Passage

John 14.17

"that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." (John 14:17, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"15. If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. 16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever,"

"17. even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you."

"18. I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you. 19. Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me: because I live, ye shall live also." (John 14:15-19, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"15. If you love me, keep my commandments. 16. I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever, ,"

"17. the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you."

"18. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. 19. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also." (John 14:15-19, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"15. If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;"

"17. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

"18. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. ^{comfortless: or, orphans} 19. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also." (John 14:15-19, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"15. 'If ye love me, my commands keep, 16. and I will ask the Father, and another Comforter He will give to you, that he may remain with you, to the age;"

"17. the Spirit of truth, whom the world is not able to receive, because it doth not behold him, nor know him, and ye know him, because he doth remain with you, and shall be in you."

"18. 'I will not leave you bereaved, I come unto you; 19. yet a little, and the world doth no more behold me, and ye behold me, because I live, and ye shall live;" (John 14:15-19, YLT)

John 14:17 sits inside the first of four Paraclete sayings in the Farewell Discourse (14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7-15). Jesus names the coming Comforter the Spirit of truth (to pneuma tēs alētheias) and pairs the title with a sharp epistemic divide: the world cannot receive, see, or know this Spirit; the disciples already do. The verse stands behind Christian pneumatology, the doctrine of indwelling, and the apologetic claim that knowledge of God is not a neutral cognitive achievement but a relationally mediated reality.

Setting

Speaker: Jesus, during the Farewell Discourse
Audience: the Eleven (Judas Iscariot has left by 13:30) in the Upper Room
Location: Jerusalem, the night of the Last Supper
Time period: Thursday evening, c. AD 30-33, hours before the arrest in Gethsemane

Theological reading

The "another Comforter" of v. 16 (allon parakletōn, see G3875 - parakletos) uses allos rather than heteros, another of the same kind, not another of a different kind. Jesus has been the first Paraclete (cf. 1 John 2:1, where the same word names the risen Christ); the Spirit is the second, continuing the same advocacy in His absence. This grammatical detail is load-bearing for Trinitarian pneumatology: the Spirit is the same kind of personal advocate as Jesus, not an impersonal force.

The title Spirit of truth (cf. 15:26, 16:13) functions on two levels. Ontologically, the Spirit is the Spirit who is truth, He proceeds from the Father who is truth and the Son who is the truth (cf. John 14.6). Functionally, He is the Spirit who brings truth, guiding the disciples into all truth (16:13), bearing witness about Christ (15:26), convicting the world concerning sin and righteousness (16:8). The two senses converge: because the Spirit is truth ontologically, He cannot mislead epistemically.

The world's incapacity ("cannot receive... does not see... does not know") is structural, not punitive. The verse anticipates 1 Corinthians 2.14's "the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." Augustine's tradition reads the verse as warrant for the doctrine that supernatural knowledge of God requires a supernaturally bestowed capacity; Aquinas formalized this as the gift of the Spirit elevating the natural intellect. The Reformed tradition presses the same point under the rubric of the inner testimony of the Spirit (Calvin's testimonium internum Spiritus Sancti). For ris3n's apologetic work, the verse anchors the reply to evidentialist demands that bracket the relational dimension of divine knowledge.

The promise of indwelling, "He abides with you and will be in you", is realized at Pentecost. The with-in shift signals the transition from the pre-Pentecost Spirit who came upon prophets and judges to the post-Pentecost Spirit who permanently indwells every believer. The clause grounds the New Testament doctrine of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) and the broader doctrine of union with Christ.

The Muslim claim that Jesus' Paraclete promise refers to Muhammad collapses against this text: the Spirit of truth is already with the disciples ("abides with you") and will be in them, neither true of a seventh-century human prophet. The full polemic is housed at Muhammad as Paraclete Refutation.

Key words

G3875 - parakletos, paraklētos, "advocate, comforter, helper, counselor." The forensic-relational title shared with the risen Christ in 1 John 2:1.
G0225 - aletheia, alētheia, "truth, reality." The same word Jesus uses of Himself in 14:6 ("I am the truth").

Theological themes

The Paraclete as personal advocate. Allos parakletōn (another of the same kind) anchors Trinitarian pneumatology: the Spirit is not an impersonal force but a personal advocate, continuing the work of the incarnate Son.
Truth as the Spirit's signature. Both ontological (the Spirit who is truth) and functional (the Spirit who guides into truth). Closes the circle with John 14.6 ("I am the truth").
Epistemic asymmetry. The world cannot receive; the disciples already know. The asymmetry is structural and relational, not a function of more evidence.
Indwelling. The shift from with to in anticipates Pentecost and grounds the New Testament doctrine of union with Christ.
Apologetic anchor against the Paraclete-as-Muhammad reading. The text's own clauses ("with you... in you") rule out a seventh-century human referent.

Cross-references

John 14.26, the second Paraclete saying, the Spirit will teach all things and remind of Jesus' words.
John 15.26, the third, the Spirit proceeds from the Father and bears witness about Christ.
John 16.7, the fourth, the Spirit's coming is contingent on Jesus' departure; convicts the world.
1 Corinthians 2.14, the natural man's incapacity to receive the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8.9-11, the indwelling Spirit as mark of belonging to Christ.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.