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.”
Parallel Translations
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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.”
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They understode not that he spake of his father.
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I haue many things to say, and to iudge of you: but he that sent me, is true, and the things that I haue heard of him, those speake I to the world.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to John 8:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 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 8:40 But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this.
- John 12:47-50 If anyone listens to my sayings, and doesn’t believe, I don’t judge him. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him in the last day. 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. I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak.”
- 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 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.
- John 3:32-33 What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness. He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.
- John 5:42-43 But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves. I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
- John 7:16 Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
- John 16:12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now.
- 2 Corinthians 1:18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
- Hebrews 5:11-12 About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing. For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food.
- John 8:16-17 Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. It’s also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid.
- John 9:39-41 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 26. I have many things to say and judge…
26. I have many things to say and judge of you. Perceiving that he is in the position of one who sings to the deaf, he pursues his discourse no farther, but only declares that God will defend that doctrine, which they despise, because he is the Author of it. “If I wished to accuse you,” says he, “your malice and wickedness supply me with ample materials; but I leave you for the present. But my Father, who committed to me the office of a teacher, will not fail to fulfill his promise; for he will always vindicate his word against the wicked and sacrilegious contempt of men.” This saying of Christ is of the same import with that of Paul,
If we deny him, he remaineth faithful, he cannot deny himself, (2 Timothy 2:13.)
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In short, he threatens the judgment of God against unbelievers, who refuse to give credit to his word; and he does so on this ground, that God must inevitably defend his truth. Now this is the true firmness of faith, when we believe that God is alone sufficient to establish the authority of his doctrine, though the world should reject it. All who, relying on this doctrine, serve Christ faithfully, may fearlessly accuse the whole world of falsehood.
And I speak to the world those things which I have heard from him. He says that he utters nothing which he has not received from the Father; and this is the only confirmation of a doctrine, when the minister shows that what he speaks has proceeded from the Father. Now we know that Christ sustained, at that time, the office of a minister; and, therefore, we need not wonder, if he demands that men listen to him, because he brings to them the commandments of God. Besides, by his example he lays down a general law for the whole Church, that no man ought to be heard, unless he speak from the mouth of God. But while he lays low the wicked arrogance of those men who take upon themselves to speak without the word of God, faithful teachers, who know well the nature of their calling, are fortified and armed by him with unshaken firmness, that, under the guidance of God, they may boldly bid defiance to all mortals.
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 God is the revenger of Christ’s doctrine despised.
God is the revenger of Christ’s doctrine despised.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 26 I have many things to say and to…
26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
Ver. 26. I have many things to say] But I see I do but lose my sweet words upon you. I shall therefore turn you over to my Father with a non convertentur, not turn over that he may take an order with you, and make you hear the rod, since you would not the word, Mic 6:9. Those that tremble not in hearing shall be ground to pieces in feeling, said blessed Bradford.
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 Judging is not put here for judicial condemnation; but…
Judging is not put here for judicial condemnation; but for reproving and accusing, which is one part of judging. You accuse and reprove me; I have many things of which I could also accuse and convince you; but let me say what I will, you will not believe me. But you will not escape the judgment of my Father, who is true, he will judge you. I speak unto men nothing but what it is his will that I should declare to them.
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 And he that sent me is with me,.... By…
And he that sent me is with me,.... By virtue of that near union there is between them, they being one in nature, essence, power, and glory, and by the gracious, powerful, comfortable, assisting, and strengthening presence of his Father, which he vouchsafed to him as man, and Mediator;
the Father hath not left me alone; Christ, as the word, was with the Father from all eternity, and, as the Son of God, was in heaven, and in the bosom of the Father, when he, as the son of man, was here on earth; for though he came forth from the Father into this world, by assumption of the human nature, yet the Father was always with him, and he with the Father, through the unity of the divine nature; nor did he withhold his supporting and assisting presence from him as man; nor did he withdraw, at least he had not yet withdrawn his gracious and comfortable presence from him, though he afterwards did, when upon the cross: compare with this Joh 16:32;
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for I do always those things that please him; by submitting to Gospel ordinances, as to baptism, at which the Father declared his well pleasedness in him; and by complying with the ordinances of the ceremonial law, which were typical of him; and by perfectly obeying the precepts of the moral law, and bearing the penalty of it; or by suffering and dying in the room and stead of his people; all which were the will of God, and well pleasing to him.
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 have many things to say and to judge…
I have many things to say and to judge of you - I have much to say concerning your inexcusable unbelief: but he that sent me is true - Whether ye believe or no. And I speak the things which I have heard from him - I deliver truly what he hath given me in charge.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. I have many things to say and…
Verse 26. I have many things to say and to judge of you] Or, to speak and to condemn, c. I could speedily expose all your iniquities-your pride and ambition, your hypocrisy and irreligion, your hatred to the light, and your malice against the truth, together with the present obstinate unbelief of your hearts, and show that these are the reasons why I say you will die in your sins but these will appear in their true light: when, after you have crucified me, the judgments of God shall descend upon and consume you.
He that sent me is true] Whatever he hath spoken of you by the prophets shall surely come to pass; his word cannot fail.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I have many things to say - There are…
I have many things to say - There are many things which I might say to reprove and expose your pride and hypocrisy. By this he implied that he understood well their character, and that he was able to expose it. This, indeed, he had shown them in his conversations with them.
And to judge of you - To reprove in you. There are many things in you which I might condemn.
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But he that sent we is true - Is worthy to be believed, and his declarations about men are to be credited. The meaning of this verse may be thus expressed: “I have indeed many things to say blaming or condemning you. I have already said many such things, and there are many more that I might say; but I speak only those things which God has commanded. I speak not of myself I come to execute his commission, and he is worthy to be heard and feared. Let it not be thought, therefore, that my judgment is rash or harsh. It is such as is commanded by God.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain And the things I have heard from him, &c.…
And the things I have heard from him, &c. For Christ, to hear from his Father, to see, &c. is the same as to proceed from him, to be of the same nature and substance. See chap. v, ver. 19. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain I have many things to say and to judge…
I have many things to say and to judge of you; but he that sent me is true, &c.--that is, I could, and at the fitting time, will say and judge many things of you (referring perhaps to the work of the Spirit which is for judgment as well as salvation, Joh 16:8), but what I do say is just the message My Father hath given Me to deliver.
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 26. Many things to say—Many a lesson would it…
26. Many things to say—Many a lesson would it require to correct the selfish feelings and expectations so deeply fixed in their hearts, in order to the appreciating and accepting the holy Son of God.
Judge of you—To condemn and banish from your minds.
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He that sent me—By this he Jesus plainly means, as they might have known from previous explanations, his Father; but they are conjuring up hopes that some one else is meant.
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 26. Here again we have a series of simple…
26. Here again we have a series of simple sentences, the precise meaning of which and their connexion with one another cannot be determined with certainty. See on Joh_7:33. The following seems to be the drift of the verse: ‘I have very much to speak concerning you, very much to blame. But I keep to My immediate task of speaking to the world those truths which before the world was I heard from God that cannot lie, Who sent Me:’ i.e. Christ will not desist from teaching Divine truth in order to blame the Jews. It is as the Truth and the Light that He appears in these discourses.
which I have heard of him] Better, what I heard from Him, these things I speak unto the world, i.e. precisely these and nothing else. Comp. Joh_8:39.
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) I have many things to say and to…
(26) I have many things to say and to judge of you.—The order of thought here is not certain, and will depend, in part, upon the interpretation we give to the previous verse. These words seem to arise from their judgment of Him as expressed in their scornful question, “Who art thou?” He has, indeed, immediately before (Joh_8:23), spoken of them. He is about in this discourse to do so again. There are present to His mind now many things to say of them, and these, if said, would be in words of condemnation; but He refrains. There is present to His mind also the great work He had to do—to speak to the world the eternal truth of God.
But he that sent me is true.—The words express a marked contrast to the words and thoughts with which He would come in contact, if He said and judged concerning them. They refer to the calm repose of the divine life in heaven, as contrasted with the misunderstandings and objections with which the manifestation of that life on earth had been encompassed. He turns from them to the thought of Him who sent Him, and who is true.
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And I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.—Better, I speak unto the world the things which I heard from Him. It is the truth brought into and announced in the world, and which was heard during the pre-incarnate life with the Father. (Comp. Joh_8:28; Joh_8:38.)
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 have many things to speak and to judge…
I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. Hitherto, when the Lord uttered his great words of self-revelation, which always had an ethical end and were meant for the advantage of his hearers, they interrupted his speech and disputed his claims. They refused these testimonies to himself which, if true, would necessitate their instantaneous submission. He seems to have gathered all his self-witness together in the word, "I am," verify altogether, absolutely, from the beginning onwards, just what my words convey; but I have much more to say concerning you, even if I should have nothing more to say concerning myself. The testimonies and the judgments may be profoundly distasteful to you, but I dare not therefore withhold them. I am come to deliver them at any cost to myself or you. But he that sent me is true, whether you hear or forbear; and I am his Mouthpiece, so the truth has to be told. The thought of God, if we can only approach it, is the absolute truth about every thing and about every man. Jesus is the Word of God incarnate, and the Utterer of irreversible judgment. The things which I heard from him, these speak I into the world. Eiv tosmon , is a remarkable expression. "Speak into, so that the words may reach as far as and spread through the world" (Westcott). The expression seems to have left him above or outside the world, so that he appears as "the Mediator between two worlds.
Vers. 26-29. A still clearer revelation in store for them.
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I JESUS HAS A STILL FULLER REVELATION TO GIVE THEM OF THEIR MORAL CONDITION. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you.
1. His judgment is true. "But he that sent me is true." He only declares the judgment of his Father concerning their actions.
2. The Jews could not recognize the Divine origin of this judgment. "They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
II HIS CRUCIFIXION WOULD MAKE MANY THINGS CLEAR TO THEIR MINDS. "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself." That dreadful event would reveal the secrets of many hearts.
1. He recognizes the Jews as the future instruments of his crucifixion. Verily it was "with wicked hands" they slew him. (Act_2:23)
2. Though he was to be crucified in weakness, yet he was to live by the power of God.
3. His death was the gateway to his ascension glory.
4. His death would establish the absolute unity of purpose and action that existed between himself and his lather.
5. The effect of the Sons obedience to his Fathers will. "The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." The Father"s presence is not accounted for merely by the Son"s active and perfect obedience, but is the spring and principle of it.
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.