John 5:20
in John 5The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show him, that ye may marvel.
KJV
For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
⋯
This verse in John 5
Commentary
33 notes on this verseLet us rather, in a sense befitting the Godhead, perceive a transmission of will, like the reflexion of an object in a mirror, passing without note of time from Father to Son. "For the Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things," so that "all things that the Father hath" belong to the Son, not gradual accruing to Him little by little, but with Him all together and at once.
This site's exposition
the Son can do nothing by Himself
on John 5:19-20
The Son does what He sees the Father doing, and whatever the Father does the Son does. The claim of equality stands inside a union of will, the Father loving the Son and showing Him everything He does. Greater works than Bethesda are coming.
This site's exposition
shows Him all He does
Basil of Caesarea reads the showing as instant. He likens it to a mirror's reflection, the will passing from Father to Son at once and whole, with no time between. Adam Clarke names the greater works as raising the dead and judging the world, in verses 21 and 22.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth." Here is that "showeth." "Showeth," as it were, to whom? Of course, as to one that sees. We return to that which we cannot explain, how the Word seeth. Behold, man was made by the Word; but man has eyes, ears, hands, divers members in the body: he is able by the eyes to see, by the ears to hear, by the hands to work; the members are diverse, their offices diverse. One member cannot do the office of another; yet, by reason of the unity of the body, the eye sees both for itself and for the ear, and the ear hears for itself and for the eye. Are we to suppose that something like this holds good in the Word, seeing all things are by Him; and Scripture has said in the psalm, "Understand, ye brutish among the people; and ye fools, at length be wise. He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? And He that formed the eye, shall He not see?" Hence, if the Word is He that formed the eye, for all things are by the Word; if the Word is He that planted the ear, for all things are by the Word: we cannot say the Word doth not hear, the Word doth not see; lest the psalm reprove us, and say, "Fools, at length be wise." Therefore, if the Word heareth and seeth, if the Son heareth and seeth, are we yet to search for eyes and ears in Him in separate places? Does He by one part hear, by another see; and cannot His ear do what His eye doth; and cannot His eye do what His ear can? Or is He not all sight, all hearing? Perhaps yes; nay, not perhaps, but truly yes; whilst, however, that seeing of His, and that hearing of His, is in a way far other than it is with us. Both to see and to hear exist together in the Word: seeing and hearing are not diverse things in Him; but hearing is sight, and sight is hearing.
And we, who see in one way, and hear in another way, how know we this? We return perhaps to ourselves, if we are not the trangressors to whom it is said, "Return, O trangressors, to your heart." Return to your heart: why go from yourselves, and perish from yourselves? Why go the ways of solitude? You go astray by wandering: return ye. Whither? To the Lord. It is quickly done: first return to thine own heart; thou hast wandered abroad an exile from thyself; thou knowest not thyself, and yet thou art asking by whom thou wast made! Return, return to thy heart, lift thyself away from the body: thy body is thy place of abode; thy heart perceives even by thy body. But thy body is not what thy heart is; leave even thy body, return to thy heart. In thy body thou didst find eyes in one place, ears in another place: dost thou find this in thy heart? Or hast thou not ears in thy heart? Else of what did the Lord say, "Whoso hath ears to hear, let him hear?" Or hast thou not eyes in thy heart? Else of what saith the apostle, "The eyes of your heart being enlightened?" Return to thy heart; see there what, it may be, thou canst perceive of God, for in it is the image of God. In the inner man dwelleth Christ, in the inner man art thou renewed after the image of God, in His own image recognize its Author. See how all the senses of the body bring intelligence to the heart within of what they have perceived abroad; see how many ministers the one commander within has and what it can do by itself even without these ministers. The eyes report to the heart things black and white; the ears report to the same heart pleasant and harsh sounds; to the same heart the nostrils announce sweet odors and stenches; to the same heart the taste announces things bitter and sweet; to the same heart the touch announces things smooth and rough; and the heart declares to itself things just and unjust. […]
Do we think we have knocked? Is there raised up within us something whereby we may even slightly conjecture whence light may come to us? It is my opinion, brethren, that when we speak of these things, and meditate upon them, we are exercising ourselves. And when we are exercising ourselves, and are as it were bent back again by our own weight to our customary thoughts, we are like weak-eyed persons, when they are brought forth to see the light, if perchance they had no sight at all before, and begin in some sort to recover their sight by the assiduous care of physicians. And when the physician would test the progress of recovery, he tries to show them something which they sought to see, but could not while they were blind. And while the eyesight is now somewhat recovered, they are brought forth to the light; and as they see it, are beaten back in a manner by the very glare; and they answer the physician, as he points out the object, This moment I did see, but now I cannot. What then does the physician? He brings them back to their usual ways, and applies the eye-salve to nourish the longing for seeing that which was seen only for a moment, so that by the very longing he may cure more completely; and if any stinging salves are applied for the recovery of soundness, let the patient bear it bravely, and, inflamed with love of the light, say to himself, When will it be that with strong eyes I shall see what with sore and weak eyes I could not? He urges the physician, and begs him to heal him. Therefore, brethren, if, it may be, something like this has taken place in your hearts, if somehow you have raised your heart to see the Word, and, beaten back by its light, you have fallen back to your wonted ways; pray the Physician to apply sharp salves, the precepts of righteousness. There is that which thou mayest see, but not that whereby thou canst see. […]
He had said, "The Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth the Father doing." We, however, understood it not that the Father doeth something separately, which when the Son seeth, Himself also doeth something of the same kind, after seeing His Father's work; but when He said, "The Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth the Father doing," we understood it that the Son is wholly of the Father-that His whole substance and His whole power are of the Father that begat Him. But just now, when He had said that He doeth in like manner these things which the Father doeth, that we may not understand it to mean that the Father doeth some, the Son others, but that the Son with like power doeth the very same which the Father doeth, whilst the Father doeth through the Son, He went on, and said what we have heard read to-day: "For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth." Again mortal thought is disturbed. The Father showeth to the Son what things Himself doeth; therefore, saith some one, the Father doeth separately, that the Son may be able to see what He doeth. Again, there occur to human thought, as it were, two artificers-as, for instance, a carpenter teaching his son his own art, and showing him whatever he doeth, that the son also may be able to do it. "Showeth Him," saith He, "all things that Himself doeth." Is it therefore so, that whilst He doeth, the Son doeth not, that He may be able to see the Father do? Yet, certainly, "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made." Hence we see how the Father showeth the Son what He doeth, since the Father doeth nothing but what He doeth through the Son.
What hath the Father made? He made the world. Hath He shown the world, when made, to the Son in such wise, that the Son also should make something like it? Then let us see the world which the Son made. Nevertheless, both "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made," and also "the world was made by Him." If the world was made by Him, and all things were made by Him, and the Father doeth nothing save by the Son, where doth the Father show to the Son what He doeth, if it be not in the Son Himself, through whom He doeth? In what place can the work of the Father be shown to the Son, as though He were doing and sitting outside, and the Son attentively watching the Father's hand how it maketh? Where is that inseparable Trinity? Where the Word, of which it is said that the same is "the power and the wisdom of God"? Where that which the Scripture saith of the same wisdom: "For it is the brightness of the eternal light"? Where what was said of it again: "It powerfully reaches from the end even to the end, and ordereth all things sweetly"? Whatever the Father doeth, He doeth through the Son: through His wisdom and his power He doeth; not from without doth He show to the Son what He may see, but in the Son Himself He showeth Him what He doeth.
25 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers14 voices
What seeth the Father, or rather, what doth the Son see in the Father, that Himself also may do? Perhaps I may be able to speak it, but show me the man who can comprehend it; or perhaps I may be able to think and not speak it; or perhaps I may not be able even to think it. For that divinity excels us, as God excels men, as the immortal excels a mortal, as the eternal excels the temporal. May He inspire and endow us, and out of that fountain of life deign to bedew and to drop somewhat on our thirst, that we may not be parched in this wilderness! Let us say to Him, Lord, to whom we have learnt to say Father. We make bold to say this, because Himself willed it; if only we so live that He may not say to us, "If I am a Father, where is mine honor? if I am Lord, where is my fear?"
How much soever then we may understand, and how much soever we may see, we shall not see as the Son seeth, even when we shall be made equal with the angels. For we are something even when we do not see; but what are we when we do not see, other than persons not seeing? And that we may see, we turn to Him whom we may see, and there is formed in us a seeing which was not before, although we were in being. For a man is when not seeing; and the same, when he doth see, is called a man seeing. For him, then, to see is not the same thing as to be a man; for if it were, he would not be man when not seeing. But since he is man when not seeing, and seeks to see what he sees not, he is one who seeks, and who turns to see; and when he has well turned and has seen, he becomes a man seeing, who was before a man not seeing. Consequently, to see is to him a thing that comes and goes; it comes to him when he turns to, and leaves him when he turns away. Is it thus with the Son? Far be it from us to think so. It was never so that He was Son, not seeing, and afterwards was made to see; but to see the Father is to Him the same thing as to be Son.
The Father, then, showeth a thing which He doeth to the Son, in such wise that the Son seeth all things in the Father, and is all things in the Father. For by seeing He was begotten; and by being begotten He seeth. Not, however, that at any time He was not begotten, and afterwards was begotten; nor that at any time He saw not, and afterwards saw. But in what consists His seeing, in the same consists His being, in the same His being begotten, in the same His continuing, in the same His unchanging, in the same His abiding without beginning and without end. Let us not therefore take it in a carnal sense that the Father sitteth and doeth a work, and showeth it to the Son; and the Son seeth the work that the Father doeth, and doeth another work in another place, or out of other materials. For "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made." The Son is the Word of the Father. The Father said nothing which He did not say in the Son. For by speaking in the Son what He was about to do through the Son, He begat the Son through whom He made all things.
(Tr. xxi. s. 2) Having said that He did the same things that the Father did, and in a like way, He adds, For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth. And showeth Him all things that Himself doeth: this has a reference to the words above; But what He seeth the Father do. But again, our human ideas are perplexed, and one may say, So then the Father first does something, that the Son may see what He does; just as an artificer teaches his son his art, and shows him what he makes, that he may be able to make the same after him. On this supposition, when the Father does a thing, the Son does not do it; in that the Son is beholding what His Father doeth. But we hold it as a fixed and incontrovertible truth, that the Father makes all things through the Son, and therefore He must show them to the Son, before He makes them. And where does the Father show the Son what He makes, except in the Son Himself, by whom He makes them? For if the Father makes a thing for a pattern, and the Son attends to the workmanship as it goes on, where is the indivisibility of the Trinity? The Father therefore does not show the Son what He doeth by doing it, but by showing doeth it, through the Son. The Son seeth, and the Father showeth, before a thing is made, and from the showing of the Father, and the seeing of the Son, that is made which is made; made by the Father, through the Son. But thou wilt say, I show my Son what I wish him to make, and he makes it, and I make it through him. True; but before thou doest any thing, thou shewest it to thy son, that he may do it for thy example, and thou by him; but thou speakest to thy son words which are not thyself; whereas the Son Himself is the Word of the Father; and could He speak by the Word to the Word? […]
"For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth." To that which He said above, "except what He seeth the Father doing," seems to belong this also, "He showeth Him all things that Himself doeth." But if the Father doth show what He doeth, and the Son cannot do except the Father hath shown, and if the Father cannot show unless He hath done, it will follow that it is not through the Son that the Father doeth all things; moreover, if we hold it fixed and unshaken, that the Father doeth all by the Son, then He shows the Son before He doeth. For if the Father doth show to the Son after He has done, that the Son may do the things shown, which being shown were already done, then doubtless something there is that the Father doeth without the Son. But the Father doeth not anything without the Son, because the Son of God is God's Word, and all things were made by Him. It remains, then, that possibly what the Father is about to do, He shows as about to be done, that it may be done by the Son. For if the Son doeth those things which the Father showeth as already done, surely it is not by the Son that the Father hath done the things which He thus showeth. For they could not be shown to the Son unless they were first done, and the Son would not be able to do them unless they were first shown; therefore were they made without the Son. But yet it is a true thing, "All things were made by Him"; therefore they were shown before they were made.
"And greater works than these," saith He, "will He show Him, that ye may marvel." "Greater than these." Greater than which? The answer readily occurs: than the cures of bodily diseases which ye have just heard: For the whole occasion of this discourse arose about the man who was thirty and eight years in infirmity, and was healed by the word of Christ; and in respect of this cure, the Lord could say, "Greater works than these He will show Him, that ye may marvel." For there are greater, and the Father will show them to the Son. It is not "hath shown," as of a thing past, but "will show," of a thing future; or, is about to show. Again a difficult question arises: Why, then, is there something with the Father that has not yet been shown to the Son? Is there something with the Father that was still hid from the Son when He spoke these words? For surely, if it be "will show," that is to say, "is about to show," then He has not yet shown; and He is about to show to the Son at the same time as to these persons, since it follows, "that ye may marvel." And this is a thing hard to see, how the Eternal Father doth show something, as it were in time, to the coeternal Son, who knoweth all things that are with the Father.
He said that "greater works than these"—evidently greater than the healing of the paralyzed man—had to be shown by him so that they would be astonished. Here he alludes to the general resurrection and to those things that he will do when he appears [again] …
(vii. de Trin. c. 17) He refers to the charge of violating the sabbath, brought against Him. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work; meaning that He had a precedent for claiming the right He did; and that what He did was in reality His Father's doing, who acted in the Son. And to quiet the jealousy which had been raised, because by the use of His Father's name He had made Himself equal with God, and to assert the excellency of His birth and nature, He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do. (vii. de Tr. c. 17.) Lest then that assertion of His equality, which must belong to Him, as by Name and Nature the Son, might throw doubt upon His Nativityf, He says that the Son can do nothing of Himself. (vii. de Tr. c. 17) That the wholesome order of our confession, i. e. that we believe in the Father and the Son, might remain, He shows the nature of His birth; viz. that He derived the power of acting not from an accession of strength supplied for each work, but by His own knowledge in the first instance. And this knowledge He derived not from any particular visible precedents, as if what the Father had done, the Son could do afterwards; but that the Son being born of the Father, and consequently conscious of the Father's virtue and nature within Him, could do nothing but what He saw the Father do: as he here testifies; God does not see by bodily organs, but by the virtue of His nature. (vii. de Tr. c. 18) Or thus; All things and the same, He says, to show the virtue of His nature, its being the same with God's. That is the same nature, which can do all the same things. And as the Son does all the same things in a like way, the likeness of the works excludes the notion of the worker existing aloneg. […]
"The Son can do nothing of himself." And the self-complete Wisdom? I received "a commandment what I should say and what I should speak." Through all these words He is guiding us to the knowledge of the Father, and referring our wonder at all that is brought into existence to Him, to the end that "through Him" we may know the Father. For the Father is not regarded from the difference of the operations, by the exhibition of a separate and peculiar energy; for whatsoever things He sees the Father doing, "these also doeth the Son likewise;" but He enjoys our wonder at all that comes to pass out of the glory which comes to Him from the Only Begotten, rejoicing in the Doer Himself as well as in the greatness of the deeds, and exalted by all who acknowledge Him as Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, "through whom are all things, and for whom are all things."
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 2 · Written before 444.
proposed
And greater works than these will He show Him, that YE may marvel. Above the blessed Evangelist says, The Jews were seeking to kill Jesus, because He was not only breaking the sabbath, but saying also that God was His Father, making Himself Equal with God. He therefore put down the accusation respecting the sabbath, by showing that the Father Himself worked on the sabbath day, and expending many words thereupon: and endeavours to teach them that He is in Equality with the Father, even when made Man for our sakes (for this was what the argument yet lacked), and therefore does He say And greater works than these will He show Him that YE may marvel. And what again does He will to show us hereby? The paralytic (it says) has been healed, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. And marvellous indeed the Power of Him That healed him, God-befitting exceedingly the Authority. This so great Wonderworker, no one (I suppose) in his senses would blame for saying that He is God, and since He is Son, Equal in all things to Him That begat Him. But since ye (He says) imagining things most wicked and foolish, are offended because of this mortal Body, ye must needs learn that My Authority and Power stop not here: for ye shall be, even though ye will it not, spectators of greater wonders, to wit of the resurrection of the dead, and yet more shall ye be astonished, seeing Power and Glory befitting God, in Me Whom now ye charge with blasphemy and are not ashamed to persecute, for merely saying, I am the Son of God. But how God the Father shows His Works to the Son, we have already said at much length.
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 2 · Written before 444.
proposed
For the Father loveth the Son Those who were heedlessly blaspheming against Him by reason of the sabbath, Christ convicts of being foolishly exasperated to empty anger, making most clear proof of the matter by saying that He is loved by His Father. For if the Father wholly loveth the Son, it is plain that He loves Him not as grieving Him, but rather as gladdening Him in what He does and works. Vainly then do they persecute Him Who refuseth not to show mercy on the sabbath, and hereby again are they found opposing the decrees of God the Father. For they think they ought to hate Him Whom He loves, but it is altogether (I suppose) manifest, that He would never have loved Him if He had gone contrary to the Will of His Father, and been accustomed to do of Himself and Alone whatsoever Himself willed. But since He justly loves, He approves, it is plain, and agrees to the breaking of the sabbath, and shows that it has nothing in respect of which God the Lord of the Law might reasonably be angry.
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 2 · Written before 444.
proposed
and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth; Needs does He subjoin this too to the preceding; and wherefore, I will say. Fathers who are among us, sometimes overcome by natural affection, bear with their sons grieving them, and seeing them attempt things against their judgment, they often suffer it. For vehement is the yearning love implanted in them in respect of their children persuading them to overcome all littleness of soul towards them. But not thus (saith He) does God the Father love the Son, for He cannot do anything which He too does not work by Nature, but as having One Essence with Him, He is called by certain Physical laws, so to say, to identical Will and Power. The Son then (saith He) worketh nothing contrary to what is pleasing or fitting to the Father, nor does He vaunt Himself in the love of the Father, as though a lover of novelty in His works and unbridled, but whatsoever things He sees Him doing, as in conception, all these He performeth restrained by Identity of Essence from falling aside in ought that is befitting God. For He hath no part with change in ought, or variableness: for He remaineth the Same unceasingly, as the Psalmist says. The Father again sheweth the Son what He Himself doeth, not as though setting before Him things depicted on a tablet, or teaching Him as though ignorant (for He knoweth all things as God): but depicting Himself wholly in the Nature of His Offspring, and shewing in Him His Own Natural Properties in order that from what Properties Himself is and is manifested, He may know of what kind and Who He is by nature That begat Him. Therefore Christ says, that no man knoweth Who the Son is but the Father, and Who the Father is, but the Son. For the accurate knowledge of each is in Both, not by learning, but by Nature. And God the Father seeth the Son in Himself, the Son again seeth the Father in Himself. […]
"The Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth; and He will show Him greater works than these." Seest thou how great is the humility of this? And with reason; for what I said before, what I shall not cease to say, I will now repeat, that when He uttereth anything low or humbly, He putteth it in excess, that the very poverty of the expression may persuade even the indisposed to receive the notions with pious understanding.
What then is His meaning? It was because He had strengthened the paralytic, and was about to raise the dead, that He thus spake, all but saying, "Wonder ye that I have strengthened the paralyzed? Ye shall see greater things than these." But He spake not thus, but proceeded somehow in a humbler strain, in order that He might soothe their madness. And that thou mayest learn that "shall show" is not used absolutely, listen again to what followeth.
The Medieval Church4 voices
If it is said in a lowly manner "shows Him all things" and "will show Him greater things than these," one should not marvel at this; for He is speaking with people who are crying out against Him and consumed with envy. If He had …
"For the Father loves the Son." I rightly said that the Son can do all things which the Father also does: "For the Father loves the Son." Therefore He supremely loves, because supremely one: below in chapter 10: "I and the Father are One": and …
755 Having pointed out the power of the Son in general, he now shows it in more detail. First, the Lord discloses his life-giving power. Secondly, he clarifies what seemed obscure in what was said before (v 26). As to the first he does two …
Then when he says, For the Father loves the Son, he gives the reason for each, i.e., for the origin of the Son's power and for its greatness. This reason is the love of the Father, who loves the Son. Thus he says, For the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Many are brought to marvel at Christ's works, whereby he has the honour of them, who are not brought to believe, by which they would have the benefit of them. He proves his equality with the Father, by specifying some of those works which he does that are the peculiar works of God.
For the Father loveth the Son,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
Greater works than these - Two of these he immediately mentions: Raising the dead, Joh 5:21. And judging the world, Joh 5:22. That ye may marvel - Or, So as to make you wonder. Our Lord sometimes speaks of himself as God, and sometimes as the ambassador of God. As he had a human and Divine nature, this distinction was essentially necessary. Many errors have originated from want of attention to this circumstance.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Joh 1:18), whose interests are one, even as their nature, that the Father communicates to the Son all His counsels, and what has been thus shown to the Son is by Him executed in His mediatorial character. "With the Father, doing is willing; it is only the Son who acts in Time" [ALFORD].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
These verses begin one of the most deep and solemn passages in the four Gospels. They show us the Lord Jesus asserting His own Divine nature, His unity with God the Father, and the high dignity of His office. No where does our Lord dwell so fully on these subjects as in the chapter before us. And no where, we must confess, do we find out so thoroughly the weakness of man's understanding! There is much, we must all feel, that is far beyond our comprehension in our Lord's account of Himself.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
These verses begin one of the most deep and solemn passages in the four Gospels. They show us the Lord Jesus asserting His own Divine nature, His unity with God the Father, and the high dignity of His office. No where does our Lord dwell so fully on these subjects as in the chapter before us. And no where, we must confess, do we find out so thoroughly the weakness of man's understanding! There is much, we must all feel, that is far beyond our comprehension in our Lord's account of Himself. Such knowledge, in short, is too astonishing for us. "It is high—we cannot attain unto it." (Psalm 139:6.) How often men say that they want clear explanations of such doctrines as the Trinity. Yet here we have our Lord handling the subject of His own Person, and, behold! we cannot follow Him. We seem only to touch His meaning with the tip of our fingers. We learn, for one thing, from the verses before us, that there are some works which it is lawful to do on the Sabbath day. The Jews, as on many other occasions, found fault because Jesus healed a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years, on the Sabbath. They charged our Lord with a breach of the fourth commandment. Our Lord's reply to the Jews is very remarkable. "My Father," he says, "works hitherto, and I also work." It is as though He said—"Though my Father rested on the seventh day from His work of creation , He has never rested for a moment from His providential government of the world, and from His merciful work of supplying the daily needs of all His creatures. Were He to rest from such work, the whole frame of nature would stand still. And I also work works of mercy on the Sabbath day. I do not break the fourth commandment when I heal the sick, any more than my Father breaks it when He causes the sun to rise and the grass to grow on the Sabbath."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Father loveth the Son - This authority he traces to the love which the Father has for him - that special, ineffable, infinite love which God has for his only-begotten Son, feebly and dimly illustrated by the love which an earthly parent has for an only child. Showeth him - Makes him acquainted with. Conceals nothing from him. From apostles, prophets, and philosophers no small part of the doings of God are concealed. From the “Son” nothing is. And as God shows him “all” that he does, he must be possessed of omniscience, for to no finite mind could be imparted a knowledge of “all” the works of God. Will show him - Will appoint and direct him to do greater works than these. Greater works than these - Than healing the impotent man, and commanding him to carry his bed on the Sabbath day. The greater works to which he refers are those which he proceeds to specify - he will raise the dead and judge the world, etc. May marvel - May wonder, or be amazed.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γὰρ | gar | For | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| πατὴρ | pater | the Father | G3962 → | 410 times |
| φιλεῖ | philei | loves | G5368 → | 25 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| υἱὸν | huion | Son | G5207 → | 377 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πάντα | panta | all things | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| δείκνυσιν | deiknusin | shows | G1166 → | 33 times |
| αὐτῷ | auto | to Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἃ | ha | that | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| αὐτὸς | autos | He himself | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ποιεῖ, | poiei | does, | G4160 → | 569 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| μείζονα | meizona | greater | G3173 → | 243 times |
| τούτων | touton | than these | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| δείξει | deixei | He will show | G1166 → | 33 times |
| αὐτῷ | auto | to Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἔργα | erga | works | G2041 → | 168 times |
| ἵνα | ina | so that | G2443 → | 668 times |
| ὑμεῖς | humeis | you yourselves | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| θαυμάζητε. | thaumazete | may marvel. | G2296 → | 43 times |
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
γὰρFor
garG1063 →1039 times
πατὴρthe Father
paterG3962 →410 times
φιλεῖloves
phileiG5368 →25 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
υἱὸνSon
huionG5207 →377 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πάνταall things
pantaG3956 →1235 times
δείκνυσινshows
deiknusinG1166 →33 times
αὐτῷto Him
autoG846 →5565 times
ἃthat
haG3739 →1405 times
αὐτὸςHe himself
autosG846 →5565 times
ποιεῖ,does,
poieiG4160 →569 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
μείζοναgreater
meizonaG3173 →243 times
τούτωνthan these
toutonG3778 →1381 times
δείξειHe will show
deixeiG1166 →33 times
αὐτῷto Him
autoG846 →5565 times
ἔργαworks
ergaG2041 →168 times
ἵναso that
inaG2443 →668 times
ὑμεῖςyou yourselves
humeisG4771 →2973 times
θαυμάζητε.may marvel.
thaumazeteG2296 →43 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 Peter 1:17For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
it leads to
- Matthew 17:5
While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 9:7
Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!”
- Matthew 3:17
And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”
- Luke 3:22
and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
- Luke 9:34–35
While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
- Matthew 17:5
Through
John 15:15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have…
it leads to
- Psalms 25:14
The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.
- 1 Corinthians 2:9–12
Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
- Matthew 13:11
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
- Psalms 25:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About John
This page draws on 20 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 18; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 21; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 19; Basil of Caesarea, ON THE SPIRIT 8.20; Basil of Caesarea, ON THE SPIRIT 8.19; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 5; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 2; Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; 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 Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel according to John; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 38; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON JOHN 25.20-21; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.