John 5:30

I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus is defending his right to judge before Jewish opponents (John 5:22–30), positioning this statement between the resurrection of judgment (v. 29) and his claim that self-testimony is invalid (v. 31).

The words — οὐδέν (ouden, "nothing") is an absolute negation, not a qualified "little"; καθὼς (kathōs, "even as") makes the judgment derivative, a mirror of what he hears rather than an independent act.

The thread — The same formula recurs in John 5:19 ("the Son can do nothing by Himself"), John 6:38 ("not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me"), and John 4:34 ("My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me").

Why it lands — The verse asks a reader to take Jesus's judgment seriously precisely because it is not self-serving; if the judge seeks no will of his own, the verdict is not a display of power but an execution of another's justice.

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

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Cross-references

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
John 5:19 So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
John 4:34 Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
John 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works.
Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
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.
Psalms 40:7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll:
John 8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Isaiah 11:3 And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
Romans 15:3 For even Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: “The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.”