11:27) hail him as Son of God. Though the Lord for the most part preferred to speak of himself as "Son of man," yet in this Gospel (Joh_5:19-23 Joh 6:40 Joh_10:36) he frequently claims this lofty designation, Nor is it confined to this Gospel, Mat_11:25-27, we have practically the same confession. Now, the declaration of this verse is in intimate connection with what precedes. Neither the Baptist nor the evangelist implies that, by Christ"s baptism, and by that which John saw of the descent and abiding of the Spirit upon the Lord, he was there and then constituted "the Son of God." From this misapprehension of the Gospel arose the Gnostic-Ebionite view of the heavenly Soter descending on Christ, to depart from him at the Crucifixion. The main significance of the entire paragraph is the special revelation given to John, his consequent illumination and momentous testimony, one that sank into the soul of his most susceptible disciples, and thus made this declaration the true birth hour of Christendom" (Ewald, Meyer). The narrative does not imply that Christ"s own consciousness of Divine sonship then commenced. He knew who he was when he spoke, at twelve years of age, of "the business of my Father;" but it would be equally inadequate exegesis to suppose that no communication was titan made to the sacred humanity which had been fashioned by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin, and by which he became from the first "the Son of God." The Lord"s humanity did become alive to the solemn and awful responsibilities of this public recognition. He knew that the hour was come for his Messianic activity, and the distinct admission of this was the basis of each of the diabolic temptations from which he immediately suffered. There was a unique glory in this sonship which differed from all other usage of the same phrase. Many an Oriental mystic and Egyptian pharaoh and even Roman emperor had thus described themselves; but the Baptist did not speak of himself in this or any other sense as "Son of God." There was flashed into his mind the light of a Divine relationship between Jesus and the Father which convinced him of the preexisting life of him who was chronologically coming after him. It was probably this momentous utterance which led to the deputation of the Sanhedrin, and induced them to ask for the explanation of a mystery transcending all that John had stud from the day of his showing unto Israel" (see my "John the Baptist," lect. 6. Many commentators here encounter the unquestionable difficulty of John the Baptist"s message from the prison. I prefer to discuss it at the close of ch. 3. (see my "John the Baptist," lect. 7: "The Ministry of the Prison"). Here it is sufficient to observe that the vivid intuition and revelation which John obtained touching the deep things of God in Christ, and the vast and far-reaching testimonies which he bore to the Son of God, to the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost, the pre-existent glory of him that came after him, and to "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," were, nevertheless, in the evangelists mind historically coincident with the fact that John never did unite himself to the circle of Christ"s immediate followers. The "John" of the Fourth Gospel remained in an independent position friendly, rejoicing in the Bridegroom"s voice, but not one of his followers. The preparatory work with which he began his ministry he continued and pursued to the tragic end.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:34 the Chosen One of God: See Isa 42:1.
1:34 the Chosen One of God: See Isa 42:1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.