Discovery BoxJohn 5:35-39 
Context5:35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, 1 and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time 2 in his light.
5:36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds 3 that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds 4 I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me. 5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people 5 have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time, 6 5:38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. 5:39 You study the scriptures thoroughly 7 because you think in them you possess eternal life, 8 and it is these same scriptures 9 that testify about me,
1 sn He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah was “a flame like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.
2 tn Grk “for an hour.”
3 tn Or “works.”
4 tn Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.
5 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to clarify that the following verbs (“heard,” “seen,” “have residing,” “do not believe”) are second person plural.
6 sn You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Compare Deut 4:12. Also see Deut 5:24 ff., where the Israelites begged to hear the voice no longer – their request (ironically) has by this time been granted. How ironic this would be if the feast is Pentecost, where by the 1st century
7 tn Or “Study the scriptures thoroughly” (an imperative). For the meaning of the verb see G. Delling, TDNT 2:655-57.
8 sn In them you possess eternal life. Note the following examples from the rabbinic tractate Pirqe Avot (“The Sayings of the Fathers”): Pirqe Avot 2:8, “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come”; Pirqe Avot 6:7, “Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.”
9 tn The words “same scriptures” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the referent (“these”).
