These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor 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.
- BSB They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.
- NKJV And these things they will do to you 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 all these things will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.
- John 17:25Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
- 2 Th 1:8giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
- John 8:19They said therefore to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me, nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
- John 8:55You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I don’t know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him, and keep his word.
- 2 Th 2:10–12and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- 1 Jn 3:1See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
- John 17:3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
- 1 Jn 4:8He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
- John 15:23He who hates me, hates my Father also.
- 1 Cor 2:8which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory.
- 2 Cor 4:3–6Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who perish;
- 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.
- Luke 10:22Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.”
- 1 Tim 1:13although I was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
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.