Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Parallel Translations
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Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
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And whosoever lyveth and belevest on me shall never dye. Beleveth thou this?
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And whosoeuer liueth, and beleeueth in me, shall neuer die: Beleeuest thou this?
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to John 11:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 10:28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
- John 5:24 “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.
- Romans 8:13 For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- 1 John 5:10-12 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.
- John 8:51-53 Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.” Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’ Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”
- John 6:54-58 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
- John 3:15-18 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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.
- John 6:50-51 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
- John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
- John 14:10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.
- Matthew 9:28 When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They told him, “Yes, Lord.”
- Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
- John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
- Matthew 26:53 Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 26. And whosoever liveth, and believeth in me. This…
26. And whosoever liveth, and believeth in me. This is the exposition of the second clause, how Christ is the life; and he is so, because he never permits the life which he has once bestowed to be lost, but preserves it to the end. For since flesh is so frail, what would become of men, if, after having once obtained life, they were afterwards left to themselves? The perpetuity of the life must, therefore, be founded on the power of Christ himself, that he may complete what he has begun.
Shall never die. The reason why it is said that believers never die is, that their souls, being born again of incorruptible seed, (1 Peter 1:23,) have Christ dwelling in them, from whom they derive perpetual vigor; for, though
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the body be subject to death on account of sin, yet the spirit is life on account of righteousness, (Romans 8:10.)
That the outward man daily decays in them is so far from taking anything away from their true life, that it aids the progress of it, because the inward man is renewed from day to day, (2 Corinthians 4:16.) What is still more, death itself is a sort of emancipation from the bondage of death.
Dost thou believe this? Christ seems, at first sight, to discourse about spiritual life, for the purpose of withdrawing the mind of Martha from her present desire. Martha wished that her brother should be restored to life Christ replies, that he is the Author of a more excellent life; and that is, because he quickens the souls of believers by divine power. Yet I have no doubt that he intended to include both favors; and therefore he describes, in general terms, that spiritual life which he bestows on all his followers, but wishes to give them some opportunity of knowing this power, which he was soon afterwards to manifest in raising Lazarus.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall…
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Ver. 26. Believest thou this?] He saith not, Understandest thou this? For the mysteries of the Christian religion, saith Rupertus, are much better understood by believing than believed by understanding.
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 He had before proved himself to be the resurrection,…
He had before proved himself to be the resurrection, now he proveth himself to be the life. He saith, he that liveth, that liveth a natural life, if he be one who receiveth and embraces me as the true Messiah and Saviour of the world, and committeth himself and all the concerns of his soul to me, shall never die. Though his body shall die because of sin, yet his spirit shall live because of righteousness; and God shall in the great day quicken again his mortal body, through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in him, and is united to him, Rom 8:10,11. He asketh Martha if she believed this. We shall observe, that our Saviour, not here only, but Mat 9:22,28, before he wrought his miraculous operations, required people’s faith as a prerequisite. And, Mat 13:58, he could not do many mighty works in his own country, because of their unbelief. And, Mat 17:20, he tells his disciples, that the reason why they could not cure the man possessed with the devil, was because of their unbelief: so great an honour hath God given to the exercise of faith.
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 She saith unto him, yea, Lord,.... That is, she…
She saith unto him, yea, Lord,.... That is, she firmly believed all that he said concerning himself, and the happiness of those that believed in him: and for the confirmation of it adds,
I believe: or "I have believed", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; that is, long ago, ever since she knew him:
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that thou art the Christ the Son of God, which should come into the world; that he was the true Messiah, and the proper and natural Son of God, of the same nature with God, equal to him, having the same perfections with him; and who was long promised, much prophesied of, and greatly expected to come into the world; and was now come into the world by the assumption of human nature, to work out salvation for his people, and therefore, since she believed all this of him, she must believe that he was able to raise the dead to life, and to secure those that believe in him from dying eternally.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. Shall never die.] Or, Shall not die…
Verse 26. Shall never die.] Or, Shall not die for ever. Though he die a temporal death. he shall not continue under its power for ever; but shall have a resurrection to life eternal.
Believest thou this?] God has determined to work in the behalf of men only in proportion to their faith in him: it was necessary, therefore, that these persons should be well instructed concerning his nature, that they might find no obstacles to their faith. These sisters had considered him only as a prophet hitherto; and it was necessary that they should now be farther instructed, that, as God was to exert himself, they might believe that God was there.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Joh 11:26. And whosoever liveth — That Isaiah ,…
Joh 11:26. And whosoever liveth — That Isaiah , 1 st, A natural life; whosoever lives in this world, whether he be Jew or Gentile, and wherever, in whatever country or age he lives; and believeth — That is, believeth while he liveth in this world, while he is here, in this state of probation; for, after death, it will be too late to believe. Or, 2d, Whosoever believeth, and liveth a spiritual life, and continues to believe, that he may continue so to live. For he that lives and believes, is he that lives by faith, a faith that influences his conversation: he that, by faith, is born again to a heavenly, holy, and divine life; to whom, to live is Christ, and whose life is continually derived from Christ. Such a one shall never die — A promise this which ensures a blessed immortality, 1st, To the soul: he who, being united to Christ by faith, lives a spiritual life by virtue of that union, shall never die; his spiritual life shall never be extinguished, but perfected in eternal life. For, as the soul, being in its nature spiritual, is therefore immortal; so, if by faith it live here a spiritual life, consonant to its nature, its felicity shall be immortal too. And there shall be no interruption of its life, as there is of the life of the body. The body indeed dies, or sleeps rather, but not for ever, as the original expression here used, ου μη αποθανη, εις τον αιωνα, applied to it, is rendered by some. For, 2d, This promise ensures future life and happiness to it also. All the difficulties that attend the state of the dead are here overlooked by our Lord, and made nothing of, while he speaks of himself as the resurrection and the life. Though the body be dead because of sin; though the sentence of death passed upon it be just; though the effects of death be dismal; though the bands of death be strong; though the body be not only dead, but putrefied; though the scattered dust be so mixed with common dust, that no art of man can distinguish, much less separate them; yet we are sure it shall live again. Christ asks Martha, Believest thou this? — Canst thou take my word for it, and rely firmly on its accomplishment? Reader, when we hear the word of Christ concerning the great things of the other world, we should seriously ask ourselves, Do we believe this? This truth in particular; this, which is attended with so many difficulties; this, which is suited to my case? Doth my belief of it realize it to me, and give my soul an assurance of it? so that I can say, not only this I believe, but thus I believe. Martha’s mind was occupied with the idea of her brother’s being raised to life in this world; before Christ gave her hopes of that, he directed her thoughts to another life, and another world. As if he had said, That is of comparatively little importance, but believest thou this that I tell thee concerning a future state? The crosses and comforts of this present time would not make half that impression upon us which they do, if we did but believe the things of eternity as we ought.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Whosoever liveth - He had just spoken of the…
Whosoever liveth - He had just spoken of the prospects of the pious dead. He now says that the same prospects are before the living who have like faith. Greek, “Every one living and believing on me.”
Shall never die - As the dead, though dead, shall yet live, so the living shall have the same kind of life. They shall never come into eternal death. See Joh 6:50-51, Joh 6:54, Joh 6:58. Greek, “Shall by no means die forever.”
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Believest thou this? - This question was doubtless asked because it implied that he was then able to raise up Lazarus, and because it was a proper time for her to test her own faith. The time of affliction is a favorable period to try ourselves to ascertain whether we have faith. If we still have confidence in God, if we look to him for comfort in such seasons, it is good evidence that we are his friends. He that loves God when he takes away his comforts, has the best evidence possible of true attachment to him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 26. shall never die] See on Joh_8:51; the form…
26. shall never die] See on Joh_8:51; the form of expression is the same; ‘shall assuredly never die.’
Believest thou this?] A searching question, suddenly put. She answers with confidence, and gives the ground of her confidence.
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 (26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me.—This is…
(26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me.—This is to be understood of the physical life answering to “though he have died” of the last verse.
Shall never die.—Comp. especially Note on Joh_8:51. He shall by no means die for ever. Not through the infinite course of ages shall there be that which makes for him the sting of death. The fact of what we call physical death is not denied, but in the fulness of the thought of life it is regarded as the passage to a new and higher life.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 26. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never…
26. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Those dead, who believed in him, shall be raised and live, and those living who believe, shall never perish. Death will only be a change to a better existence.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain never die
never die
i.e. the "second death." Cf. Rev 2:1; Rev 20:6.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:26-27 Do you believe this? Jesus was not asking…
11:26-27 Do you believe this? Jesus was not asking if Martha believed he could bring Lazarus from the grave. Rather, did she believe that life itself is linked to Jesus? • “Yes, Lord”: Even though the full implications were beyond her comprehension, she acknowledged that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Yet she was surprised at the power he held.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.