For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
Parallel Translations
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For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
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For I have not spoken of my selfe: but the father which sent me he gave me a commaundement what I shuld saye and what I shuld speake.
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For I haue not spoken of my selfe: but the Father which sent me, hee gaue me a commandement what I should say, and what I should speake.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to John 12:49 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 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.
- John 5:30 I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
- John 8:26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”
- John 17:8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
- Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
- John 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from here.
- John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
- John 8:42 Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me.
- John 3:11 Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness.
- John 3:32 What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness.
- John 6:38-40 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
- Revelation 1:1 This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 49. For I do not speak from myself. That…
49. For I do not speak from myself. That the outward appearance of man may not lessen the majesty of God, Christ frequently sends us to the Father. This is the reason why he so often mentions the Father; and, indeed, since it would be unlawful to transfer to another a single spark of the Divine glory, the word, to which judgment is ascribed, must have proceeded from God. Now Christ here distinguishes himself from the Father, not simply as to his Divine Person, but rather as to his flesh; lest the doctrine should be judged after the manner of men, and, therefore, should have less weight. But if consciences were subject to the laws and doctrine of men, this argument of Christ would not apply, “My word (he says) will judge, because it has not proceeded from man;” according to that saying,
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, (James 4:12.)
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We may likewise infer from it, how monstrous, is the sacrilege of the Pope in daring to bind souls by his inventions; for in this way he claims more for himself than the Son of God does, who declares that he does not speak but by the commandment of his Father.
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 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but…
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
Ver. 49. For I have not spoken of myself] The divine authority of gospel doctrine is here, in the close of this last sermon ad populum, most gravely asserted by our Saviour; as that which is undoubtedly authentic, because it comes from the Father, e cuius ore nil temere excidit. out of his mouth he destroys nothing rashly, David (saith one) sets the 119th Psalm as a poem of commendation before the book of God. The Son of David (say I) sets this text as his Imprimatur, his authoritative licence, at the end of the gospel. And as a friend once wrote to Aegidius, Abbot of Nuremberg, concerning the 119th Psalm, that they were, verba vivenda, non legenda, words not to be read, but lived; the same may I affirm of our Saviour’s sermons, and I know that his commandment is life everlasting.
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 I do not speak what I say to you…
I do not speak what I say to you as mere man, or any thing but what is my Father’s will, and mine only as one with him, and as sent by him; I have said nothing but what my Father hath willed me to reveal to the world as his will.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 49. For I have not spoken of myself]…
Verse 49. For I have not spoken of myself] I have not spoken for my secular interest: I have not aimed at making any gain of you: I have not set up myself as your teachers in general do, to be supported by my disciples, and to be credited on my own testimony. I have taught you, not the things of men, but the deep, everlasting truths of God. As his envoy, I came to you; and his truth only I proclaim.
Gave me a commandment] Or, commission. So I understand the original word, εντολη. Christ, as the Messiah, received his commission from God; what he should command-every thing that related to the formation and establishment of the Christian institution: and what he should speak - all his private conversations with his disciples or others, he, as man, commanded and spoke through the constant inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Of myself - Joh 7:16-18.
Of myself - Joh 7:16-18.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 49. The Father… gave me a commandment—The Father is…
49. The Father… gave me a commandment—The Father is the background and original; the Son is the manifestation. The Son is Deity manifest, declaring, sent, obedient; the Father is primitive, declared, sending, commanding. Yet are both mysteriously One.
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 49. For] Or, Because: it introduces the reason why…
49. For] Or, Because: it introduces the reason why one who rejects Christ’s word will be judged by His word;—because that word is manifestly Divine and proceeds from the Father.
of myself] Literally, out of Myself (ek) without commission from the Father. Comp. from Myself (apo) Joh_5:30, Joh_7:16; Joh_7:28, Joh_8:28.
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he gave me] Himself (and none other) hath given Me. See on Joh_10:18.
say … speak] ‘Say’ probably refers to the doctrine, ‘speak’ to the form in which it is expressed. See on Joh_8:43.
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 (49) For I have not spoken of myself.—Comp. Joh_5:30;…
(49) For I have not spoken of myself.—Comp. Joh_5:30; Joh_7:16-17; Joh_7:28-29; Joh_8:26; Joh_8:28; Joh_8:38. The word “for” connects this by way of reason with the condemnatory power of His word.
The Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment.—Comp. Note on Joh_10:18. The reference is to the commission of His Messianic life.
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What I should say, and what I should speak.—It is clear that our Lord intends a distinction here between “saying” and “speaking.” We have had the same distinction in Joh_8:43. That which He should say was the matter of the revelation which He made; that which He should speak was rather the method in which He made it. He claims for all the authority and commission of the Father. Every truth uttered by Him, and every work and word by which it was uttered, was ordained by the Father’s will. He was Himself the Word of God. Every tone and accent in which that Word spoke was divine.
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 Vers. 49, 50. There is much emphasis to be…
Vers. 49, 50. There is much emphasis to be laid upon the oti , which implies that our Lord would give a sacred reason for the tremendous power with which his logov would be invested. The logov , the rhma , is not simply his; it did not proceed from himself only, from his humanity, or even his Divine Sonship alone, but from the Father which sent me. He stood and spake always as the Voice of the Eternal One, from whom he came, with saving powers. He has given me commandment what I should say, and what I should speak. The two words eipw and lalhsw (dicam and loquar, Vulgate), though Hengstenberg says it is frivolous to distinguish, are supposed by Meyer, Westcott, and Godet, to discriminate matter and form, as Godet says, "What I should say, and how I should say it." My words and their manner and opportunity and tone are all of them the outcome of the Father"s entolh . It certainly is incredible that John could have put these words into the lips of Jesus. They are no mere summary. They are set down with awful sincerity as having burned themselves into his memory. But the Lord added, "I may be rejected and my words spurned, and yet they may go on as apparitors of judgment, but however that may be, and I know (oida) that his commandment, his commission to me, is life eternal is so now". (cf. Joh_3:36 Joh_17:3 1Jn_5:12, 1Jn_5:13) "The Law is ordained unto life," said Paul, and "the goodness of God leadeth us unto repentance." The depth of this sublime experience goes down and back into the eternal counsels. The things which therefore I speak (am speaking even at this moment), even as the Father has said unto me, so I speak. "In rejecting me and my words, men reject and insult the Father. His word they dare to renounce, as solemn and unalterable as the word spoken on Sinai. They not only reject me, but they count themselves unworthy of eternal life. They not only spurn Law, but love." Thus, at the conclusion of the public ministry, the evangelist sets forth, in a few burning words, the theme of the prologue, so far as it is realized in the offer of a full revelation of the Logos to the world in human flesh. This Logos found adequate utterance through the human life and lips of Jesus. "The Father has been so amply revealed that the non-believer and rejecter, who hears and does not keep my sayings, is disbelieving and rejecting Hill." These potent words, and this wonderful conclusion of the entire record of the public ministry of Jesus, is the appropriate summary of teachings which were now brought to a dose. Without any exact parallels, they breathe the spirit of the whole teaching, they supply the basis of the prologue. It is, however, dear that the style is different from the prologue, and from the reflection of the evangelist in previous verses. Just as the whole Gospel is a series of recollections which form from their own intrinsic glory and truth a sacred inimitable whole, so this spicilegium is a brief evangelium in evangelio a gathering up of the whole in the narrow compass of a few precious lines. Though "the hour" has come, it waits. The comparison between this method of the evangelist and that of the apocalyptist is very impressive.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For I have not spoken of Myself.
Joh_12:49-50
For I have not spoken of Myself.
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Christ as a teacher
I. HIS PROFOUND HUMILITY. I have not spoken of Myself. As if He had said, I take no credit for the thoughts that I have addressed to men: they are not the flashes of my own genius, or the conclusions of my own reason. I am not their fountain but their channel. A teacher is great and divine just in proportion to his humility. Alas! the vanity of preachers has become proverbial.
II. HIS CONSCIOUS DIVINITY. But the Father which sent Me, etc. No man is a true spiritual teacher who is not conscious that the thoughts he utters are not his own but Gods. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:49-50 The greatest error is for people to see…
12:49-50 The greatest error is for people to see the light and reject it, thinking it has no connection with the Father who sent the light.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.