5:37a
And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And here introduces another witness. Jesus was claiming that his Father God had also personally testified about him. For example:
The Father who sent me also speaks for me (Contemporary English Version)
has Himself testified about Me: God spoke to show his approval of Jesus on various occasions. See John 1:32–33. In this way God himself was a witness for Jesus. His testimony proved that Jesus was speaking the truth. Here is another way to translate this phrase:
has given proof about me (New Century Version)
God had already testified at the time Jesus was speaking, and his words continued to be true and effective. So in some languages it may be natural to use a present tense verb. For example:
testifies on my behalf (Good News Translation)
-or-
bears witness to me himself (New Jerusalem Bible)
General Comment on 5:37a
In some languages it may be natural to translate this sentence with two independent clauses. For example:
The Father is the one who sent me, and he has himself testified about me.
5:37b
You have never heard His voice nor seen His form: This clause means “you have not heard God speak nor have you seen God.” See the note on 1:18a, “No one has ever seen God.” Here Jesus emphasized that his listeners did not truly know God.
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
You have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like (New Century Version)
-or-
You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face (New Living Translation (2004))
You: The pronoun You is plural and refers here again to the Jewish religious leaders.
His form: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as form here refers to what is visible, like a person’s body or face.
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