But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone; I am with the Father who sent Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me.
- KJV And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
- NKJV And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.
- NASB But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.
- NLT And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with 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
Jesus affirms that if He does judge, His judgment is true because He is not alone but acts with the Father who sent Him. His judgments carry divine authority and validity.
Overview
Building on the previous verse, Jesus declares that any judgment He renders is true because it is shared with the Father. This unity of Father and Son grounds the reliability of His verdict. It assures readers that Christ's authority to judge is not self-derived but rooted in His perfect union with God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- John 8:29He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”
- Acts 17:31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- John 5:22–30Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
- John 16:32“Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
- Isa 32:1–2Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
- 1 Sam 16:7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”
- Zech 9:9Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
- Ps 98:9before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
- Isa 11:2–5The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
- Ps 99:4The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Rev 19:11Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.
- Jer 23:5–6Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
- Ps 45:6–7Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Ps 72:1–2Of Solomon. Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness.
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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 8:16 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.