If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.
- KJV For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
- NKJV For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
- NASB For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
- NLT If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about 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
If they truly believed Moses, they would believe Jesus, for Moses wrote about him. The writings of Moses point to Christ.
Overview
Jesus declares that Moses wrote concerning him, so genuine faith in Moses would lead to faith in Jesus. This affirms that the law and the Pentateuch testify to the coming Messiah. It underscores the unity of Scripture, all of it bearing witness to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Deut 18:15The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.
- Deut 18:18–19I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
- John 1:45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
- Luke 24:27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
- Num 24:17–18I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.
- Acts 26:22But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
- Gen 49:10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
- Gen 22:18And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- Num 21:8–9Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
- Gen 12:3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Gen 3:15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- Heb 7:1–10This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
- Gen 18:18Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
- Gal 4:21–31Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says?
- Gal 3:24So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
- Gen 28:14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
- Rom 10:4For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.
- Gal 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
- Gal 3:10All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Gal 2:19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.
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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 5:46 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.