Bible Strands
John 3:11
Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses Nicodemus mid-conversation, immediately after noting that as Israel's teacher he should already understand what is being said (v.10).
The words — The doubled amēn (ἀμὴν) marks the statement as a solemn, irrevocable declaration rather than a casual remark. Oidamen (οἴδαμεν), first-person plural "we know," places Jesus within a shared witness with the Father.
The thread — John 8:38 repeats the formula almost verbatim: "I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father." John 1:18 grounds the claim that the Son, who is at the Father's side, has made God known.
Why it lands — The verse removes the excuse of insufficient evidence: the speakers claim direct knowledge and sight, so the listener's refusal is a deliberate act, not a gap in information.
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
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
Cross-references
- John 8:38 I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
- 1 John 5:6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ—not by water alone, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies to this, because the Spirit is the truth.
- John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- John 8:14 Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.
- John 12:49 I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.
- John 14:24 Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.
- John 7:16 “My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me.
- John 8:28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.
- Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
- Isaiah 65:2 All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,