Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the Pharisees in John 8 immediately after they declare His self-testimony invalid under human legal standards. He addresses them during a direct confrontation regarding His authority and identity.
The words — The verb μαρτυρῶ (marturō) conveys ongoing witness or bearing testimony, which Jesus uses to affirm that His self-testimony holds validity. The concessive particle κἂν (kan) frames His statement to show that His authority does not depend on human corroboration.
The thread — The pattern of Jesus’ known origin and destination appears in John 8:42, John 13:3, and John 16:28. These passages consistently link His divine source and return to the Father with the failure of human observers to recognize His true identity.
Why it lands — The text establishes that Jesus’ authority derives from His direct knowledge of His origin and destination, not from human approval. A reader must acknowledge that spiritual insight into His identity requires recognizing His divine source, which human judgment alone cannot supply.
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
Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
Cross-references
- John 13:3 Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.
- John 16:28 I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”
- John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.
- 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.
- Numbers 12:3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.
- John 17:8 For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
- Revelation 3:14 To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
- Nehemiah 5:14 Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
- John 7:27 But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”
- John 9:29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”