Limitless Word
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
John 3:34 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
  • BSB For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
  • NKJV For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
  • NASB For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly.
  • NLT For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.

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

The one God sent speaks God's own words because God gives him the Spirit without measure. Jesus' words are fully and uniquely the words of God.

Overview

Unlike the prophets who received the Spirit in measure, the Son is endowed with the Spirit without limit, so his speech perfectly conveys God's message. This explains the unique authority of Jesus' testimony. It affirms his unparalleled role as the definitive revealer of God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Acts 10:38How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
  • Matt 12:18Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
  • John 15:26But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
  • John 5:26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
  • Isa 11:2–5And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
  • Col 2:9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
  • Luke 4:18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
  • John 7:37–39In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
  • Rom 8:2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
  • John 7:16Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
  • Col 1:19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
  • John 3:17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
  • John 1:16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
  • Eph 3:8Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
  • John 8:47He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
  • John 16:7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
  • Num 11:25And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
  • Rev 22:1And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
  • Ps 45:7Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
  • John 8:40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
  • Isa 59:21As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.
  • Rev 21:6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
  • John 8:26–28I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
  • 2 Kgs 2:9And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
  • Rev 22:16–17I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
  • Isa 62:1–3For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
  • Eph 4:7–13But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 3:34YouTube · 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 3:34 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.