John 5 · Verse 30

John 5:30

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
John 5:30, King James Version

John 5:30 in other translations

BSBI can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
WEBI 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.
ASVI can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
YLT‘I am not able of myself to do anything; according as I hear I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me.
DARBYI cannot do anything of myself; as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my will, but the will of him that has sent me.
BBEOf myself I am unable to do anything: as the voice comes to me so I give a decision: and my decision is right because I have no desire to do what is pleasing to myself, but only what is pleasing to him who sent me.
WebsterI can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who hath sent me.

What does John 5:30 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 5:30-32
30-32. of mine own self do nothing--that is, apart from the Father, or in any interest than My own. (See on Joh 5:19). as I hear--that is, "My judgments are all anticipated in the bosom of My Father, to which I have immediate access, and by Me only responded to and reflected. They cannot therefore err, as I live for one end only, to carry into effect the will of Him that sent Me."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 30. Of mine own self. See Jn 5:19. The Messiah, the Mediator, does nothing without the concurrence and the authority of God. Whatever he does, he does according to the will of God.

As I hear I judge. To hear expresses the condition of one who is commissioned or instructed. Thus (Jn 8:26), "I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him;" Jn 8:18, "As the father hath taught me, I speak those things." Jesus here represents himself as commissioned, taught, or sent of God. When he says, "as I hear," he refers to those things which the Father had showed him Jn 5:20--that is, he came to communicate the will of God; to show to man what God wished man to know.

I judge. I determine or decide. This was true respecting the institutions and doctrines of religion, and it will be true respecting the sentence which he will pass on mankind at the day of judgment. He will decide their destiny according to what the Father will and wishes--that is, according to justice.

Because I seek, &c. This does not imply that his own judgment would be wrong if he sought his own will, but that he had no private ends, no selfish views, no improper bias. He came not to aggrandize himself, or to promote his own views, but he came to do the will of God. Of course his decision would be impartial and unbiased, and there is every security that it will be according to truth. See Lk 22:42 where he gave a memorable instance, in the agony of the garden, of his submission to his Father's will.

(c) "the will of the Father" Ps 40:7,8, Mt 26:39, Jn 4:34, 6:38

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 30 I can of mine own self do nothing - Because of my intimate union with God. See on Joh 5:19 (note). I week not mine own will - I do not, I cannot attempt to do any thing without God. This, that is, the Son of man, the human nature which is the temple of my Divinity, Joh 1:14, is perfectly subject to the Deity that dwells in it. In this respect our blessed Lord is the perfect pattern of all his followers. In every thing their wills should submit to the will of their heavenly Father. Nothing is more common than to hear people say, I will do it because I choose. He who has no better reason to give for his conduct than his own will shall in the end have the same reason to give for his eternal destruction. "I followed my own will, in opposition to the will of God, and now I am plunged in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." Reader, God hath sent thee also to do his will: his will is that thou shouldst abandon thy sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus. Hast thou yet done it?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 5:30-38
Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice of God, accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost, thus made effectual to the conversion of sinners, still proclaims that this is the beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased. But when the hearts of men are full of pride, ambition, and the love of the world, there is no room for the word of God to abide in them.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

John 5:30 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

οὐouNotG3756
δύναμαιdunamaiam ableG1410
ἐγὼegōI myselfG1473
ποιεῖνpoieinto doG4160
ἀπ᾽ap᾽ofG575
ἐμαυτοῦemautouMyselfG1473
οὐδέν·oudenno [thing];G3762
καθὼςkathōseven asG2531
ἀκούωakouōI hearG191
κρίνω,krinōI judge,G2919
καὶkaiandG2532
ἡhētheG3588
κρίσιςkrisisjudgmentG2920
ἡhē<the>G3588
ἐμὴemēof MineG1473
δικαίαdikaiajustG1342
ἐστίν,estinis,G1510
ὅτιhotibecauseG3754
οὐounotG3756
ζητῶzētōI seekG2212
τὸtotheG3588
θέλημαthelēmawillG2307
τὸto<the>G3588
ἐμὸνemonof MeG1473
ἀλλὰallabutG235
τὸtotheG3588
θέλημαthelēmawillG2307
τοῦtouof the [One who]G3588
πέμψαντόςpempsantoshaving sentG3992
μεmeMeG3165
πατρός.¶patros[the] Father.G3962

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for John 5:30

  • John 6:38

    For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

  • John 5:19

    Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

  • John 4:34

    Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

  • John 14:10

    Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

  • Matthew 26:39

    And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

  • John 8:28

    Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

  • Psalms 40:7-8

    Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

  • John 8:15-16

    Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

  • Isaiah 11:3-4

    And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

  • Romans 15:3

    For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

  • John 17:4

    I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

  • John 8:50

    And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
can.
19; 8:28,42; 14:10
I judge.
8:15,16; Ge 18:25; Ps 96:13; Isa 11:3,4; Ro 2:2,5
because.
4:34; 6:38; 8:50; 17:4; 18:11; Ps 40:7,8; Mt 26:39; Ro 15:3
Ho 10:7-10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • John 5:29

    And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

  • John 5:30

    I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

  • John 5:31

    If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

Read all of John 5

John 5:30 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No puedo yo de mí mismo hacer nada: como oigo, juzgo: y mi juicio es justo; porque no busco mi voluntad, mas la voluntad del que me envió, del Padre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Je ne puis rien faire, moi, de moi-même; je juge selon ce que j’entends, et mon jugement est juste; car je ne cherche pas ma volonté, mais la volonté de celui qui m’a envoyé.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ich kann nichts von mir selbst tun; so wie ich höre, richte ich, und mein Gericht ist gerecht, denn ich suche nicht meinen Willen, sondern den Willen dessen, der mich gesandt hat.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Non possum ego a meipso facere quidquam. Sicut audio, judico: et judicium meum justum est, quia non quæro voluntatem meam, sed voluntatem ejus qui misit me.