John 12:30
in John 12In response, Jesus said, “This voice was not for My benefit, but yours.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes.
KJV
Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
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This verse in John 12
Commentary
16 notes on this verseJesus answered and said unto them, This voice hath not come for My sake, but for your sakes. The Father replied aloud----after what manner He only knows----unto His own Son, manifesting His own purpose with intent to rouse the zeal of the hearers, that they might believe without any doubt that He is by Nature the Son of God the Father. But the multitude were perplexed and divided unto different surmisings, without understanding. For they ought to have apprehended that it was the Father that gave answer, unto Whom the Son had addressed His words.
This site's exposition
said that it had thundered
on John 12:29-30
The crowd heard the same sound and split two ways, thunder to some and an angel to others. John gives the reader the words themselves, which the crowd could not make out. Jesus says the voice came for their sake.
This site's exposition
This voice was not for My benefit
The voice came for the crowd. Barnes holds Jesus needed no such voice to confirm His way, and Clarke thinks the word yours meant the Greeks. Augustine adds that as the voice came for their sake, so His soul was troubled for their sake.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
(Tr. lii. 5) i. e. It did not come to tell Him what He knew already, but them what they ought to know. And as that voice did not come for His sake, but for theirs, so His soul was not troubled for His sake, but for theirs.
Far be it from us to imagine vicissitudes of bodily change in the Father and Son, as though the Father sometimes spoke to the Son, and sometimes was silent. We remember, indeed, that a voice was sometimes uttered from heaven for us, that the power of the Father's words might confirm for us the mystery of the Son, as the Lord says, This voice hath not come from Heaven for My sake but for your sakes. But the divine nature can dispense with the various combinations necessary for human functions, the motion of the tongue, the adjustment of the mouth, the forcing of the breath, and the vibration of the air. God is a simple Being: we must understand Him by devotion, and confess Him by reverence. He is to be worshipped, not pursued by our senses, for a conditioned and weak nature cannot grasp with the guesses of its imagination the mystery of an infinite and omnipotent nature.
"This Voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes." They thought that it thundered, or that an Angel spake to Him. And how did they think this? Was not the voice clear and distinct? It was, but it quickly flew away from them as being of the grosser sort, carnal and slothful. And some of them caught the sound only, others knew that the voice was articulate, but what it meant, knew not. What saith Christ? "This Voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes." "Not that I may learn by it anything of which I am ignorant, (for I know all that belongeth to the Father,) but for your sakes." For when they said, "An Angel hath spoken unto Him," or "It hath thundered," and gave not heed to Him, He saith, "it was for your sakes," that even so ye might be led to enquire what the words meant.
Why, then, do you make liars of both the Father and the Son? If either the Father spake from heaven to the Son when He Himself was the Son on earth, or the Son prayed to the Father when He was Himself the Son in heaven, how happens it that the Son made a request of His own very self, by asking it of the Father, since the Son was the Father? Or, on the other hand, how is it that the Father made a promise to Himself, by making it to the Son, since the Father was the Son? Were we even to maintain that they are two separate gods, as you are so fond of throwing out against us, it would be a more tolerable assertion than the maintenance of so versatile and changeful a God as yours! Therefore it was that in the passage before us the Lord declared to the people present: "Not on my own account has this voice addressed me, but for your sakes," that these likewise may believe both in the Father and in the Son, severally, in their own names and persons and positions.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Jesus answered and said. The second point is touched upon here, namely the explanation of that voice, because they themselves did not know either why it had been made or what it signified; therefore he says why it was made: This voice came not for …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
The voice is explained when he says, Jesus answered. First, he explains the voice; secondly, he mentions the answer given by the people (v 34); and thirdly, our Lord's answer (v 35). He does two things about the first: first he mentions the reason for …
But Jesus says: "This voice came not for Me, but for you. I had no need to be taught that the Father glorified and will yet glorify His name. But you needed to be taught that I am not an adversary of God, but act …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Jesus answered and said,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes - Probably meaning those Greeks who had been brought to him by Philip and Andrew. The Jews had frequent opportunities of seeing his miracles, and of being convinced that he was the Messiah; but these Greeks, who were to be a first fruits of the Gentiles, had never any such opportunity. For their sakes, therefore, to confirm them in the faith, this miraculous voice appears to have come from heaven.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Jesus . . . said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes--that is, probably, to correct the unfavorable impressions which His momentary agitation and mysterious prayer for deliverance may have produced on the by-standers.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
These verses show us what Peter meant, when he said, "There are some things hard to be understood" in Scripture. (2 Pet. 3:16.) There are depths here which we have no line to fathom thoroughly. This need not surprise us, or shake our faith. The Bible would not be a book "given by inspiration of God," if it did not contain many things which pass man's finite understanding. With all its difficulties, it contains thousands of passages which the most unlearned may easily comprehend.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
These verses show us what Peter meant, when he said, "There are some things hard to be understood" in Scripture. (2 Pet. 3:16.) There are depths here which we have no line to fathom thoroughly. This need not surprise us, or shake our faith. The Bible would not be a book "given by inspiration of God," if it did not contain many things which pass man's finite understanding. With all its difficulties, it contains thousands of passages which the most unlearned may easily comprehend. Even here, if we look steadily at these verses, we may gather from them lessons of considerable importance. We have, first, in these verses, a great DOCTRINE indirectly proved. That doctrine is the imputation of man's sin to Christ. We see the Savior of the world, the eternal Son of God troubled and disturbed in mind—"Now is my soul troubled." We see Him who could heal diseases with a touch, cast out devils with a word, and command the waves and winds to obey Him, in great agony and conflict of spirit. Now how can this be explained? To say, as some do, that the only cause of our Lord's trouble was the prospect of His own painful death on the cross, is a very unsatisfactory explanation. At this rate it might justly be said that many a martyr has shown more calmness and courage than the Son of God. Such a conclusion is, to say the least, most revolting. Yet this is the conclusion to which men are driven if they adopt the modern notion, that Christ's death was only a great example of self-sacrifice. Nothing can ever explain our Lord's trouble of soul, both here and in Gethsemane, except the old doctrine, that He felt the burden of man's sin pressing Him down. It was the mighty weight of a world's guilt imputed to Him and meeting on his head, which made Him groan and agonize, and cry, "Now is my soul troubled."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Came not because of me - Not to strengthen or confirm me; not that I had any doubts about my course, or any apprehension that God would not approve me and glorify his name. For your sakes - To give you a striking and indubitable proof that I am the Messiah; that you may remember it when I am departed, and be yourselves comforted, supported, and saved.
The words behind it
14 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἀπεκρίθη | apekrithe | Answered | G611 → | 231 times |
| Ἰησοῦς | iesous | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| εἶπεν· | eipen | said: | G2036 → | 925 times |
| οὐ | ou | Not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| δι᾽ | di᾽ | because of | G1223 → | 664 times |
| ἐμὲ | eme | Me myself | G1473 → | 839 times |
| ἡ | he | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| φωνὴ | phone | voice | G5456 → | 139 times |
| αὕτη | haute | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| γέγονεν | gegonen | has come | G1096 → | 667 times |
| ἀλλὰ | alla | but | G235 → | 635 times |
| δι᾽ | di᾽ | because of | G1223 → | 664 times |
| ὑμᾶς. | humas | you. | G4771 → | 2973 times |
ἈπεκρίθηAnswered
apekritheG611 →231 times
ἸησοῦςJesus
iesousG2424 →908 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἶπεν·said:
eipenG2036 →925 times
οὐNot
ouG3756 →1664 times
δι᾽because of
di᾽G1223 →664 times
ἐμὲMe myself
emeG1473 →839 times
ἡ<the>
heG3588 →19766 times
φωνὴvoice
phoneG5456 →139 times
αὕτηthis
hauteG3778 →1381 times
γέγονενhas come
gegonenG1096 →667 times
ἀλλὰbut
allaG235 →635 times
δι᾽because of
di᾽G1223 →664 times
ὑμᾶς.you.
humasG4771 →2973 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
it leads to
- Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
- Philippians 2:6–8
Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Matthew 20:28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- Romans 5:8
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- 2 Corinthians 6:10
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
- Romans 8:32
Through
John 11:15and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:10
For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
- John 14:10–11
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…
- 2 Timothy 2:10
Through
John 11:42I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”
it leads to
- 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 3:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies22
About John
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 12; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 8; Hilary of Poitiers, ON THE TRINITY 9.72; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 67; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, Against Praxeas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.