Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.
Parallel translations
- WEB Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.
- KJV Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
- BSB not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.
- NKJV Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
- NLT (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)
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
Jesus clarifies that no one has seen the Father except Him who is from God. He alone has direct knowledge of the Father and reveals Him.
Overview
Lest 'taught by God' be misunderstood, Jesus affirms that He alone, coming from God, has seen the Father. The Son is the unique revealer of the Father (cf. 1:18). To be taught by God, then, is to receive the truth that comes through Christ, the one who perfectly knows and makes known the Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- John 1:18No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
- John 7:29I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
- 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.”
- Matt 11:27All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
- 1 Jn 4:12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
- 1 Tim 6:16who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
- Col 1:15who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
- John 14:9–10Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
- 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.
- John 15:24If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.
- John 5:37The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.
- 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.”
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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 6:46 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.