John 5:46 kjv
For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.
John 5:46 nkjv
For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
John 5:46 niv
If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
John 5:46 esv
For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.
John 5:46 nlt
If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.
John 5 46 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 3:15 | "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head..." | Early prophecy of Messiah |
| Gen 12:3 | "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." | Abrahamic covenant points to Christ |
| Gen 22:18 | "...and in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." | Seed of Abraham is Christ |
| Num 21:8-9 | "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole...'" | Bronze serpent prefigures Christ's lifting up |
| Deut 18:15 | "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you..." | Moses prophesied a coming Prophet like himself |
| Deut 18:18 | "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers..." | God promises to raise a great prophet |
| Jn 1:45 | "Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote...'" | Philip directly connects Jesus to Moses' writings |
| Jn 3:14 | "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up..." | Jesus identifies with Moses' event |
| Jn 5:39 | "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me..." | Scriptures testify about Jesus |
| Jn 5:47 | "For if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" | Consequence of not believing Moses |
| Lk 16:29 | "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'" | Moses and Prophets as sufficient witness |
| Lk 16:31 | "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." | Lack of belief in Moses means lack of belief in any sign |
| Lk 24:27 | "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." | Jesus explained OT prophecies about Him |
| Lk 24:44 | "...everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." | Jesus fulfills the entire Old Testament |
| Acts 3:22 | "Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers...' " | Peter affirms Moses' prophecy |
| Acts 7:37 | "This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, 'God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers as He raised up me.'" | Stephen also cites Moses' prophecy |
| Acts 10:43 | "To Him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” | All prophets, including Moses, testify of Christ |
| 1 Cor 5:7 | "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." | Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of Passover |
| 1 Cor 10:4 | "and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ." | Christ was with Israel in the wilderness |
| Heb 9:9 | "...It was a copy for the present time. Both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the worshiper in conscience." | Mosaic rituals pointed to Christ |
| Heb 10:1 | "For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities..." | Law as shadow, Christ as substance |
| 1 Pet 1:10-11 | "Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully..." | Prophets testified of Christ's sufferings |
John 5 verses
John 5 46 Meaning
John 5:46 states that the Jewish leaders' rejection of Jesus stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding or outright disbelief in Moses' writings. Jesus asserts that a genuine belief in the books written by Moses would naturally lead to faith in Him, because Moses extensively testified and prophesied about His coming and identity. Thus, their refusal to believe Jesus indicated their true lack of belief in the very Scriptures they claimed to uphold.
John 5 46 Context
John chapter 5 details Jesus' healing of a paralytic at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, which provokes the Jewish authorities. This incident leads to intense conflict as they not only challenge His Sabbath work but are incensed by His claim that God is His own Father, making Himself equal with God (Jn 5:18). Jesus' discourse in verses 19-47 is a defense of His divine authority and a confrontation of their unbelief. He systematically presents various witnesses to His identity – the Father, His works, John the Baptist, and most significantly, the Scriptures (Jn 5:31-45). Verse 46 culminates His argument by turning their revered authority, Moses, against them, revealing their spiritual blindness. Historically, the Jewish leaders prided themselves on their adherence to Moses and the Torah; Jesus' challenge strikes at the very core of their religious self-perception.
John 5 46 Word analysis
- For (γάρ - gar): A particle indicating explanation or cause. It connects this verse directly to the preceding argument, providing the reason for their spiritual blindness.
- if you believed (εἰ ἐπιστεύετε - ei episteuete): The conditional "if" with the imperfect tense ("were believing") often indicates a condition contrary to fact or an unfulfilled hypothetical. Jesus implies they do not truly believe Moses, despite their outward claims. This highlights their spiritual failure.
- Moses (Μωϋσῆς - Mōysēs): Primarily refers to the five books of the Law (the Pentateuch), traditionally authored by Moses, but also to Moses himself as the archetypal prophet and lawgiver whose words held supreme authority for the Jewish people.
- you would believe Me (ἐμοὶ ἂν ἐπιστεύετε - emoi an episteuete): The imperfect tense ("would be believing") is used again, paralleling the "if you believed Moses" phrase, underscoring the interconnectedness. "Me" (ἐμοὶ - emoi) is emphatic, contrasting Jesus' identity with Moses, yet also linking them as part of a singular divine plan.
- for he wrote (περὶ ἐμοῦ ἔγραψεν - peri emou egrapsen): "He" (implied subject from egrapsen - "he wrote") points back to Moses as the author. The aorist tense "wrote" signifies a definitive, completed action in the past, establishing the enduring testimony.
- about Me (περὶ ἐμοῦ - peri emou): Emphatically states that Moses' writings contained direct prophecies and prefigurements of Jesus. This transforms the Pentateuch from mere historical accounts or legal codes into a Christ-centered revelation, making its ultimate purpose to point to the Messiah.
Words-group analysis
- "if you believed Moses, you would believe Me": This powerful conditional statement establishes a fundamental unity between Mosaic revelation and Jesus' identity. It means true belief in the former necessarily leads to faith in the latter. It is an indictment against those who revered the Law outwardly but missed its true substance, which pointed to Jesus. Their compartmentalized faith was deemed insincere by Jesus.
- "for he wrote about Me": This phrase serves as the direct theological justification for the prior conditional statement. Jesus asserts Himself as the focal point of the Torah. This claim signifies that the entire Mosaic dispensation was designed by God with Jesus at its core, anticipating His coming, His life, and His saving work through types, shadows, prophecies, and direct statements. This provides a Christocentric interpretation of the Old Testament.
John 5 46 Bonus section
This verse is pivotal in understanding Jesus' claim to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament, not its abolisher. It challenges the common Rabbinic understanding that revered Moses as the supreme and final authority, instead presenting Jesus as the one about whom Moses himself bore witness. This reorients their entire theological framework. Furthermore, it implies a depth of meaning in the Mosaic writings that goes beyond surface-level commandments, inviting a spiritual discernment of Messianic prophecies and typological patterns embedded within them. It emphasizes that salvation history, from its very beginning, culminates in Christ.
John 5 46 Commentary
John 5:46 represents a sharp accusation by Jesus against the Jewish leaders, directly challenging the authenticity of their professed faith. By asserting that Moses himself testified about Him, Jesus demonstrates that their rejection of Him simultaneously signified a profound misunderstanding and spiritual unbelief in the very Law they championed. The verse highlights the organic continuity between the Old Testament and Jesus' ministry, affirming that all Scripture ultimately bears witness to Christ and reveals a singular redemptive plan. It implies that superficial adherence to religious tradition without recognizing its Christ-centered purpose leads to spiritual blindness.