Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 3:32
And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
32. what he hath seen and heard ] In His pre-existence with God; Joh 3:11, Joh 1:18. He has immediate knowledge of heavenly things.
that he testifieth ] Better, that he witnesseth (see on Joh 1:7). Precisely this is the substance of His witness.
and no man ] The tragic tone again; see on Joh 1:5, and comp. Joh 3:11. ‘No man’ is an exaggeration resulting from deep feeling: comparatively speaking none, so few were those who accepted the Messiah. Comp. the similar exaggeration on the other side, Joh 3:26, ‘all men come to Him.’ These extreme contradictory statements, placed in such close proximity, confirm our trust in the Evangelist as faithfully reporting what was actually said. He does not soften it down to make it look plausible.
receiveth his testimony ] Better, receiveth His witness. The Baptist takes up Christ’s words in Joh 3:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And what he hath seen … – See Joh 3:11.
No man receiveth his testimony – The words no man are here to be understood in the sense of few. Though his doctrine is pure, plain, sublime, yet few, comparatively, received it in faith. Though multitudes came to him, drawn by various motives Joh 6:26, yet few became his real disciples, Mat 26:56; Mat 7:22.
His testimony – His doctrine. The truth to which he bears witness as having seen and known it, Joh 3:11. Often many persons appear for a time to become the followers of Christ, who in the end are seen to have known nothing of religion, Mat 13:6; Luk 8:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 32. And no man receiveth his testimony.] Or, And this his testimony no man taketh up. That is, the testimony which John had borne to the Jews, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. No man taketh up. – No person is found to tread in my steps, and to publish to the Jews that this is the Christ, the Saviour of the world. See this sense of the original fully proved and vindicated by Kypke in loc.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Another great difference which the Baptist teacheth his disciples to put between his testimony and Christs, is, that he, and so all other ministers of the gospel, testify by revelation; Christ testifieth not by revelation, but from his own personal knowledge, what himself hath seen and heard from his Father. See Joh 3:11, where our Saviour had spoken to Nicodemus much the same. So Joh 1:18; Joh 8:26; 15:15. By these two terms is signified the most certain and infallible knowledge of those things which he testified, which made them worthy of all acceptation: but yet very few received his testimony, so as to believe in it: see Joh 1:11; 3:11.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
32. what he hath seen and heard(Seeon Joh 3:11 and Joh1:18).
and no man receiveth,&c.John’s disciples had said, “All come to Him”(Joh 3:26). The Baptist herevirtually says, Would it were so, but alas! they are next to “none“[BENGEL]. They were farreadier to receive himself, and obliged him to say, I am not theChrist, and he seems pained at this.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And what he hath seen and heard,…. Of the Father, of his mind and will, of his purposes and promises, of his love, grace, and mercy, in the council and covenant of peace, lying in his bosom, and being privy to all his secrets. The phrases express the clear and perfect knowledge Christ has of all truths and doctrines; he having all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in him.
That he testifieth; fully, freely, and faithfully; withholds nothing, but declares the whole counsel of God; and is deservedly called the faithful witness, Re 1:5.
And no man receiveth his testimony; though it was the testimony of God, which is greater than that of man; yet few, and which were next to none at all, gave any heed or credit to it; few or none among the Jews, or among the disciples of John, or even among those that followed Christ. John, and his disciples, widely differed; they thought that all men came to Christ, and believed in him; and John thought few or none, in comparison of the numbers he could have wished, did: and indeed, no one person can receive the testimony of Christ, and believe in him, unless it be given him from above, by the grace of God: for the natural man receives not divine and spiritual things; see Joh 3:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
What he hath seen and heard ( ). Perfect active indicative followed by aorist active indicative, because, as Westcott shows, the first belongs to the very existence of the Son and the latter to his mission. There is no confusion of tenses here.
No man (). There were crowds coming to Jesus, but they do not really accept him as Saviour and Lord (John 1:11; John 2:24). It is superficial as time will show. But “no one” is not to be pressed too far, for it is the rhetorical use.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And what he hath seen and heard,” (ho heoraken kai ekousen) “What he has seen and heard,” in and from heaven, from where He has come down. Seeing and hearing constitute reliable testimony evidence, experimental knowledge of a nature that Jesus brought from His Father in heaven, 2Co 8:9, Joh 17:4.
2) ”That he testifieth;- (touto marturei) “To this he testifies,” bears witness. More than twenty times the phrase “He that sent me,” and “the Father that sent me,” occurs in this gospel alone, Joh 4:34; Joh 8:26; Joh 8:28; Joh 15:5; Joh 15:15.
3) “And no man receiveth his testimony.” (kai ten marturian autou oudeis lambanei) “And yet the witness or testimony of him not one receives,” no one comparatively speaking, or was receiving at that particular time –a drought of response had then fallen; No man then responded to the testimony of Jesus. This does not mean that He had been universally rejected, though “His own received Him not,” Joh 1:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
32. And what he hath seen and heard. John proceeds in the discharge of his office; for, in order to procure disciples for Christ, he commends Christ’s doctrine as certain, because he utters nothing but what he has received from the Father. Seeing and hearing are contrasted with doubtful opinions, unfounded rumors, and every kind of falsehoods; for he means that Christ teaches nothing but what has been fully ascertained. But some one will say that little credit is due to him who has nothing but what he has heard. I reply, this word denotes that Christ has been taught by the Father, so that he brings forward nothing but what is divine, or, in other words, what has been revealed to him by God.
Now this belongs to the whole person of Christ, so far as the Father sent him into the world as His ambassador and interpreter. He afterwards charges the world with ingratitude, in basely and wickedly rejecting such an undoubted and faithful interpreter of God. In this way he meets the offense which might cause many to turn aside from the faith, and might hinder or retard the progress of many; for, as we are accustomed to depend too much on the judgment of the world, a considerable number of persons judge of the Gospel by the contempt of the world, or at least, where they see it everywhere rejected, they are prejudiced by that event, and are rendered more unwilling and more slow to believe. And, therefore, whenever we see such obstinacy in the world, let this admonition hold us in constant obedience to the Gospel, that it is truth which came from God. When he says that NO-MAN, receiveth his testimony, he means that there are very few and almost no believers, when compared with the vast crowd of unbelievers.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(32) And what he hath seen and heard.This is the opposite of the third point, the speaking of the earth in the last verse. Divine in origin, divine in nature, He is divine in teaching. That teaching, too, is a witness of things seen and heard. (Comp. Notes on Joh. 6:11-12.) It was a message from the Fathers home, brought by the Son Himself. His own message was but that of a servant who did not fully know its meaning.
No man receiveth his testimony.These words are shown by those which immediately follow to go in their pathos beyond the strict limit of the facts present to his own mind. Yet he may well have said no man. Of the crowds that thronged to his own baptism, of those who were then thronging to the baptism of Jesus, how many were there who were receiving like testimony of the things seen and heard? (Comp. again Joh. 3:11.) How great the first promise, how bitter the last disappointment, of the Baptists life! These words of intense feeling are not to be measured by the cold standard of a formal exactness. And still it may be that the sadness of his tone arises from the fact that of those to whom he speaks, and at the time when he speaks, there was literally no one receiving this testimony, but all were seeking to make the earthly teacher a rival of the divine. The tense is present; those in the next verse are past.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
32. What he hath seen A messenger from heaven is no second-hand reporter. He daguerreotypes for us the objects his own eyes beheld.
No man receiveth his testimony The Baptist here discloses who is this messenger from heaven. It is one not yet credited by men. Not Nicodemus, not the Jews at the Passover, not even his own disciples, had as yet risen to the full realization of Jesus as he is now depicted by these words of the Baptist.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 3:32. What he hath seen, &c. In allusion to his being from above, where he enjoys the most intimate communications of his Father’s counsels; that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony; particularly concerning the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God, and the qualifications requisite in his subjects. There is a strong resemblance between this and what our Lord himself said to Nicodemus, Joh 3:11; Joh 3:13. As the two senses of seeing and hearing furnish us with the most certain knowledge, they are mentioned to denote the certainty of the doctrines delivered by Christ
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
Ver. 32. No man receiveth ] i.e. None to speak of; comparatively none. Rari quippe boni, Few obviously are good, saith Juvenal. Rari sunt qui philosophantur, There are few who are philosophers, saith Ulpian the lawyer. Perraro grati reperiuntur, Very rare are pleasing men discovered, said Cicero the orator. All men have not faith, saith the apostle, 2Th 3:2 ; no, not of those that profess the faith. Though a gun be discharged at a whole flight of birds, there are but a few killed. Though the net be spread over the whole pond, but a few fishes are taken; many thrust their heads into the mud and the net passeth over them; so most hearers do busy their heads with their own sensual or worldly thoughts, and so escape the power of the word.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 3:32 . The result is . Seeing and hearing are equivalent to having direct knowledge. The man who is of earth may be trusted when he speaks of earth: he who is from heaven testifies to that of which he has had experimental knowledge ( cf. Joh 3:13 ), and might therefore expect to be listened to, but . The which connects the clauses implies the meaning “and yet”. This statement could not have been made when crowds were thronging to Jesus’ baptism. They are the reflection of the evangelist, who sees how sporadically the testimony of Christ has been received. Yet it has not been universally rejected: . He who received His testimony sealed that God is true. . means to stamp with approval, to endorse, to give confirmation. Wetstein quotes from Aristides, Platonic. , i., p. 18: . But he who believes Christ not only confirms or approves Christ’s truthfulness, but God’s. . For Christ is God’s ambassador and speaks God’s words. This is a thought which pervades this Gospel, see Joh 8:26 ; Joh 8:28 ; Joh 15:5 , etc. “He that sent me,” or “the Father that sent me,” is a phrase occurring over twenty times in the Gospel and is characteristic of the aspect of Christ presented in it, as revealing the Father.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
heard. Not “hath heard”.
testimony. Greek. marturia. See note on “witness”, Joh 1:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 3:32. , He testifieth) That is much more weighty than He speaks [, Joh 3:31].-, no man) So ardently does John desire that Christ should obtain universal authority, that instead of that, which his [Johns] disciples say, all [men come to Him], Joh 3:26, John says, no man [receiveth His testimony]: comp. ch. Joh 12:38, The saying of Esaias fulfilled, Lord who hath believed our report? etc.-, receiveth) A form of faith. There must be a receiving, not a mere bodily coming.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 3:32
Joh 3:32
What he hath seen and heard, of that he beareth witness; and no man receiveth his witness.-Jesus who came from heaven testifies what he heard in heaven and the world did not believe him. The next sentence shows that this was not to be received as literally true.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
what: Joh 3:11, Joh 5:20, Joh 8:26, Joh 15:15
and no: Joh 3:26, Joh 3:33, Joh 1:11, Isa 50:2, Isa 53:1, Rom 10:16-21, Rom 11:2-6
Reciprocal: Psa 19:7 – testimony Psa 81:8 – Hear Pro 4:10 – my Isa 8:16 – the testimony Joh 4:3 – left Joh 8:38 – speak Joh 12:49 – General Joh 14:10 – words Joh 16:13 – for Heb 12:1 – witnesses 1Jo 4:14 – we have 1Jo 5:9 – we Rev 1:1 – which God Rev 1:5 – who is
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
As Jesus was from above, he was able to speak from personal knowledge. Notwithstanding, no man (comparatively speaking) seemed willing to receive the testimony of such an infallible witness.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 3:32. He that cometh out of heaven beareth witness of what he hath seen and heard; and no man receiveth his witness. In Joh 3:12 we have seen that heaven is spoken of as the place of immediate divine knowledge and light. Jesus alone belongs to this sphere: all the prophets before His coming, though divinely commissioned, had the earth as the starting-point of their utterances, spoke of what they had received on earth, spoke truly but not perfectly. The Divine light was reflected from the prophets to the world around. In Jesus the heavenly light itself came into the world. Jesus alone, then, beareth witness to that which He hath seen and which He heard, and (here again is the mournful cadence of this Gospel) no one receiveth His witness. So few receive, that they seem as nothing in comparison with those who reject. That the rejection is not in strictness universal the next verse declares.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe, 1. Another great difference which John the Baptist teacheth his disciples to put betwixt his testimony and Christ’s; to the intent that he might remove the prejustice which was upon his disciples minds against the Messiah, he shews them that his own testimony (which they so much admired) was by revelation only; Christ’s by immediate intuition. John testified only what he had received; but Christ what he had seen; lying in the bosom of the Father: What he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth.
Learn hence, That it is Christ’s (the great Prophet of his church) peculiar prerogrative, to have the knowledge of divine truths immediately from the Father, by special communication; and that all others receive their knowledge from him by gracious illumination only.
Observe, 2. How sadly and sorrowfully the Baptists resents it, that Christ’s testimony was no better received and entertained by the world: He testifieth but no man receiveth his testimony. John’s disciples murdered, That all men came unto Christ, verse 26. But John mourns that their came not more, and complains, that none, that is, very few, received his testimony.
Thence learn, That it ought and will be matter of great regret and sorrow to all the freinds of Jesus Christ, but especially to his faithful ministers and servants, that his doctrine is so ill received and entertained in the world. It greatly affects, and greviously afflicts them, that when they testify of Christ , no man, that is, comparatively, very few men , receive their testimony.
Observe, 3. The eulogy and high commendation given of all true believers, They receive Christ’s testimony, and thereby set to their seal that God is true; that is, have subscribed to, and ratified the truth of God; that God in all his promises of the Messiah, under the Old Testament, is faithful and true.
Learn hence, The great honour that God puts upon the faith of believers. As unbelief defames God, and makes him a liar; so faith gives testimony to the truth of God, and setteth its seal that God is true: He that receiveth his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
Observe, 4. The illustrious character which the holy Baptist gives of Christ, his Master; he is the person whom God hath sent, that is, immediately and extraordinarily from heaven: not as the prophets and apostles were sent, but in a way peculiar to himself; having authority for speaking, not only from God, but as being God himself.
And accordingly, it is added, that God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him; that is, the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit were poured forth upon Christ, in a measure far above and beyond all finite creatures; there being a double difference betwixt Christ’s fulness of the Spirit, and all other persons whatsoever.
1. In the measure of it. God did not give out the Spirit to Christ sparingly, and with limitation, as he did to the former prophets and John the Baptist, in proportion to what their offices required; but he was anointed more plentifully and abundantly with the Holy Spirit above and beyond his fellows.
2. In the manner of its working. The holy prophets that were filled with the spirit (according to their measures) yet could not do or declare all things, nor act upon all occasions, but sometimes the Spirit restrained them, and sometimes departed from them. But Christ had no limits put upon the vigour of his Spirit, but his own will; therefore could work what, and when he pleased.
Learn from hence, That Christ had an abundant fitness from God for the discharge of his office, and an abundant fulness for his people. God did not measure to him a certain quantity and proportion of the gifts and graces of his spirit, but poured it forth upon him without measure.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Joh 3:32-34. And what he hath seen and heard This is spoken in allusion to what was said in the preceding verse, of his being from above, where he enjoyed the most intimate communications of the divine counsels; that he testifieth Clearly, fully, and faithfully; and no man receiveth his testimony That is, very few receive it, particularly concerning the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God, and the qualifications requisite in his subjects. There is a strong resemblance between this and what our Lord himself said to Nicodemus, Joh 3:11-13. He that hath received his testimony That hath understood and believed it; hath set to his seal that God is true Hath made a most just and substantial acknowledgment of the veracity of God, who by his prophets in ancient times foretold what the nature of his kingdom under the Messiah would be, and who speaks to men now by his only-begotten Son, in such a manner as he never did by any other prophet. As sealing was employed for vouching the authenticity of writings, to seal came, by a natural and easy transition, to signify, to vouch, to attest. Our acceptance of Gods message by his Son, through an unshaken faith, vouches on our part the faithfulness of God, and the truth of his promises. For he whom God hath sent His only-begotten Son; speaketh the words of God Declareth doctrines which ought to be regarded as divine oracles, showing themselves to be such by their own native light of truth, and proved to be such by a great variety of the most extraordinary miracles. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him Or, under such limitations, and with such interruptions, as he hath given, or still gives, that blessed gift to all his other messengers; but it dwells in him by a constant presence, and operates through him by a perpetual and unprecedented energy.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 32. What he hath seen and heard, of that he beareth witness; and no man receiveth his witness.
The , and, is omitted by the Alexandrian authorities, and no doubt rightly; asyndeta are frequent in this discourse. From the heavenly origin of Jesus follows the perfection of His teaching. He is in filial communion with the Father. When He speaks of divine things, He speaks of them as an immediate witness. This saying is the echo of that of Jesus in Joh 3:11. In reproducing it, the forerunner declares that Jesus has affirmed nothing respecting Himself which is not the exact truth. But how could he know this? We think we have answered this question in the explanation of Joh 3:29.
By the last words, John confirms the severe judgment which Jesus had passed upon the conduct of the people and their rulers (Joh 3:11). However, while declaring, as Jesus had done, the general unbelief of Israel, John does not deny individual exceptions; he brings them out expressly in Joh 3:33. What he means here by the word no one, is that these exceptions which seem so numerous to the view of his disciples that they make the whole (all Joh 3:26), are to his view only an imperceptible minority. To the exaggeration of envy, he opposes that of zeal: Where you say: all, as for me, I say: no one. He would not be satisfied unless he saw the Sanhedrim in a body, followed by the whole people, coming to render homage to the bridegroom of the Messianic community. Then, he could, himself also, abandon his office as friend of the bridegroom, and come to sit, as spouse, at the Messiah’s feet. We should notice the verbs in the present tense, he testifies …no one receives, which place us in the time of the ministry of Jesus, and do not permit us to put this part of the discourse in the evangelist’s mouth.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 32
And no man receiveth, &c.; a remark more likely to be made by John the evangelist, when writing his history long after our Savior’s death, and when he had been so decidedly rejected by the Jews, than by John the Baptist, just at the commencement of his ministry, when, as it is expressed in John 3:26, all men were coming unto him.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
3:32 And what he hath {z} seen and heard, that he testifieth; and {a} no man receiveth his testimony.
(z) What he knows fully and perfectly.
(a) That is, very few.