John 5:37

37 And the father him silfe which hath sent me beareth witnes of me. Ye have not hearde his voyce at eny tyme nor ye have sene his shape:

John 5:37 Meaning and Commentary

John 5:37

And the Father himself, which hath sent me
Not only the works he gave him to do, and which he did, but he himself in person:

hath borne witness of me;
not only in the writings of Moses, and the prophecies of the Old Testament, but by an audible articulate voice from heaven, at the time of Christ's baptism, ( Matthew 3:17 ) ; which was a full testimony of the sonship of Christ, and of the Father's well pleasure in him; and which was repeated at his transfiguration on the mount, ( Matthew 17:5 ) ; and the sonship of Christ is the grand thing which the three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, testify of, ( 1 John 5:7 ) ;

ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape;
for the voices that were heard, and the forms that were seen under the Old Testament dispensation, from the first of this kind in Eden's garden, to the incarnation of Christ, which are ascribed to God, or to a divine person, were either by the ministry of angels, or they were voices uttered by the Son of God, or forms assumed by him, who often appeared in an human form, as a prelude of his incarnation; so that it was unusual, and wonderful, and remarkable, that the Father should bear a testimony to the sonship of Christ by a voice from heaven; and which therefore ought to be attended to, and received as a sufficient and valid testimony.

John 5:37 In-Context

35 He was a burninge and a shyninge light and ye wolde for a season have reioysed in his light.
36 But I have greater witnes then the witnes of Iohn. For ye workes which ye father hath geve me to fynisshe: the same workes which I do beare witnes of me that ye father sent me.
37 And the father him silfe which hath sent me beareth witnes of me. Ye have not hearde his voyce at eny tyme nor ye have sene his shape:
38 therto his wordes have ye not abydinge in you. For whome he hath sent: him ye beleve not.
39 Searche the scriptures for in them ye thinke ye have eternall lyfe: and they are they which testify of me.
The Tyndale Bible is in the public domain.