The Father himself ...hath borne witness of me - This God had done,

1. By the miracles which Jesus had performed, and of which he was conversing.

2. At the baptism of Jesus, where he said, "This is my beloved Son," Matthew 3:17.

3. In the prophecies of the Old Testament. It is not easy to say here to which of these he refers. Perhaps he has reference to all.

Ye have neither heard his voice - This difficult passage has been interpreted in various ways. The main design of it seems to be clear - to reprove the Jews for not believing the evidence that he was the Messiah. In doing this he says that they were indisposed to listen to the testimony of God. He affirmed that God had given sufficient evidence of his divine mission, but they had disregarded it. The first thing that he notices is that they had not heard his voice. The word "hear," in this place, is to be understood in the sense of "obey" or listen to. See the notes at John 5:25. The voice of God means his commands or his declarations, however made; and the Saviour said that it had been the "characteristic" of the Jews that they had not listened to the voice or command of God. As this had been their general characteristic, it was not wonderful that they disregarded now his testimony in regard to the Messiah. The voice of God had been literally heard on the mount. See Deuteronomy 4:12; "Ye heard the voice of the words."

At any time - This has been the uniform characteristic of the nation that they have disregarded and perverted the testimony of God, and it was as true of that generation as of their fathers.

Nor seen his shape - No man hath seen God at any time, John 1:18. But the word "shape," here, does not mean "God himself." It refers to the visible "manifestation" of himself; to the "appearance" which he assumed. It is applied in the Septuagint to his manifesting himself to Moses, Numbers 12:8; "With him will I speak mouth to mouth, 'even apparently;'" in Greek, "in a form" or "shape" the word used here. It is applied to the visible symbol of God that appeared in the cloud and that rested on the tabernacle, Numbers 9:15-16. It is the same word that is applied to the Holy Spirit appearing in bodily shape like a dove, Luke 3:22. Jesus does not here deny that God had "appeared" in this manner, but he says they had not seen - that is, had not "paid attention to," or "regarded," the appearance of God. He had manifested himself, but they disregarded it, and, in particular, they had disregarded his manifestations in attestation of the Messiah. As the word "hear" means to obey, to listen to, so the word "see" means "to pay attention to, to regard" 2 John 1:8; 1 John 3:6, and thus throws light on John 14:9; "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." "I am a 'manifestation' of God - God appearing in human flesh, as he appeared formerly in the symbol of the cloud; and he that 'regards me,' or attends to me, regards the Father."

The Father himself - hath borne witness - That is, by his prophets.

Ye have neither heard his voice - I make these words, with Bp. Pearce, a parenthesis: the sense is - "Not that my Father ever appeared visibly or spake audibly to any of you; but he did it by the mouths of his prophets." Lately, however, he had added to their testimony his own voice from heaven, on the day of Christ's baptism. See Matthew 3:17.

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.

Himself (αὐτὸς)

The best texts substitute ἐκεῖνος, he; reading, "the Father which sent me, He hath born witness." So Rev.

Voice - shape

Not referring to the descent of the dove and the voice from heaven at Jesus' baptism, but generally and figuratively to God's witness in the Old Testament Scriptures. This is in harmony with the succeeding reference to the word.

And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

5:37 He hath testified of me - Namely at my baptism. I speak not of my supposed father Joseph. Ye are utter strangers to him of whom I speak.

Margin seen

Cf. See Scofield Note: "Jn 1:18".

37. the Father himself . hath borne witness of me-not referring, probably, to the voice of His baptism, but (as seems from what follows) to the testimony of the Old Testament Scripture [Calvin, Lucke, Meyer, Luthardt, &c.].

neither heard his voice, &c.-never recognized Him in this character. The words are "designedly mysterious, like many others which our Lord uttered" [Stier].

5:30-38 Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice of God, accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost, thus made effectual to the conversion of sinners, still proclaims that this is the beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased. But when the hearts of men are full of pride, ambition, and the love of the world, there is no room for the word of God to abide in them.