Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where the Jews always meet. I said nothing in secret.
Parallel Translations
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Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where the Jews always meet. I said nothing in secret.
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The hye preste axed Iesus of his disciples and of his doctrine.
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Iesus answered him, I spake openly to the world: I euer taught in the Synagogue and in the Temple, whither the Iewes resort continually, and in secret haue I sayde nothing.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to John 18:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 48:16 “Come near to me and hear this: “From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it happened, I was there.” Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me with his Spirit.
- John 7:26 Behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is truly the Christ?
- Matthew 4:23 Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.
- Luke 21:37 Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.
- Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
- Matthew 9:35 Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.
- Matthew 26:55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me.
- Luke 4:15 He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
- John 7:4 For no one does anything in secret while he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.”
- Matthew 21:23-27 When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.” They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
- Matthew 26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothing, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy.
- Luke 19:45-47 He entered into the temple, and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’!” He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests, the scribes, and the leading men among the people sought to destroy him.
- Luke 20:1-8 On one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the Good News, the priests and scribes came to him with the elders. They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?” He answered them, “I also will ask you one question. Tell me: the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” They answered that they didn’t know where it was from. Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
- John 7:14 But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
- John 7:28 Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know.
- John 8:2 Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down and taught them.
- 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 10:23-39 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’ If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken), 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?’ If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.
- Psalms 22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.
- Psalms 40:9 I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know.
- Matthew 24:26 If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it.
- Acts 26:26 For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner.
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Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 20. I spoke openly in the world. It is…
20. I spoke openly in the world. It is a childish error into which some have fallen, who think that this reply of Christ condemns those who expound the word of God in private apartments, when the tyranny of wieked men does not allow them to expound it publicly; for Christ does not argue as to what is lawful and what is not lawful, but his intention was to put down the insolent malice of Caiaphas.
This passage, however, appears to be inconsistent with another saying of Christ, where he enjoins the apostles to
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proclaim on the house-tops what he had whispered in their ear, (Matthew 10:27;)
and again, when he declares that
it is not given to all to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, (Matthew 13:14)
and that he therefore confers this favor on none but the twelve apostles. I answer, when he says in the passage now under review, that he spoke nothing in secret, this refers to the substance of the doctrine, which was always the same, though the form of teaching it was various; for he did not speak differently among the disciples, so as to instruct them in something different; nor did he act cunningly, as if he purposely intended to conceal from the people what he spoke to a small number of persons in the house. He could, therefore, testify with a good conscience that he had openly declared and honestly proclaimed the substance of his doctrine.
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 20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the…
20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
Ver. 20. I spake openly to the world] Truth is bold and barefaced; when heresy hides itself, and loathes the light, Veritas abscondi erubescit truth loaths to hide. What said John Frith, martyr, to the archbishop’s men, that would have let him go and shift for himself? If you should both leave me here, and go to Croydon, declaring to the bishops that you had lost Frith, I would surely follow as fast after as I might, and bring them news that I had found and brought Frith again. Do ye think that I am afraid to declare my opinion to the bishops of England in a manifest truth?
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 spake openly to the world; to all sorts…
I spake openly to the world; to all sorts of men, my enemies as well as my friends.
I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; the Jews for instruction do use to resort to the temple, which was in Jerusalem, and whither three times in the year all the males were wont to come from all parts of the country: and in the public assemblies of the Jews, and in the places where they use to meet.
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And in secret have I said nothing; I have said nothing in secret contrary to the doctrine which I have publicly taught; though I have preached in other places, yet it hath been the same thing which I have said in public.
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 Jesus answered him,.... Not to the first of these…
Jesus answered him,.... Not to the first of these questions, concerning his disciples; not because they had all now forsaken him, and one was denying him; nor because he would not betray them; nor because he would suffer alone; but because if his doctrine was good; it could not be blameworthy to have disciples, and to teach them: and the charge of sedition, blasphemy, and idolatry, they wanted to fasten on him, would sufficiently appear to be groundless by the doctrine he preached; and as to that he answers not directly what he taught, but declares the manner in which he delivered it, and which was such, that they that heard him could not be strangers to it.
I spake openly to the world; with all plainness, freedom, and boldness, without any reserve or ambiguity; and that not to a few persons only, to his own particular disciples, but to all the people of the Jews, who crowded in great numbers to hear him; insomuch that it was said by his enemies, that the world was gone after him.
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I ever taught in the synagogue; the Arabic, "the synagogues"; the places of public worship in all parts of the nation, where the Jews met to pray, and read, and hear the word:
and in the temple; at Jerusalem, whenever he was in that city;
whither the Jews always resort; for prayer, and to offer sacrifice, and particularly at the three grand festivals of the year, the passover, Pentecost, and feast of tabernacles, when all the males from all parts appeared before the Lord. Accordingly, the Alexandrian copy, and some others, read, "whither all the Jews resort"; and so read the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions.
And in secret have I said nothing; not but that our Lord taught in other places than what are here mentioned, as on mountains, in deserts, by the sea shore, and in private houses, yet generally to great multitudes; and though he sometimes conversed alone, and in secret with his disciples, yet what he taught them was either an explanation of what he had said in public, or was perfectly agreeable to 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 I spake openly - As to the manner: continually…
I spake openly - As to the manner: continually - As to the time: in the synagogue and temple - As to the place. In secret have I said nothing - No point of doctrine which I have not taught in public.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. I spake openly to the world] To…
Verse 20. I spake openly to the world] To every person in the land indiscriminately-to the people at large: the τω κοσμω, here, is tantamount to the French tout le monde, all the world, i.e. every person within reach. This is another proof that St. John uses the term world to mean the Jewish people only; for it is certain our Lord did not preach to the Gentiles. The answer of our Lord, mentioned in this and the following verse, is such as became a person conscious of his own innocence, and confident in the righteousness of his cause. I have taught in the temple, in the synagogues, in all the principal cities, towns, and villages, and through all the country. I have had no secret school. You and your emissaries have watched me every where. No doctrine has ever proceeded from my lips, but what was agreeable to the righteousness of the law and the purity of God. My disciples, when they have taught, have taught in the same way, and had the same witnesses. Ask those who have attended our public ministrations, and hear whether they can prove that I or my disciples have preached any false doctrines, have ever troubled society, or disturbed the state. Attend to the ordinary course of justice, call witnesses, let them make their depositions, and then proceed to judge according to the evidence brought before you.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Openly to the world - If his doctrine had…
Openly to the world - If his doctrine had tended to excite sedition and tumult, if he had aimed to overthrow the government, he would have trained his friends in secret; he would have retired from public view, and would have laid his plans in private. This is the case with all who attempt to subvert existing establishments. Instead of that, he had proclaimed his views to all. He had done it in every place of public concourse in the synagogue and in the temple. He here speaks the language of one conscious of innocence and determined to insist on his rights.
Always resort - Constantly assemble. They were required to assemble there three times in a year, and great multitudes were there constantly.
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In secret ... - He had taught no private or concealed doctrine. He had taught nothing to his disciples which he had not himself taught in public and commanded them to do, Mat 10:27; Luk 12:3.
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 I spake--have spoken.
I spake--have spoken.
openly to the world--See Joh 7:4.
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I ever taught in the synagogues and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort--courting publicity, though with sublime noiselessness.
in secret have I said--spake I.
nothing--that is, nothing of any different nature; all His private communications with the Twelve being but explanations and developments of His public teaching. (Compare Isa 45:19; Isa 48:16). (Also see on Mar 14:54.)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Jesus answered—Jesus, though before a magistrate, is not…
20. Jesus answered—Jesus, though before a magistrate, is not before a legitimate court, and so he might deny the jurisdiction and refuse to answer. He does answer, by at once refusing any specific account, and yet asserting his own openness and innocency.
Openly… synagogue… temple—He has said nothing in his teachings which all the honest world might not hear. His preaching has been in the regular public sacred places, the synagogue and the temple.
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In secret… nothing—He has no conspiracy, no secret society. On the contrary, whatever confidential utterances he has made among his friends, his actual doctrines he would have all the world hear and receive.
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 20. I spake] The true reading gives, I have…
20. I spake] The true reading gives, I have spoken. There is a strong emphasis on ‘I.’ Christ answers no questions about His disciples; He bears the brunt Himself alone. Moreover He seems to contrast the openness of His proceedings with the secrecy of His enemies.
openly] See on Joh_7:4; Joh_7:26.
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to the world] Not to a secret society. Comp. Joh_8:26.
in the synagogue] All the best MSS. omit the article; in synagogue, as we say ‘in church.’ See on Joh_6:59.
whither the Jews always resort] The better reading gives, where all the Jews come together. The word rendered ‘resort’ is not the same as that rendered ‘resort’ in Joh_18:2. ‘I always taught in public places, where all the Jews meet.’ Nothing could be more open than His teaching. Comp. Mat_10:27.
have I said] Rather, I spake, the aorist of the verb in the first clause, which is in the perfect. See next verse.
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 (20) I spake openly to the world.—He does not…
(20) I spake openly to the world.—He does not distinctly answer the question about His disciples, but His words imply that all may have been His disciples. The pronoun is strongly emphatic; “I am one,” His words mean, “who spake plainly and to all men.” “My followers have not been initiated into secret mysteries, nor made conspirators in any political organisation.” “I have not been a leader, and they have not been members, of a party.”
I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort.—The better reading omits the article before “synagogue,” as in Joh_6:59, and reads for the last clause, where all the Jews resort. “In synagogue” is an adverbial phrase, as we say “in church.” His constant custom was to teach “in synagogue,” and in Jerusalem He taught in the temple itself, which was the resort of all the leaders of the people. This refers to His general custom, and does not, of course, exclude His teaching in other places. The point is that during His public ministry He was constantly in the habit of teaching under the authority of the officers of the synagogues and the temple. That was the answer as to what His doctrine had been.
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And in secret have I said nothing.—His private teaching of the disciples is, of course, not excluded, but that was only the exposition of His public doctrine. There was nothing in it such as they understood by “secret teaching.” It was unlike “the leaven of the Pharisees which was hypocrisy;” for in it there was “nothing covered,” “nothing hid.” (Comp. Joh_12:1-3.)
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 Jesus answered him, I have frankly (so Meyer, Lange;…
Jesus answered him, I have frankly (so Meyer, Lange; not "openly," but boldly, with freedom of speech) spoken to the world. Without reserving any of the essentials of my teaching, always I taught synagogue, and in the temple, whither all the Jews resort and come together; and in secret spake I nothing, which they were not bidden to proclaim upon the housetops. Christ here repudiates esoteric teaching distinct from his abundant public ministry. It is true he explained his parables to his disciples, and he had within the last few hours poured forth the depth of his feelings upon them; still, he had said the same things virtually in the synagogues, on the hillside, in the temple, in the hearing of Greek as well as Jew. Much of that which he had just said in the upper chamber, hundreds and thousands had already heard. This great utterance accounts for the fact that St. Paul had received, long before the Fourth Gospel was written, truth allied to the teaching of the upper chamber.
Nothing to conceal.
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I A CONTRAST. What religion is there that can bear the light of day as Christianity can? The false needs to be arranged and beautified and kept ever in one particular light. Jesus could expose everything if necessary. What a contrast to the life in the temple at Jerusalem! There was not a priest who could afford to have all his doings brought out and set before men. This ought to be part of our power when we are dealing with false religions. The more they are searched into, the more their abominations are exposed. The more Christianity is searched into, the more transparent and attractive it becomes. Not that everything is clear to the intellect, not that there is absence of mysteries; but these mysteries, whatever they are, lie open for everybody to contemplate them and be the better for them. The mysteries of heathendom are only priestcraft when one gets in behind them. Christianity is symbolized by the contents of the ark. That ark was sacred, not to be touched with heedless hands; but once it was opened, nothing lay there but the commandments, every one of which uttered forth the condemnation of everything false.
II AN EXAMPLE. That openness which was in Jesus must be in all his followers. All true Christian assemblies are perfectly open places, except when, in charity and kindness to individuals, the door is closed; and even then the closing of the door is known to all, and why it is so. Those entrusted with the propagation of Christianity have nothing to conceal. Their aim is the good of men; their method is by persuasion and appeal; they draw all their topics and their teaching from a book which is as open to others as to themselves. None of the first apostles needed to conceal anything; there was no false step, no dubious word of their Master to gloss over or keep in the background; and similarly we have nothing to apologize for. We need not to proclaim a mere ideal for the acceptance of men. Our real is better than the best ideal our imagination can fancy.
III A CAUSE FOR GLORYING. Difficulty is taken out of our way. We feel that since all is open and clear and satisfactory now, it always will be so. We find nothing to be ashamed of, nothing contradictory, in our experience of Christ in time. And similar surely will be our experience in eternity. "Whatever record leap to light," Christ will be the same. Whatever testimonies be unearthed, there will be nothing awkward to get over. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").
world
kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").
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 18:20-21 Jesus’ sharp answer, reminding Annas that everything was…
18:20-21 Jesus’ sharp answer, reminding Annas that everything was in the public record, unmasked the priest’s attempt to follow Roman practice.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.