John 1:12

John 1:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
• New International Version (NIV)Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
• English Standard Version (ESV)But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
• New King James Version (NKJV)But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Context of John 1:12

10He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him. 11He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him. But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God’s children 13– children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God. 14Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

John 1:12 word by word

ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• as many asὅσοςhosos · just as/how muchG3745
• receivedλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• gave heδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
• powerἐξουσίαexousia · authorityG1849
• to becomeγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• the sonsτέκνονteknon · childG5043
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• to themὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• that believeπιστεύωpisteuō · to trust (in)G4100
• onεἰςeis · towardG1519
• nameὄνομαonoma · nameG3686

Cross-references for John 1:12

• Matthew 10:40“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
• Matthew 18:5And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me.
• Colossians 2:6Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
• Isaiah 56:5I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument that will be better than sons and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.
• Jeremiah 3:19“I thought to myself, ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! What a joy it would be for me to give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ and would never cease being loyal to me.
• Hosea 1:10(2:1) However, in the future the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which can be neither measured nor numbered. Although it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are children of the living God!”
• Romans 8:14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
• 2 Corinthians 6:17Therefore “come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you,
• Galatians 3:26For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.
• Galatians 4:6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!”
• 2 Peter 1:4Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
• 1 John 3:1(See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.
• John 2:23Now while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing.
• John 3:18The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
• John 20:31But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
• Matthew 12:21And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Commentaries on John 1:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Gave he power - , Privilege, honor, dignity, or right. He who is made a child of God enjoys the greatest privilege which the Divine Being can confer on this side eternity. Those who accept Jesus Christ, as he is offered to them in the Gospel, have, through his blood, a right to this sonship; for by that sacrifice this blessing was purchased; and the fullest promises of God confirm it to all who believe. And those who are engrafted in the heavenly family…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12To as many as received him - The great mass; the people; the scribes and Pharisees rejected him. A few in his lifetime received him, and many more after his death. “To receive him,” here, means to “believe” on him. This is expressed at the end of the verse. Gave he power - This is more appropriately rendered in the margin by the word “right” or “privilege.” Compare Acts 1:7; Acts 5:4; Romans 9:21; 1 Corinthians 7:37; 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-14Verses 6-14 John the Baptist came to bear witness concerning Jesus. Nothing more fully shows the darkness of men's minds, than that when the Light had appeared, there needed a witness to call attention to it. Christ was the true Light; that great Light which deserves to be called so. By his Spirit and grace he enlightens all that are enlightened to salvation; and those that are not enlightened by him, perish in darkness. Christ was in the world when he…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12People can follow the light and join God's family only when God spiritually renews them (3:1–17). People must believe in Christ to become children of God (12:35–36).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-1310-13. He was in the world, &c.--The language here is nearly as wonderful as the thought. Observe its compact simplicity, its sonorousness--"the world" resounding in each of its three members--and the enigmatic form in which it is couched, startling the reader and setting his ingenuity a-working to solve the stupendous enigma of Christ ignored in His own world. "The world," in the first two clauses, plainly means the created world, into which He came…Read the comment

Topics related to John 1:12

• Adoption
• Faith
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Sons of God
• Behold
• Believe
• Blood
• Covenant
• Dwell
• Father
• Flesh

Commentaries on John 1

• 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