John 5:37
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
John 5:37 in other translations
| BSB | And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, |
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| WEB | The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. |
| ASV | And the Father that sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. |
| YLT | ‘And the Father who sent me Himself hath testified concerning me; ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor His appearance have ye seen; |
| DARBY | And the Father who has sent me himself has borne witness concerning me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor have seen his shape, |
| BBE | And the Father himself who sent me has given witness about me. Not one of you has ever given ear to his voice; his form you have not seen. |
| Webster | And the Father himself who hath sent me, hath borne testimony concerning me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. |
What does John 5:37 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 5:36-38
36-38. I have greater witness--rather, "The witness which I have is greater." the works ... bear witness of me--not simply as miracles nor even as a miracle of mercy, but these miracles, as He did them, with a will and a power, a majesty and a grace manifestly His own.
Barnes' Notes
1st. By the miracles which Jesus had wrought, and of which he was conversing.
2nd. At the baptism of Jesus, where he said, "This is my beloved Son," Mt 3:17.
3rd. In the prophecies of the Old Testament. It is not easy to say here to which of these he refers. Perhaps he has reference to all.
Ye have neither heard his voice. This difficult passage has been interpreted in various ways. The main design of it seems to be clear--to reprove the Jews for not believing the evidence that he was the Messiah. In doing this he says that they were indisposed to listen to the testimony of God. He affirmed that God had given sufficient evidence of his divine mission, but they had disregarded it. The first thing that he notices is that they had not heard his voice. The word hear, in this place, is to be understood in the sense of obey or listen to. Jn 5:25. The voice of God means his commands or his declarations, however made; and the Saviour said that it had been the characteristic of the Jews that they had not listened to the voice or command of God. As this had been their general characteristic, it was not wonderful that they disregarded now his testimony in regard to the Messiah. The voice of God had been literally heard on the mount. See De 4:12: "Ye heard the voice of the words." At any time. This has been the uniform characteristic of the nation that they have disregarded and perverted the testimony of God, and it was as true of that generation as of their fathers.
Nor seen his shape. No man hath seen God at any time, Jn 1:18. But the word shape, here, does not mean God himself. It refers to the visible manifestation of himself; to the appearance which he assumed. It is applied in the Septuagint to his manifesting himself to Moses, Nu 12:8: "With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently;" in Greek, in a form or shape--the word used here. It is applied to the visible symbol of God that appeared in the cloud and that rested on the tabernacle, Nu 9:15,16. It is the same word that is applied to the Holy Spirit appearing in bodily shape like a dove, Lk 3:22. Jesus does not here deny that God had appeared in this manner, but he says they had not seen--that is, had not paid attention to, or regarded, the appearance of God. He had manifested himself, but they disregarded it, and, in particular, they had disregarded his manifestations in attestation of the Messiah. As the word hear means to obey, to listen to, so the word see means to pay attention to, to regard (2Jn 1:8, 1Jn 3:6), and thus throws light on Jn 14:9: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." "I am a manifestation of God--God appearing in human flesh, as he appeared formerly in the symbol of the cloud; and he that regards me, or attends to me, regards the Father."
(m) "Ye have neither heard" De 4:12, 1Timm 6:16
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
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…
John 5:37 in the original Greek
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Cross references for John 5:37
- John 8:18
I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
- Matthew 3:17
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
- John 1:18
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
- 1 Timothy 6:16
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
- 1 John 4:20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
- 1 John 4:12
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
- 1 John 1:1-2
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
- John 6:27
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
- John 14:9
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
- Deuteronomy 4:12
And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
- Matthew 17:5
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- John 5:36
But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
- John 5:37
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
- John 5:38
And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
John 5:37 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Y el que me envió, el Padre, él ha dado testimonio de mí. Ni nunca habéis oído su voz, ni habéis visto su parecer. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Et le Père qui m’a envoyé, lui, a rendu témoignage de moi. Jamais vous n’avez entendu sa voix, ni vu sa figure; |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Und der Vater, der mich gesandt hat, er selbst hat Zeugnis von mir gegeben. Ihr habt weder jemals seine Stimme gehört, noch seine Gestalt gesehen, |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | et qui misit me Pater, ipse testimonium perhibuit de me: neque vocem ejus umquam audistis, neque speciem ejus vidistis: |