Limitless Word
And you know the way to where I am going.”
John 14:4 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Where I go, you know, and you know the way.”
  • KJV And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
  • BSB You know the way to the place where I am going.”
  • NKJV And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
  • NASB And you know the way where I am going.”

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 tells them they know where He is going and the way there. It assumes a knowledge they will soon confess they lack, setting up His great self-revelation.

Overview

Jesus affirms that the disciples already possess, in Himself, the knowledge of the destination and the way. Their coming question shows they have not yet grasped that He is both. The verse prepares for one of the Gospel's clearest statements of Christ as the only way to the Father.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • John 10:9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
  • John 16:28I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
  • John 3:16–17For 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.
  • John 6:68–69Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
  • John 6:40This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
  • John 13:3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and was going to God,
  • John 12:26If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
  • John 14:2In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
  • John 3:36One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
  • Luke 24:26Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?”
  • John 14:28You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 14:4YouTube · 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 14:4 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.