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.
Parallel translations
- KJV For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
- BSB I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.
- NKJV For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
- NASB For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
- NLT I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
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
Jesus says He spoke nothing on His own but only what the Father commanded Him to say. It underscores His perfect obedience and the divine authority of His words.
Overview
As the Father's sent one, Jesus speaks with complete fidelity to the Father's commission. His teaching is therefore not human opinion but the very word of God (cf. 7:16; 8:28). This grounds the authority of His message and models perfect submission to the Father's will.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- John 14:10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.
- John 8:26I 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.”
- John 5:30I 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.
- John 17:8for 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, and they have believed that you sent me.
- Deut 18:18I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
- John 14:31But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.
- John 15:15No 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 8:42Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me.
- John 3:11Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness.
- John 3:32What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness.
- John 6:38–40For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
- Rev 1:1This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,
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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 12:49 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.