John 8:18

The Godhead is plainly distinguished from the manhood, else there were not two witnesses: for the party accused is not taken for a witness.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(18) I am one that bear witness of myself.—The Greek has no word to express the English “one.” It is more exactly, I am He who beareth witness. The twofold witness is (1) in His own individuality—I, who know whence I came and whither I go, testify of Myself to you who know neither; and (2) in the fact that the Father sent Him. He is the Ambassador from the Father, accredited by the Father’s works and the voice from heaven, and His word is official as well as personal.

The thought is closely connected with that of Joh_8:16. His judgment is not individual judgment, because of the union with the Father. His witness is not only individual witness, but that of the Father also. The whole passage should be carefully compared with the close of John 5.

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

18. I am one that bear witness of myself] Or, It is I who bear witness of Myself (in My words and works), and there beareth witness of Me the Father, who sent Me (in Scripture and the voice from Heaven).

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.

These words spake Jesus in the treasury,.... The place where the thirteen chests stood, into which the people put their voluntary contributions for the sacrifices, and service of the temple: the Ethiopic version renders it, "at the alms chest"; See Gill on Mar 12:41. The design of this observation of the evangelist, is to suggest to us, that it was in a very public place, in the temple, openiy, that Christ delivered the above words:

as he taught in the temple; where the Jews resorted, where his ministry was public, and he spake freely, and without reserve; in a very bold manner, with intrepidity, and without fear of man:

and no man laid hands on him; though they had sought to do it the day before; had sent officers to take him; and they themselves had a good will to it; and yet they were so awed and over ruled by one means, or one account or another, that no man did it; the reason was,

for his hour was not yet come; the time appointed for his sufferings and death.

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

18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

Ver. 18. I am one that bear witness, &c.] Christ is alius from his Father, not aliud; another person, not another thing. As in the person of Christ there is aliud et aliud another and another (against Eutyches), not alius et alius different and different (against Nestorius). In this text, the Divinity of Christ is plainly distinguished from his humanity; how else should he and the Father be two witnesses to himself?

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.

I am one that bear witness of myself - In human courts a man is not allowed to bear witness of himself, because he has a personal interest in the case, and the court could have no proof of the impartiality of the evidence; but in the case of Jesus it was otherwise. When one has no party ends to serve; when he is willing to deny himself; when he makes great sacrifices; and when, by his life, he gives every evidence of sincerity, his own testimony may be admitted in evidence of his motives and designs. This was the case with Jesus and his apostles. And though in a legal or criminal case such testimony would not be admitted, yet, in an argument on moral subjects, about the will and purpose of him who sent him, it would not be right to reject the testimony of one who gave so many proofs that he came from God.

The Father ...beareth witness of me - By the voice from heaven at his baptism Mat 3:17, and by the miracles which Jesus performed, as well as by the prophecies of the Old Testament. We may here remark:

1.That there is a distinction between the Father and the Son. They are both represented as bearing testimony; yet,

They are not divided. They are not different beings. They bear testimony to the same thing, and are one in counsel, in plan, in essence, and in glory.

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

I (saith our Saviour) have two witnesses; I am one, I bear witness of myself; my Father is another, for he beareth witness of me. Our Saviour’s argumentation seemeth weak, unless we look upon him as exempt from the condition of ordinary men, and no mere man, by reason of the personal union of the Divine and human nature in his person. Nor must our Saviour be understood here to distinguish himself from his Father, in respect of his Divine being, for so he and his Father are one; but in respect of his office, as he was sent, and his Father was he who sent him. And indeed in the whole he seemeth to accommodate himself to the people’s apprehensions of him.

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

I am the (one) that bears witness concerning myself I have said it, and abide by it, and I know what I say and how fully I am fulfilling these wordsand the Father that sent me heareth witness concerning me . His words reflected his own Divine self-consciousness. They bore one witness to his unique position. They brought out the inner thoughts of Christ, and revealed the life that was light. The word, the speech, of Christ was a fire kindled which would never be extinguished it was the formal utterance of the eternal reality but it did not stand alone. The Father that sent him, by a long chain of events and revelations, by miracles and mighty energies, by the conference of the spirit of conviction upon the minds that gave candid attention to his verbal testimony, by the providential concurrence of facts with prophetic anticipation, was bearing witness concerning him. The argument is sufficient, so soon as we admit the terms used by Jesus, so soon as we recognize the ideas of the Son of God and of the Father, both alike revealed in the Person of Christ. We can understand, and to some extent sympathize with, the perplexity of the Pharisees. Later experiences have made it easier for us to understand the testimony of the Father, the presence and witness of God over and above the testimony of men and coincident with it. (cf. Joh_15:27 Heb_2:4) All great spiritual revivals have given ample proof of the twofold testimony. (see 1Th_2:13 Rom_8:17, where Paul, the writer of the Epistle, shows himself familiar with this "Johannine" thought; cf. Heb_2:4)

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

18. The Father … beareth witness. By the prophets, by the works that Jesus does, by his voice at the baptism, and by John the Baptist.

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.

18. ἐγώ εἰμι. There is I who bear witness of Myself (in My words and works), and there beareth witness of Me the Father (in Scripture and the voice from Heaven).

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.

18. The use of ἐγώ εἰμι in solemn affirmation has been discussed in Introd., p. cxviii; and the present passage provides an instructive example of this usage.

ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ μαρτυρῶν περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ. This is the style of Deity. As the Pharisees had urged, a man’s witness about himself is not trustworthy (v. 13); but Jesus replies to this by expressing Himself in terms which suggest His Divinity. This, however, is not said explicitly; and the point of His answer which the Pharisees understand is that He says that there is a second Witness, sc. His Father who sent Him (cf. 5:32). There is a prophetic passage, Isa 43:10, which has close verbal relations with this and v. 28: γένεσθέ μοι μάρτυρες, καὶ ἐγὼ μάρτυς, λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός, καὶ ὁ παῖς μου ὃν ἐξελεξάμην, ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ πιστεύσητε, καὶ συνῆτε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι. The thought in Isa 43:10, however, is of witness being borne to Yahweh (1) by the people, (2) by His Servant, and, according to the LXX interpolation, (3) by Himself.

For the witness of the Father to the Son, see on 5:37.

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