Passage

John 5.39

Book: John · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"37. And the Father that sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. 38. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not."

"39. Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;"

"40. and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life. 41. I receive not glory from men." (John 5:37-41, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"37. The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. 38. You don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent."

"39. “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me."

"40. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. 41. I don’t receive glory from men." (John 5:37-41, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"37. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not."

"39. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

"40. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. 41. I receive not honour from men." (John 5:37-41, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"37. 'And the Father who sent me Himself hath testified concerning me; ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor His appearance have ye seen; 38. and His word ye have not remaining in you, because whom He sent, him ye do not believe."

"39. 'Ye search the Writings, because ye think in them to have life age-during, and these are they that are testifying concerning me;"

"40. and ye do not will to come unto me, that ye may have life; 41. glory from man I do not receive," (John 5:37-41, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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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.