John 5:39
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Study Note
Study Note
Jesus's challenge — 'you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me' — identifies a fundamental hermeneutical error: reading the scriptures for the life they are thought to contain rather than for the one to whom they point. The verb 'search' (eraunate) may be indicative ('you search') or imperative ('search!'), with most modern scholars preferring the indicative as a description of the opponents' practice being critiqued. The argument inverts the normal sequence: the Scriptures are not the terminus of the quest but the testimony that directs the reader toward Christ as the source of life (5:40). The verse has been foundational for Christian hermeneutics of the Old Testament as christologically oriented — not as a proof-text collection but as a unified witness to the one who is its subject.
Other Translations
Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;
`Ye search the Writings, because ye think in them to have life age-during, and these are they that are testifying concerning me;
You make search in the holy Writings, in the belief that through them you get eternal life; and it is those Writings which give witness about me.
Cross References
For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall …
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in …
The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like …
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may …
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy …
And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a …
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: