the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
Parallel Translations
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the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
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which is the sprete of truthe whome the worlde cannot receave because the worlde seyth him not nether knoweth him. But ye knowe him. For he dwelleth with you and shalbe in you.
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Euen the Spirit of trueth, whome the world can not receiue, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye knowe him: for he dwelleth with you, and shalbe in you.
Cross-references (29)
Passages linked to John 14:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 36:27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.
- John 16:13 However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
- John 15:26 “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.
- 1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.
- 1 John 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
- 2 Timothy 1:14 That good thing which was committed to you, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
- Romans 8:13-14 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. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
- John 14:16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever:
- John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
- Isaiah 57:15 For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- 1 John 3:24 He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
- 1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
- 1 John 4:12-13 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
- Romans 8:9-11 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
- Galatians 4:6 And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
- Ephesians 2:22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
- Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
- Colossians 1:27 to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
- Isaiah 59:21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”
- Matthew 10:20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
- Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
- Proverbs 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.
- 1 Corinthians 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
- 1 John 5:7 For there are three who testify:
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 17. The Spirit of truth. Christ bestows on the…
17. The Spirit of truth. Christ bestows on the Spirit another title, namely, that he is the Master or Teacher of truth. Hence it follows, that until we have been inwardly instructed by him, the understandings of all of us are seized with vanity and falsehood.
Whom the world cannot receive. This contrast shows the peculiar excellence of that grace which God bestows on none but his elect; for he means that it is no ordinary gift of which the world is deprived. In this sense, too, Isaiah says, “For, the darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise on thee, O Jerusalem!” For the mercy of God towards the Church deserves so much the higher praise, when he exalts the Church, by a distinguished privilege, above the whole world. And yet Christ exhorts the disciples, that they must not be puffed up, as the world is wont to be, by carnal views, and thus drive away from themselves the grace of the Spirit. All that Scripture tells us about the Holy Spirit is regarded by earthly men as a dream; because, trusting to their own reason, they despise heavenly illumination. Now, though this pride abounds everywhere, which extinguishes, so far as lies in our power, the light of the Holy Spirit; yet, conscious of our own poverty, we ought to know, that whatever belongs to sound understanding proceeds from no other source. Yet Christ’s words show that nothing which relates to the Holy Spirit can be learned by human reason, but that He is known only by the experience of faith.
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The world, he says, cannot receive the Spirit, because it knoweth him not; but you know him, because he dwelleth with you. It is the Spirit alone therefore, who, by dwelling in us, makes himself to be known by us, for otherwise, he is unknown and incomprehensible.
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 The holy Ghost is called the Spirit of truth…
The holy Ghost is called the Spirit of truth ,of the effect which he worketh, because he inspireth the truth into us, whereas otherwise he hath truth in himself.
Worldly men.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world…
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Ver. 17. For he dwelleth with you] Next to the love of Christ in dwelling in our nature, we may wonder at the love of the Holy Ghost, that will dwell in the dark dog-hole of our defiled souls; and be there as those two golden pipes, Zec 4:12, through which the two olive branches empty out of themselves the golden oils of all precious graces; which are, therehence, called "the fruits of the Spirit," Gal 5:22; "yea, the Spirit," Joh 14:17. God also in giving us his Spirit, is said to give us all good things, Mat 7:11; cf. Luk 11:13.
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 here explains himself, and tells them, that by…
He here explains himself, and tells them, that by that other Comforter, mentioned Joh 14:16, he meant the Spirit; whom he here calls the Spirit of truth, either because he is a Spirit that declareth and revealeth the truth, as in 1Jo 5:6, or because he teacheth us truth, 1Jo 2:27, he guides us into all truth, Joh 16:13; or in opposition to the lying spirit of the devil, 1Ki 22:22. Most probably the Holy Spirit is here called
the Spirit of truth, because of the efficiency be hath as to it. It is he who hath revealed all the truth contained in the Scriptures to the world. Holy men wrote as they were inspired by him, Act 1:16; 2Pe 1:21. It is he that more particularly and specially revealeth truth to the particular soul, 1Co 2:12; hence persons enlightened, are said to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost, Heb 6:4. He leadeth his people into truth, Joh 16:13; he sealeth and confirmeth truth to the soul: hence we read of the demonstration of the Spirit, 1Co 2:4. This Spirit of truth, the world, that is, men of carnal hearts, that are of the world, and in whom worldly lusts predominate, 1Jo 2:16; Joh 17:9; this world, through natural impotency, 1Co 2:14, through wisdom, 1Co 1:21, through lusts and passions, cannot receive, that is, be made partakers of; because it neither seeth him, who is not to be seen with mortal eyes, nor knoweth him affectionately and experimentally; he being not to be known by men whose hearts are carnal and full of lusts:
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but ye know him believingly, experimentally, affectionately, savingly; for he dwelleth in you by a mystical union, Rom 8:11; 1Co 6:17; and he shall abide with you, by his dwelling in you, and influences upon you.
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 Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot…
Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,.... These words explain who is meant by the Comforter, "even the Spirit of truth"; the true Spirit of God, the dictator of the Scriptures of truth, who leads men into the truths of the Gospel, confirms them in them, and gives boldness and freedom to own, and confess them before men:
whom the world cannot receive; the men of the world, who are as they came into the world, carnal and natural men, can neither receive the Spirit nor the things of the Spirit, the truths and doctrines of the Gospel; they can neither receive them into their understandings, nor into their affections; and indeed, because they cannot understand them, therefore they do not love them, but despise and hate them:
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because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; the world, and the men of it, can neither see him with their bodily eyes, because he is a "spirit"; nor know him with their understandings, because he is the "Spirit of truth", which they are ignorant of, for want of a spiritual discerning.
But ye know him; as a spirit of illumination, regeneration, and conversion:
for he dwelleth with you; he is an inhabitant in your hearts, he has taken up his residence in you as his temples:
and shall be in you; as a Comforter, when I am gone from you; and as a spirit of truth to guide you into all truth, to stand by you, and assist you in preaching it, and to enable you to bear a faithful and glorious testimony for it.
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 The Spirit of truth - Who has, reveals, testifies,…
The Spirit of truth - Who has, reveals, testifies, and defends the truth as it is in Jesus. Whom the world - All who do not love or fear God, cannot receive, because it seeth him not - Having no spiritual senses, no internal eye to discern him; nor consequently knoweth him. He shall be in you - As a constant guest. Your bodies and souls shall be temples of the Holy Ghost dwelling in you.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. The Spirit of truth] The Spirit, or…
Verse 17. The Spirit of truth] The Spirit, or Holy Ghost, whose essential office is to manifest, vindicate, and apply the truth. The Gospel of Christ may be thus called, because it exposes falsity, removes error, and teaches the knowledge of the true God-shows the way to him, saves from vanity and illusive hopes, and establishes solid happiness in the souls of those who believe.
The world cannot receive] By the world, St. John means those who are influenced only by the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life, 1Jo 2:16. Now these cannot receive the Spirit of the truth, because they see him not, have no spiritual discernment, attend to nothing but the dictates of their corrupt passions and affections, and will admit of no influence but what can be an object of their senses. Hence all the deign and irreligion in the world. God, in the operation of his hands, and in the influences of his Spirit, is found every where except in the perverted passions of men. In these alone do men of corrupt minds seek him; here only he is not to be found, and therefore they become infidels and atheists.
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But ye know him] Ye have already received a measure of the truth, and ye believe in this Spirit. Probably our Lord refers to the knowledge which they should afterwards attain: in this sense the passage has been understood by the Vulgate, Nonnus, and two copies of the Itala, which read, Ye SHALL know him.
For he dwelleth with you] Or, as the AEthiopic, Vulgate, Nonnus, and six copies of the Itala read, he shall dwell with you, (see above;) and this, it is very evident, is the meaning of the evangelist, who not unfrequently uses the present for the future tense. It is certain the Holy Spirit was not yet given to the disciples so as to dwell in them; this St. John himself assures us, Joh 7:39. And it is evidently of that Spirit and its influences, which was not given till the day of pentecost, that our Lord here speaks.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The Spirit of truth - He is thus called…
The Spirit of truth - He is thus called here because he would teach them the truth, or would guide them into all truth, Joh 16:13. He would keep them from all error, and teach them the truth, which, either by writing or preaching, they were to communicate to others.
The world - The term world is often used to denote all who are entirely under the influence of the things of this world - pride, ambition, and pleasure; all who are not Christians, and especially all who are addicted to gross vices and pursuits, 1Co 1:21; 1Co 11:32; Joh 12:31; 2Co 4:4.
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Cannot receive - Cannot admit as a Teacher or Comforter, or cannot receive in his offices of enlightening and purifying. The reason why they could not do this is immediately added.
Because it seeth him not - The men of the world are under the influence of the senses. They walk by sight, and not by faith. Hence, what they cannot perceive by their senses, what does not gratify their sight, or taste, or feeling, makes no impression on them. As they cannot see the operations of the Spirit Joh 3:8, they judge that all that is said of his influence is delusive, and hence, they cannot receive him. They have an erroneous mode of judging of what is for the welfare of man.
Neither knoweth him - To know, in the Scriptures, often means more than the act of the mind in simply understanding a thing. It denotes every act or emotion of the mind that is requisite in receiving the proper impression of a truth. Hence, it often includes the idea of “approbation,” of “love,” of “cordial feeling,” Psa 1:6; Psa 37:18; Psa 138:6; Nah 1:7; 2Ti 2:19. In this place it means the approbation of the heart; and as the people of the world do not approve of or desire the aid of the Spirit, so it is said they cannot receive him. They have no love for him, and they reject him. Men often consider his work in the conversion of sinners and in revivals as delusion. They love the world so much that they cannot understand his work or embrace him.
He dwelleth in you - The Spirit dwells in Christians by his sacred influences. There is no personal union, no physical indwelling, for God is essentially present in one place as much as in another; but he works in us repentance, peace, joy, meekness, etc. He teaches us, guides us, and comforts us. See the notes at Gal 5:22-24. Thus, he is said to dwell in us when we are made pure, peaceable, holy, humble; when we become like him, and cherish his sacred influences. The word “dwelleth” means to remain with them. Jesus was to be taken away, but the Spirit would remain. It is also implied that they would know his presence, and have assurance that they were under his guidance. This was true of the apostles as inspired men, and it is true of all Christians that by ascertaining that they have the “graces of the Spirit” - joy, peace, long-suffering, etc. they know that they are the children of God, 1Jo 3:24; 1Jo 5:10.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain whom the world cannot receive, &c.--(See Co1 2:14).
whom the world cannot receive, &c.--(See Co1 2:14).
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you--Though the proper fulness of both these was yet future, our Lord, by using both the present and the future, seems plainly to say that they already had the germ of this great blessing.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. the Spirit of truth] This expression confirms the…
17. the Spirit of truth] This expression confirms the rendering ‘Advocate.’ Truth is much more closely connected with the idea of advocating a cause than with that of comforting. Comp. Joh_15:26, Joh_16:13; 1Jn_5:6. The Paraclete is the Spirit of Truth as being the Bearer of the Divine revelation, bringing truth home to the hearts of men. In 1Jn_4:6 it is opposed to the ‘spirit of error.’ Comp. 1Co_2:12.
the world] See notes on Joh_1:9-10.
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it seeth him not] Because the Spirit and ‘the things of the Spirit’ must be ‘spiritually discerned.’ (1Co_2:14). The world may have intelligence, scientific investigation, criticism, learning; but not by these means is the Spirit of Truth contemplated and recognised; rather by humility, self-investigation, faith, and love.
for he dwelleth] Because He abideth: it is the same Greek word as in the previous clause. Comp. Joh_14:28.
and shall be in you] A reading of higher authority gives us, ‘and is in you.’ All the verbs are in the present tense. The Spirit was in the Apostles already, though not in the fulness of Pentecost.
Note throughout these two verses (16, 17) the definite personality of the Spirit, distinct both from the Father Who gives Him and from the Son Who promises Him. Note also the three prepositions (in Joh_14:16-17): the Advocate is with us for fellowship (meta); He abides by our side to defend us (para); He is in us as a source of power to each individually (en).
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 (17) Even the Spirit of truth.—Comp. Joh_15:26; Joh_16:13, and…
(17) Even the Spirit of truth.—Comp. Joh_15:26; Joh_16:13, and 1Jn_5:6. He is called the Spirit of Truth, because part of His special office is to bring truth home to the hearts of men, to carry it from the material to the moral sphere, to make it something more than a collection of signs seen or heard—a living power in living men.
Whom the world cannot receive.—The Holy Spirit can be received only by those who have the spiritual faculty. It cannot be otherwise. The unbelieving world, caring only for things of the senses, has lost its spiritual perception. It has no eye to see and no heart to know spiritual things, for they are spiritually discerned. (Comp. Note on 1Co_2:14.)
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But ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.—The better text is,. . . . and is in you. The verbs are in the present tense, describing the receptivity of the disciples as opposed to the moral blindness of the world. They had, during our Lord’s work and teaching in their midst, exercised and strengthened their spiritual faculties. They had in part received the Spirit, and by that reception were prepared for the fuller gift. They knew Him. He was in their midst. He was then, and therefore should be in the future, a living power, dwelling in their inmost 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 17. The Spirit of truth. So called, because he…
17. The Spirit of truth. So called, because he leads into all truth, and speaks the truth. See 17:19; 1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Thess. 1:5. He also bears witness of the truth. See Acts 2:4; 5:32; Heb. 2:4. Whom the world cannot receive. Because he only dwells in a heart prepared for him by faith and obedience. “God gives the Holy Spirit to them who obey him” (Acts 5:32). See also John 7:38.
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 kosmos = world-system. Joh 15:18; Joh 15:19; Joh 7:7.…
world
kosmos = world-system. Joh 15:18; Joh 15:19; Joh 7:7. (See Scofield "Rev 13:8").
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 14:17 The Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth…
14:17 The Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth (literally the Spirit of truth; see also 15:26; 16:13), communicates the truth about God. The Spirit maintains Jesus’ presence in the world, duplicating and sustaining Jesus’ work.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.