and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
Parallel translations
- WEB and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
- KJV And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
- BSB When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
- NKJV And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
- NLT As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!”
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
Seeing Jesus pass by, John declares again, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' He deliberately redirects his own disciples to Christ.
Overview
Repeating his earlier proclamation (1:29), John identifies Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb, prompting his disciples to leave him and follow Jesus. The title concentrates the gospel: Jesus is the sin-bearing sacrifice. John's willingness to lose disciples to Jesus exemplifies selfless witness that exists to magnify the Savior.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- John 1:29The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- 1 Pet 1:19–20but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ;
- Isa 65:1–2“I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.
- Heb 12:2looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Isa 45:22“Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Pastoral
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
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 1:36 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.