Paragraph 5:33–35

Jesus continued to discuss his witnesses, those who could speak in support of his claims. In this paragraph he said that John the Baptist was a witness to the truth.

5:33a

You have sent to John: The Jewish leaders sent messengers to John the Baptist to find out who he was. See 1:19–28.

You: This pronoun is plural and refers to the Jewish leaders who were questioning Jesus.

John: Jesus was referring to John the Baptist. Refer to him as you did in 1:19.

5:33b

he: This pronoun refers to John the Baptist. In some languages it is more natural to supply the name “John” here. For example:

John told you what was true about me.

has testified: See how you translated “testify” in 5:31. Here is another way to translate this word:

he has told you the truth (New Century Version)

to the truth: The phrase the truth here refers to what John the Baptist said about Jesus. He said Jesus was the Lamb of God and was greater than John. These things were true, accurate, faithful, and reliable. In some languages it is more natural to supply the information that John was speaking about Jesus. For example:

his testimony about me was true (New Living Translation (2004))

In some languages it is natural to translate the abstract noun truth with a clause. For example:

You have sent people to John, and he has spoken words that are true.

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