Yohanes 5:31-32

More Testimony About Jesus

5:31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 5:32 There is another ¹  who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.

Yohanes 5:37

5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people ²  have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time, ³ 

[5:32]  ¹ sn To whom does another refer? To John the Baptist or to the Father? In the nearer context, v. 33, it would seem to be John the Baptist. But v. 34 seems to indicate that Jesus does not receive testimony from men. Probably it is better to view v. 32 as identical to v. 37, with the comments about the Baptist as a parenthetical digression.

[5:37]  ² tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to clarify that the following verbs (“heard,” “seen,” “have residing,” “do not believe”) are second person plural.

[5:37]  ³ sn You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Compare Deut 4:12. Also see Deut 5:24 ff., where the Israelites begged to hear the voice no longer – their request (ironically) has by this time been granted. How ironic this would be if the feast is Pentecost, where by the 1st century a.d. the giving of the law at Sinai was being celebrated.