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I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”
John 1:34 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
  • KJV And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
  • BSB I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
  • ESV And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
  • NKJV And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
  • NASB And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

On the basis of what he saw, John testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. His witness reaches its climax in this confession.

Overview

Having seen the Spirit descend, John declares Jesus to be 'the Son of God' (some manuscripts read 'the Chosen One of God'). Either reading affirms Jesus' unique standing and messianic identity. This testimony fulfills John's God-given task and presents readers with the central claim of the Gospel: Jesus is God's own Son.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Ps 2:7I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.
  • John 1:49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!”
  • Matt 4:3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
  • 1 Jn 5:20We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
  • Ps 89:26–27He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!’
  • John 20:31but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
  • Rev 2:18“To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: “The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things:
  • Rom 1:4who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
  • John 3:16–18For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
  • 1 Jn 2:23Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.
  • 1 Jn 5:9–13If 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.
  • John 10:36do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’
  • Heb 1:5–6For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?”
  • Mark 1:1The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
  • John 11:27She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”
  • 2 Cor 1:19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”
  • Matt 27:54Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
  • Matt 17:5While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
  • Matt 26:63But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
  • 1 Jn 3:8He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil.
  • 1 Jn 4:9By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
  • John 19:7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
  • Matt 27:43He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
  • Heb 1:1–2God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
  • 1 Jn 4:14–15We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.
  • John 5:23–27that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
  • Matt 27:40and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
  • John 3:35–36The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.
  • Heb 7:3without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
  • Matt 4:6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”
  • Matt 11:27All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
  • Matt 16:16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
  • Mark 1:11A voice came out of the sky, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
  • Matt 8:29Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
  • Luke 3:22and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”
  • Luke 1:35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.
  • Matt 3:17Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
  • 2 Jn 1:9Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ, doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching, the same has both the Father and the Son.
  • John 6:69We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
  • John 1:18No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Pastoral

  • CommentaryCommentary on John 1Matthew Henry · Free

    Henry on the prologue — rich on the Word and the incarnation.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed

    The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 1:34YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 1:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.