And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
- BSB The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
- NKJV And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
- NASB And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
- NLT (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.)
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
John stakes his eyewitness testimony on these events so that readers may believe. The truth of the cross rests on reliable witness.
Overview
The author affirms he saw these things and tells the truth, grounding the Gospel in firsthand testimony rather than legend. His stated purpose, 'that you may believe,' matches the Gospel's overall aim (20:31). The verse reminds us that Christian faith is rooted in real, witnessed history, not myth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- John 21:24This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
- John 15:27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
- Heb 2:3–4How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
- 1 Jn 1:1–3That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
- Acts 10:39And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
- John 20:31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
- Rom 15:4For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
- 1 Pet 5:1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
- John 17:20–21Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
- John 14:29And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
- 1 Jn 5:13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
- John 11:42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
- John 11:15And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
- John 19:26When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 19:35 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.