Bible Strands
John 17:3
Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the Father in the high priestly prayer, between the completion of His earthly work (v. 4) and the cross, defining the gift He has authority to give (v. 2).
The words — γινώσκωσιν (ginōskōsin), present subjunctive of γινώσκω, carries a purpose clause (ἵνα) and a continuous present: not a single act of recognition but abiding, relational knowing.
The thread — 1 John 5:11 and 5:20 both bind eternal life to knowing the Son and the true One; Jeremiah 9:24 grounds the boast in "knowing me."
Why it lands — It defines eternal life as a relationship with two named persons, not a duration, and puts the burden of that knowing on the reader rather than on a doctrine or a feeling.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Cross-references
- 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- 1 John 5:11 And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
- Jeremiah 9:23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
- John 17:25 Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me.
- Hosea 6:3 So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.
- John 14:9 Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
- Hebrews 8:11 No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.
- 1 John 4:6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.