They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
- KJV And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
- NKJV And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.
- NASB These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me.
- NLT This is because they have never known the Father or me.
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
Persecutors will act this way because they have not known the Father or Jesus. Their hostility springs from ignorance of God.
Overview
Jesus identifies the root of such persecution: a fundamental failure to know the Father and the Son. Religious activity and sincerity are no substitute for true knowledge of God. This both explains the persecutors' actions and reminds the disciples that those who oppose them are spiritually blind, in need of the very gospel they reject.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- John 15:21But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.
- John 17:25Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me.
- 2 Th 1:8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- John 8:19“Where is Your Father?” they asked Him. “You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”
- John 8:55You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word.
- 2 Th 2:10–12and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- 1 Jn 3:1Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- 1 Jn 4:8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- John 15:23Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
- 1 Cor 2:8None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
- 2 Cor 4:3–6And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
- 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- Luke 10:22All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
- 1 Tim 1:13I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 16:3 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.