Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going.
- KJV Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
- ESV Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
- NKJV Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.
- NASB Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
- NLT Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 replies that even His self-testimony is true because He knows His origin and destiny, which they do not. His unique knowledge of His heavenly origin validates His witness.
Overview
Unlike an ordinary witness, Jesus testifies with full knowledge of where He came from and where He is going, the Father in heaven. Because He alone knows this, His testimony about Himself is reliable and true. The Pharisees' ignorance of His divine origin is precisely why they fail to grasp the truth of His claims.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- John 13:3Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.
- John 16:28I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”
- John 14:10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works.
- John 8:42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.
- Num 12:3Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.
- Rev 3:14To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
- John 17:8For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
- 2 Cor 11:31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.
- John 10:36then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?
- John 10:15just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.
- John 7:27–29But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”
- John 9:29–30We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”
- 2 Cor 12:19Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up.
- Neh 5:14–19Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
- 2 Cor 12:11I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
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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 8:14 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.