John 5:39 BSB — MannaFest

John 5:39

You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;

KJV

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

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Commentary

2 voices

Irenaeus

Against Heresies Book IV (202)

Wherefore also John does appropriately relate that the Lord said to the Jews: "Ye search the Scriptures, in which ye think ye have eternal life; these are they which testify of me. And ye are not willing to come unto Me, that ye may have life." How therefore did the Scriptures testify of Him, unless they were from one and the same Father, instructing men beforehand as to the advent of His Son, and foretelling the salvation brought in by Him?

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Search the Scriptures,.... The writings of Moses, and the prophets, which were of divine inspiration and authority, and are often appealed unto by Christ, and his apostles, for the truth of what they delivered; and were the standard of faith, and the test of doctrines; and therefore to be searched diligently into, for finding divine knowledge and improvement in it, and for the trial of doctrines.

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Search the Scriptures - A plain command to all men. In them ye are assured ye have eternal life - Ye know they show you the way to eternal life. And these very Scriptures testify of me.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Search the scriptures - The word translated “search” here means to “search diligently” or “search anxiously.” It was applied to miners, who search for precious metals - who look anxiously for the “bed” of the ore with an intensity or anxiety proportionate to “their sense” of the value of the metal. Compare the notes at Job 28:3. It is applied by Homer to a lioness robbed of her whelps, and who “searches” the plain to “trace out” the footsteps of the man who has robbed her.

J.C. Ryle

1816–1900

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

18 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἐραυνᾶτε	eraunate	You diligently search	G2045 →
τὰς	tas	the	G3588 →
γραφάς,	graphas	Scriptures,	G1124 →
ὅτι	hoti	for	G3754 →
ὑμεῖς	humeis	you yourselves	G4771 →
δοκεῖτε	dokeite	think	G1380 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
αὐταῖς	autais	them	G846 →
ζωὴν	zōēn	life	G2222 →
αἰώνιον	aiōnion	eternal	G166 →
ἔχειν·	echein	to have;	G2192 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἐκεῖναί	ekeinai	these	G1565 →
εἰσιν	eisin	are they	G1510 →
αἱ	hai	those	G3588 →
μαρτυροῦσαι	marturousai	bearing witness	G3140 →
περὶ	peri	concerning	G4012 →
ἐμοῦ,	emou	Me,	G1473 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Luke 24:44
Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets,…
leads to
- Zechariah 12:10
  Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They…
- Luke 24:26–27
  Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
- Zechariah 9:9
  Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of…
- Acts 13:33
  He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’
- Psalms 110:1–7
  The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Through
Luke 24:27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
leads to
- Isaiah 7:14
  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- Luke 24:44
  Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets,…
- Deuteronomy 18:15
  The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.