John 5:44

John 5:44 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
• New International Version (NIV)How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
• English Standard Version (ESV)How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
• New King James Version (NKJV)How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

Context of John 5:44

42But I know what kind of people you are. I know that you do not really love God. 43I have come with my Father's authority, but you do not accept me. But if someone else comes with his own authority, then you will accept him. You like to praise each other. That makes you happy. But what about God himself? You do not try to do good things so that he will praise you. That is why you will never believe in me. 45But I will not have to tell the Father that you are guilty. No, it is Moses who will do that. You think that Moses is the one who will show that you are right. But he is the one who will show that you are guilty. 46Moses wrote about me. So, if you had really believed Moses, you would believe me.

John 5:44 word by word

Πῶς δύνασθε ὑμεῖς πιστεῦσαι δόξαν παρὰ ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ οὐ ζητεῖτε;¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Howπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
• canδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• yeσύsu · youG4771
• believeπιστεύωpisteuō · to trust (in)G4100
• which receiveλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
• honourδόξαdoxa · gloryG1391
• oneἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
• ofπαράpara · from/with/besideG3844
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• seekζητέωzēteō · to seekG2212
• notοὐou · noG3756
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• onlyμόνοςmonos · aloneG3441

Cross-references for John 5:44

• John 3:20Everyone who does evil things hates the light. A person like that will not come to the light because he is afraid. He does not want the bad things that he has done to show clearly.
• John 8:43Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot really accept my message.
• John 12:43The Pharisees wanted other people to praise them, more than they wanted God to praise them.
• Jeremiah 13:23You have done evil things for a long time. So you cannot now start to do good things. Can anyone change the colour of his skin? Can a leopard remove the marks on its body? No! And you cannot change yourselves either.’
• Romans 8:7If our weak human thoughts rule us, we become God's enemies. People like that do not want to obey God's Law. They are not even able to obey it.
• Hebrews 3:12So be careful, my Christian friends. Do not refuse to trust God. That would be a very bad thing to do. Do not turn away from the God who lives for ever.
• Matthew 23:5The Pharisees do things only so that people will see them. They wear little boxes with words from the Bible in them, but they make them really big. They also make the tassels on their clothes very long.
• Galatians 5:19Everyone knows the kinds of bad things that weak people want to do. They have sex with people that they are not married to. They do things that are bad and disgusting.
• Philippians 2:3In the way that you live, do not just try to help yourself. Do not be proud. Instead, respect other people. Think about other people as more important than yourself.
• 1 Samuel 2:30Because of what you have done, the Lord, Israel's God, says this to you: “I promised your family and your ancestors that they would serve me as priests for ever.” But now the Lord says, “That will never happen! I will give honour to people who respect me. But I will curse people who insult me.
• 2 Chronicles 6:8But the Lord said to my father David, “It was good that you wanted to build a temple to give me honour.
• Matthew 25:21The master said to this servant, “You are a good servant and you have done really well. You were careful with a small amount of money. Now I will give you authority over many more things. I am really happy about this and I want you to be happy with me.”
• Luke 19:17The king was happy and said to his servant, “You have done well. You are a good servant that I can trust. You have used a small amount of money well. So now you will rule over ten cities.”
• Romans 2:7Some people continue patiently to do good things. They want to do what is right so that God will praise them. They want to live the kind of life which death will not spoil. God will cause people like that to live with him always.
• 1 Corinthians 4:5So you should not decide about things before the time is right. Wait until the Lord comes again. He will show everything clearly. He will show the bad things that people have done secretly. He will show the secret purpose of people's thoughts. Then God will praise each person in a way that is right for them.
• 2 Corinthians 10:18Who is really good? It is not the person who praises himself. It is the person that the Lord says is a good person.

Commentaries on John 5:44

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 44How can ye believe, which receive honor, etc. - The grand obstacle to the salvation of the scribes and Pharisees was their pride, vanity, and self-love. They lived on each other's praise. If they had acknowledged Christ as the only teacher, they must have given up the good opinion of the multitude; and they chose rather to lose their souls than to forfeit their reputation among men! This is the ruin of millions. They would be religious, if religion and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 44Which receive honour one of another - Who are studious of praise, and live for pride, ambition, and vainglory. This desire, Jesus says, was the great reason why they would not believe on him. They were unwilling to renounce their worldly honors, and become the followers of one so humble and unostentatious as he was. They expected a Messiah of pomp and splendor, and would not submit to one so despised and of so lowly a rank. Had the Messiah come, as they…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 39-44Verses 39-44 The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possible for men to be very studious in the letter of the Scriptures…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 44The Jewish leaders wanted honor and praise from one another. They cared about their reputation and status. They loved religious activity, but they did not truly love God. Their actions did not match their claims. Because of this, God would judge them (5:45–46).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 43-4743-47. if another shall come, &c.--How strikingly has this been verified in the history of the Jews! "From the time of the true Christ to our time, sixty-four false Christs have been reckoned by whom they have been deceived" [Bengel].Read the comment

Topics related to John 5:44

• Ambition
• Godlessness
• Unbelief
• Worldliness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Folk
• Judgment
• Lest
• Light
• Step
• Trouble
• Troubling
• Witness

Commentaries on John 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings