I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
Parallel Translations
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I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
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Then sayde they vnto him: where is thy father? Iesus answered: ye nether knowe me nor yet my father. Yf ye had knowen me ye shuld have knowen my father also.
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I am one that beare witnes of my selfe, and the Father that sent me, beareth witnes of me.
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Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to John 8:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 8:38 I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”
- John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”
- Revelation 1:17-18 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
- John 5:31-40 “If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid. It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. You don’t have his word living in you, because you don’t believe him whom he sent. “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.
- John 8:12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- John 8:25 They said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.
- John 8:51 Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
- John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
- John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
- John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
- John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- Hebrews 2:4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?
- 1 John 5:6-12 This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three who testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three agree as one. 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.
- John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”
- John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The Godhead is plainly distinguished from the manhood, else…
The Godhead is plainly distinguished from the manhood, else there were not two witnesses: for the party accused is not taken for a witness.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 18 I am one that bear witness of myself,…
18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
Ver. 18. I am one that bear witness, &c.] Christ is alius from his Father, not aliud; another person, not another thing. As in the person of Christ there is aliud et aliud another and another (against Eutyches), not alius et alius different and different (against Nestorius). In this text, the Divinity of Christ is plainly distinguished from his humanity; how else should he and the Father be two witnesses to himself?
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 (saith our Saviour) have two witnesses; I am…
I (saith our Saviour) have two witnesses; I am one, I bear witness of myself; my Father is another, for he beareth witness of me. Our Saviour’s argumentation seemeth weak, unless we look upon him as exempt from the condition of ordinary men, and no mere man, by reason of the personal union of the Divine and human nature in his person. Nor must our Saviour be understood here to distinguish himself from his Father, in respect of his Divine being, for so he and his Father are one; but in respect of his office, as he was sent, and his Father was he who sent him. And indeed in the whole he seemeth to accommodate himself to the people’s apprehensions of him.
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 These words spake Jesus in the treasury,.... The place…
These words spake Jesus in the treasury,.... The place where the thirteen chests stood, into which the people put their voluntary contributions for the sacrifices, and service of the temple: the Ethiopic version renders it, "at the alms chest"; See Gill on Mar 12:41. The design of this observation of the evangelist, is to suggest to us, that it was in a very public place, in the temple, openiy, that Christ delivered the above words:
as he taught in the temple; where the Jews resorted, where his ministry was public, and he spake freely, and without reserve; in a very bold manner, with intrepidity, and without fear of man:
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and no man laid hands on him; though they had sought to do it the day before; had sent officers to take him; and they themselves had a good will to it; and yet they were so awed and over ruled by one means, or one account or another, that no man did it; the reason was,
for his hour was not yet come; the time appointed for his sufferings and death.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I am one that bear witness of myself -…
I am one that bear witness of myself - In human courts a man is not allowed to bear witness of himself, because he has a personal interest in the case, and the court could have no proof of the impartiality of the evidence; but in the case of Jesus it was otherwise. When one has no party ends to serve; when he is willing to deny himself; when he makes great sacrifices; and when, by his life, he gives every evidence of sincerity, his own testimony may be admitted in evidence of his motives and designs. This was the case with Jesus and his apostles. And though in a legal or criminal case such testimony would not be admitted, yet, in an argument on moral subjects, about the will and purpose of him who sent him, it would not be right to reject the testimony of one who gave so many proofs that he came from God.
The Father ...beareth witness of me - By the voice from heaven at his baptism Mat 3:17, and by the miracles which Jesus performed, as well as by the prophecies of the Old Testament. We may here remark:
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1.That there is a distinction between the Father and the Son. They are both represented as bearing testimony; yet,
They are not divided. They are not different beings. They bear testimony to the same thing, and are one in counsel, in plan, in essence, and in glory.
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 18. I am one that bear witness of myself]…
18. I am one that bear witness of myself] Or, It is I who bear witness of Myself (in My words and works), and there beareth witness of Me the Father, who sent Me (in Scripture and the voice from Heaven).
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 (18) I am one that bear witness of myself.—The…
(18) I am one that bear witness of myself.—The Greek has no word to express the English “one.” It is more exactly, I am He who beareth witness. The twofold witness is (1) in His own individuality—I, who know whence I came and whither I go, testify of Myself to you who know neither; and (2) in the fact that the Father sent Him. He is the Ambassador from the Father, accredited by the Father’s works and the voice from heaven, and His word is official as well as personal.
The thought is closely connected with that of Joh_8:16. His judgment is not individual judgment, because of the union with the Father. His witness is not only individual witness, but that of the Father also. The whole passage should be carefully compared with the close of John 5.
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 am the (one) that bears witness concerning myself…
I am the (one) that bears witness concerning myself I have said it, and abide by it, and I know what I say and how fully I am fulfilling these wordsand the Father that sent me heareth witness concerning me . His words reflected his own Divine self-consciousness. They bore one witness to his unique position. They brought out the inner thoughts of Christ, and revealed the life that was light. The word, the speech, of Christ was a fire kindled which would never be extinguished it was the formal utterance of the eternal reality but it did not stand alone. The Father that sent him, by a long chain of events and revelations, by miracles and mighty energies, by the conference of the spirit of conviction upon the minds that gave candid attention to his verbal testimony, by the providential concurrence of facts with prophetic anticipation, was bearing witness concerning him. The argument is sufficient, so soon as we admit the terms used by Jesus, so soon as we recognize the ideas of the Son of God and of the Father, both alike revealed in the Person of Christ. We can understand, and to some extent sympathize with, the perplexity of the Pharisees. Later experiences have made it easier for us to understand the testimony of the Father, the presence and witness of God over and above the testimony of men and coincident with it. (cf. Joh_15:27 Heb_2:4) All great spiritual revivals have given ample proof of the twofold testimony. (see 1Th_2:13 Rom_8:17, where Paul, the writer of the Epistle, shows himself familiar with this "Johannine" thought; cf. Heb_2:4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 18. The Father … beareth witness. By the prophets,…
18. The Father … beareth witness. By the prophets, by the works that Jesus does, by his voice at the baptism, and by John the Baptist.
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.