7:17a

If anyone desires to do His will: This expression refers to anyone and everyone who decides to obey God, and does obey him. The word desires here means “decides or determines to do something.”

Here are other ways to translate this expression:

Whoever chooses to do the will of God (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Those who choose to obey God
-or-
If anyone wants to do God’s will (NET Bible Bible)

to do His will: This phrase refers to obeying God. In some languages it is more natural to express His will as a phrase with a verb. For example:

do what God wants (New Century Version)

7:17b–c

he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own: This part of the sentence indicates that the people referred to in 7:17a receive spiritual wisdom. They are able to know if Jesus’ message was from God or not. And Jesus implied that his teaching was truly from God.

A literal translation of 7:17b–c may wrongly imply that Jesus was not sure that his teaching came from God. It may be necessary to make the correct meaning explicit. For example:

they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from men (New Century Version)

know: In this context the verb know refers to understanding a situation correctly. These people will make the right choice between two possible ways of understanding Jesus and his message.

Here are other ways to translate this verb:

distinguish
-or-
realize

My teaching: In some languages it is more natural to translate the noun teaching using a verb. For example:

what I teach (Good News Translation)

is from God: This phrase means “is given by God.” What Jesus taught was what God told him to say. God sent him and gave him the message. Here is another way to translate this phrase

comes from God (Good News Translation)

whether I speak on My own: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as speak on My own refers to speaking one’s own ideas, or on one’s own authority. It is the opposite of speaking because someone is obeying God and depending on him. See the note on 5:19b, “the Son can do nothing by Himself.”

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

if I teach my own thoughts (God’s Word)
-or-
whether I speak on my own authority (Good News Translation)

General Comment on 7:17

Verse 17 is one long sentence with many clauses. In some languages it may be clearer if you use more than one sentence. For example:

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, then he will know the source of what I teach. He will know whether God is the source of my teaching or whether it comes from my own mind.

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