John 5:32

32 There is another that beareth witness of me: and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

John 5:32 Meaning and Commentary

John 5:32

There is another that beareth witness of me
Meaning not his Father, who is another, and a distinct person, from him, as the Spirit is another comforter; and both distinct testifiers from him, as well as of him. This is indeed the sense of some interpreters; but the Father is particularly mentioned in ( John 5:37 ) ; and the thread of the discourse, and the climax, or gradation, here used, show, that it is to be understood of "another man", as Nonnus paraphrases it; of John the Baptist, who is spoken of by name in the next verse, as a witness; and then a greater than he, the works of Christ, and then the Father:

and I know that the witness, which he witnesseth of me, is true;
for John was now alive, though in prison, and continued to bear a testimony to Christ; and therefore he speaks of him as now bearing witness of him, and abiding by that which he had bore; and Christ knew not only that what he testified of him was true in itself, but that his testimony was a valid and authentic testimony, with the generality of the Jews; who held John to be a prophet, and looked upon him as a man of great probity and integrity, and whose word was to be taken: nor indeed could the sanhedrim, before whom Christ now was, object to his character, nor to him as a witness; nor ought they, since they themselves had so judged of him, as appears by their message to him, which Christ next fails not to take notice of.

John 5:32 In-Context

30 I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge. And my judgment is just: because I seek not my own will. but the will of him that sent me.
31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
32 There is another that beareth witness of me: and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33 You sent to John: and he gave testimony to the truth.
34 But I receive not testimony from man: but I say these things, that you may be saved.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.