John 5:32

5:32 The first witness for Jesus’ defense was God himself. Jesus might have had in mind God’s voice at his baptism (Mark 1:11) or the presence of God that enabled Jesus to perform miracles.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 5:32. Ἄλλος, Another) concerning whom, see Joh 5:37, “The Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me.” The plurality of persons is here shown. Comp. the expressions, that Being, and this One [ἐκεῖνος, τούτῳ; “whom He hath sent, this one—Him—ye believe not”], Joh 5:38; and another, used of the Holy Spirit, ch. Joh 14:16, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter.”—μαρτυρεῖ, beareth witness) in the present; ch. Joh 8:18, “I am One that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent “Me beareth witness of Me.”

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_5:32. Another is He who bears witness of me. This is understood either of John the Baptist (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Nonnus, Euthymius Zigabenus, Erasmus, Grotius, Paulus, Baumgarten Crusius, de Wette, Ewald) or of God (Cyril, Augustine, Bede, Rupertius, Beza, Aretius, Cornelius a Lapide, Calovius, Bengel, Kuinoel, Lücke, Tholuck, Olshausen, Maier, Luthardt, Lange, Hengstenberg, Brückner, Baeumlein, Godet). The latter is the right reference; for Jesus Himself, Joh_5:34, does not attach importance to Johns witness, but rather lays claim, Joh_5:36-37, only to the higher, the divine witness.

καὶ οἶδα, ὅτι, κ.τ.λ.] not a feeble assurance concerning God (de Wettes objection), but all the weightier from its simplicity, to which the very form of the expression is adapted (ἡ μαρτυρία, ἣν μαρτυρεῖ περὶ ἐμοῦ), and, moreover, far too solemn for the Baptists testimony. On μαρτυρίαν μαρτυρεῖν, comp. Isa_3:11-12; Isa_3:25; Plato, Eryx. p. 399 B; Dem. 1131. 4.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is another--that is, the Father, as is plain from the connection. How brightly the distinction of the Persons shines out here!

and I know that the witness, &c.--"This is the Son's testimony to the Father's truth (see Joh 7:28; Joh 8:26, Joh 8:55). It testifies to the full consciousness on the part of the Son, even in the days of His humiliation, of the righteousness of the Father" [ALFORD]. And thus He cheered His spirit under the cloud of human opposition which was already gathering over His head.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 32. There is another] God the Father, who, by his Spirit in your prophets, described my person, office, and miracles. You read these scriptures, and you cannot help seeing that they testify of me:- no person ever did answer the description there given, but myself; and I answer to that description in the fullest sense of the word. See Joh 5:39.

And I know] Instead of οιδα, I know, οιδατε, ye know, is the reading of the Codex Bezae, Armenian, and two of the Itala. Ye believe the Scriptures to be of God, and that he cannot lie; and yet ye will not believe in me, though these Scriptures have so clearly foretold and described me! It is not one of the least evils attending unbelief, that it acts not only in opposition to God, but it also acts inconsistently with itself. It receives the Scriptures in bulk, and acknowledges them to have come through Divine inspiration; and yet believes no part separately. With it the whole is true, but no part is true! The very unreasonableness of this conduct shows the principle to have come from beneath, were there no other evidences against it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(32) There is another . . .—i.e., the Father. The reference to the Baptist is excluded by the words which follow. The difficulty which has been seen in this indirect reference to the Father is removed if we connect the words closely with those preceding them. The point is in the fact that another, different in personality from Himself, bore witness of Him. (Comp. Joh_8:50; Mat_10:28, et al.)

I know . . .—This has seemed to have a natural meaning if it is the authority given to John’s witness, but to be less fitting if applied to the Father’s. In two of the oldest MSS., and some of the earliest versions, we read “ye know,” and this has been adopted by some modern editors; but the origin of this reading is obvious, and there is no sufficient reason for departing from the common text. Its meaning is quite in harmony with the relation of the Son to the Father, which has been dwelt upon. The Father beareth witness, is bearing witness (comp. Joh_5:37), in the unity of work which Son and Father alike work (Joh_5:17; Joh_5:19-20; Joh_5:30), and the Son knows that His power to do this work can come from no other source. His own nature responds to the Father’s voice; He knows it to be true. (Comp. Joh_3:33.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. There is another] Not the Baptist, as seems clear from Joh_5:34; but the Father, comp. Joh_7:28, Joh_8:26. It has been already remarked how much there is in this Gospel about ‘witness,’ ‘bearing witness,’ and the like: see on Joh_1:7.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is another that beareth witness of me,.... Meaning not his Father, who is another, and a distinct person, from him, as the Spirit is another comforter; and both distinct testifiers from him, as well as of him. This is indeed the sense of some interpreters; but the Father is particularly mentioned in Joh 5:37; and the thread of the discourse, and the climax, or gradation, here used, show, that it is to be understood of "another man", as Nonnus paraphrases it; of John the Baptist, who is spoken of by name in the next verse, as a witness; and then a greater than he, the works of Christ, and then the Father:

and I know that the witness, which he witnesseth of me, is true; for John was now alive, though in prison, and continued to bear a testimony to Christ; and therefore he speaks of him as now bearing witness of him, and abiding by that which he had bore; and Christ knew not only that what he testified of him was true in itself, but that his testimony was a valid and authentic testimony, with the generality of the Jews; who held John to be a prophet, and looked upon him as a man of great probity and integrity, and whose word was to be taken: nor indeed could the sanhedrim, before whom Christ now was, object to his character, nor to him as a witness; nor ought they, since they themselves had so judged of him, as appears by their message to him, which Christ next fails not to take notice of.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

Ver. 32. There is another that beareth witness] God the Father, by this miracle wrought upon the impotent man. Give we real testimony to our profession by our practice. Mallem obedire quam miracula facere, I prefer to obey than to do miracles, said Luther. Profligate professors put religion to an open shame. {a}

{a} Virtutis stragulam pudefacis, You make ashamed the covering of character, said Diogenes to Antipater; who, being vicious, wore a white cloak.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is another - That is, God. See Joh 5:36.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Father by a voice from heaven testified of Christ, that he was his well beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased, Mat 3:17. Some understand it of John the Baptist, of whom he speaketh, Joh 5:33. But he naming John in the next verse, it seems most proper to understand this of the Father testifying of Christ, both at his baptism, and also at his transfiguration; and to interpret the next verse, as speaking of another testimony distinct from that of John.

And (saith our Saviour) I know, that is, I am fully assured, that his testimony of me is true; for God is that God who cannot lie, but is truth itself. So that I do not barely testify of myself; for my Father, whom you all own to be a God of truth, and who cannot lie, and whom know to be such, he testifieth of me, and none can contradict his testimony.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

32. There is another—Who is properly the sole original testifier, namely, God. All others are his signatures and seals.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 32, 37, 38. (a) The witness of the Father.

It is another that witnesseth concerning me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth concerning me is true. It is a mistake, with Ewald, De Wette, and many others, to suppose that this refers to the testimony of John the Baptist. By Augustine, Hengstenberg, Luthardt, Godet, Meyer, etc., it has been perceived that the "other" (allov) refers to the Father. Jesus expressly declines to receive John"s testimony as his justification or sufficient vindication, and he contrasts it with the higher confirmation which in three distinct ways is already and continuously vouchsafed to him. The present tense, marturei , is in striking contrast to the testimony of John already silenced by imprisonment or death. The methods of this testimony are subsequently analyzed and described. The Father"s witness includes

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is another - The Father, ver. 37, and I know that, even in your judgment, his testimony is beyond exception.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

32. There is another that beareth witness of me. John is meant.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

32. ἄλλος ἐστίν. Not the Baptist (Joh 5:34), but the Father (Joh 7:28, Joh 8:26). On μαρτυρῶ see on Joh 1:7.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32.] ἄλλος can, by the inner coherence of the discourse, be no other than the Father, of Whom so much has been said in the former part, but Who is hinted at rather than mentioned in this (πατρός in ver. 30 is spurious). It cannot be John,—from whom (ver. 34) our Lord took not his testimony. Similar modes of alluding to the Father occur ch. 8:50: see also ch. 8:18, and Mat 10:28 and . Many interpreters however understand it of John,—Chrysostom, Nonnus, Theophylact, Euthym.:—and lately De Wette has defended the view with some acuteness. But he has certainly missed the inner coherence of the passage. The reason why our Lord mentions John is not ‘as ascending from the lesser witness to the greater,’ but purposely to remove the idea that He meant him only or principally by these words, and to set his testimony in its right place: then at ver. 36 He returns again to the ἄλλος μαρ. περὶ ἐμοῦ.

καὶ σἶδα.…] This is the Son’s testimony to the Father’s truth: see ch. (3:33) 7:28; 8:26, 55. It testifies to the full consciousness on the part of the Son, even in the days of his humiliation, of the righteousness of the Father: and (for the testimony of the Father to the Son is contained in the Scriptures) also to His distinct recognition and approval (Psa 40:6-8) of psalm and type and prophecy, as applied to Himself and His work.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. ἄλλος ἐστὶν ὁ μαρτυρῶν περὶ ἐμοῦ (cf. 8:18). To interpret ἄλλος of John the Baptist, as is done, e.g., by Chrysostom, makes havoc of the argument which follows. Cyprian (Epist. lxvi. 2) rightly interprets ἄλλος of the Father. Blass1 cites, in illustration of such a use of ἄλλος Æschylus, Suppl. 230, κἀκεῖ δικάζει … Ζεὺς ἄλλος; and Abbott (Diat. 2791) quotes a passage from Epictetus (iii. 13, 13-14), where God is reverentially described as Another (ἄλλος), who guards men’s lives. Cf. 14:16.

The present participle μαρτυρῶν should be noted: “There is Another who is bearing witness concerning me,” this witness being continuous and a present reality at the time of speaking, whereas the witness of John the Baptist is spoken of in the past tense (vv. 34, 35). According to the arrangement of the Gospel text which is followed in this commentary (see on 6:1), John the Baptist was dead at the point in the ministry of Jesus which has now been reached (cf. v. 35).

For οἶδα (אcABLNWΘ), א*D and Syr. sin. have οἴδατε, a reading due to the mistaken interpretation which treats ἄλλος as referring to John the Baptist.

καὶ οἶδα ὅτι ὰληθής ἐστιν ἡ μαρτυρία κτλ., “and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of me is true.” No one could know this as the Speaker knew it; cf. ἐγὼ οἶδα αὐτὸν ὅτι παρʼ αὐτοῦ εἰμι (7:29).

The reference to God the Father as His witness is an illustration of the saying ὁ πατὴρ μείζων μού ἐστι 14:28), and helps to explain it. Philo lays down the principle that “he who bears witness, in so far as he does so, is superior to him of whom witness is borne,” ὁ μαρτυρῦν, παρʼ ὅσο. μαρτυρεὶ, κρείττων ἐστὶν τοῦ ἐκμαρτυρουμένου (de sacr. Abelis et Caini, § 28).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.