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Christian Standard Bible ®

John 17:3

This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God Continued...;   Immortality;   Jesus Continued;   Life;   Prayer;   Wisdom;   Thompson Chain Reference - Ask;   Christ;   Christ's;   Christianity;   Church;   Deathless;   Eternal;   Everlasting;   Family;   Importunity;   Knowledge;   Knowledge-Ignorance;   Life;   Life, Eternal;   Life-Death;   Prayer;   Secret Prayer;   Spiritual;   United Prayer;   Unwise Prayers;   Wicked, the;   The Topic Concordance - Belief;   Belonging;   Declaration;   Disciples/apostles;   Eternal Life;   Giving and Gifts;   Glory;   God;   Hate;   Jesus Christ;   Judas Iscariot;   Knowledge;   Losing and Things Lost;   Love;   Manifestation;   Power;   Sanctification;   Sending and Those Sent;   Truth;   Unity;   Will of God;   Word of God;   World;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - God;   Life, Eternal;   Reward of Saints, the;   Unity of God;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Eternity;   God;   John, gospel of;   Knowledge;   Life;   Son of god;   Truth;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Know, Knowledge;   Knowledge of God;   Mediator, Mediation;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Calvinists;   Commentary;   Covenant;   Fellowship;   Intercession of Christ;   Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ;   Predestination;   Unity of God;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Fellowship;   Perseverance of the Saints;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Revelation of John, the;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Eternal Life;   John, the Gospel of;   Life;   Unity;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Blessedness;   Children (Sons) of God;   Ephesians, Epistle to;   John, Gospel of;   John, Theology of;   Knowledge;   Life;   Prayer;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Authority in Religion;   Children of God;   Communion (2);   Death of Christ;   Doxology ;   Eternal Everlasting;   Eternal Life (2);   God (2);   Grace;   Happiness;   Heir Heritage Inheritance;   Hopefulness ;   Ideas (Leading);   Immortality (2);   Incarnation (2);   John, Gospel of (Ii. Contents);   Keys;   Life ;   Life and Death;   Light;   Love (2);   Man (2);   Mediator;   Merit;   Mission;   Monotheism;   Publishing ;   Redemption (2);   Religion (2);   Religious Experience;   Retribution (2);   Reverence;   Righteous, Righteousness;   Sanctify, Sanctification;   Sight;   Sincerity;   Soul;   Truth (2);   Vicarious Sacrifice;   Worldliness (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Life, Eternal;   26 True the True;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Body;   Peniel;   Servant;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Mystery;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - James;   Know;   Life;   Name;   Parousia;   Prayers of Jesus;   Regeneration;   Salvation;   Star of the Magi;   Trinity;   Truth;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for December 29;   Every Day Light - Devotion for October 10;  

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
And this is eternal life: that people can know you, the only true God, and that they can know Jesus Christ, the one you sent.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
This is lyfe eternall that they myght knowe the that only very God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ.
Hebrew Names Version
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah.
International Standard Version
And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent - Jesus Christ.Isaiah 53:11; Jeremiah 9:24; John 3:34; 5:36-37; 7:29; 10:36; 11:42; 1 Corinthians 8:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:9;">[xr]
New American Standard Bible
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
New Century Version
And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent.
Update Bible Version
And this is eternal life, that they should know you the only true God, and him whom you sent, [even] Jesus Christ.
Webster's Bible Translation
And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
English Standard Version
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
World English Bible
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And this is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Weymouth's New Testament
And in this consists the Life of the Ages--in knowing Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And this is euerlastynge lijf, that thei knowe thee very God aloone, and whom thou hast sent, Jhesu Crist.
English Revised Version
And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
Berean Standard Bible
Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
Contemporary English Version
Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent.
Amplified Bible
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent.
American Standard Version
And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
Bible in Basic English
And this is eternal life: to have knowledge of you, the only true God, and of him whom you have sent, even Jesus Christ.
Complete Jewish Bible
And eternal life is this: to know you, the one true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah.
Darby Translation
And this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
Etheridge Translation
But this is the life which is eternal, that they know thee, who art the true Aloha, [fn] and Him whom thou hast sent, Jeshu Meshicha.
Murdock Translation
And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, that thou art the only true God, and whom thou hast sent, Jesus Messiah.
King James Version (1611)
And this is life eternall, that they might know thee the onely true God, and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
New Living Translation
And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.
New Life Bible
This is life that lasts forever. It is to know You, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.
New Revised Standard
And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And this is life eternall, that they knowe thee to be the onely very God, and whom thou hast sent, Iesus Christ.
George Lamsa Translation
And this is life eternal, that they might know you, that you are the only true God, even the one who sent Jesus Christ.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, this, is the age-abiding life, That they get to know thee, the only real God, and him whom thou didst send, Jesus Christ.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Revised Standard Version
And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
This is lyfe eternall, that they myght knowe thee, the only true God, & Iesus Christe whom thou hast sent.
Good News Translation
And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
King James Version
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Lexham English Bible
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Literal Translation
And this is everlasting life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
Young's Literal Translation
and this is the life age-during, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and him whom Thou didst send -- Jesus Christ;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But this is the life euerlastinge, that they knowe the (that thou onely art the true God) and whom thou hast sent, Iesus Christ.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and this is life eternal, to acknowledge thee to be the only true God, and Jesus to be the Messiah whom thou hast sent.
New English Translation
Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
New King James Version
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Simplified Cowboy Version
Eternal life is simply knowing you, the true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to save 'em.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Legacy Standard Bible
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Contextual Overview

1Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son 2since you gave him authority over all flesh, 3This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only4I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5Now, Father,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

this: John 17:25, John 8:19, John 8:54, John 8:55, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalms 9:10, Isaiah 53:11, Jeremiah 9:23, Jeremiah 9:24, Jeremiah 31:33, Jeremiah 31:34, Hosea 6:3, 1 Corinthians 15:34, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, Hebrews 8:11, Hebrews 8:12, 1 John 4:6, 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:20

the only: John 14:9, John 14:10, 2 Chronicles 15:3, Jeremiah 10:10, 1 Corinthians 8:4, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 Timothy 6:15, 1 Timothy 6:16, 1 John 5:20

and Jesus: John 3:17, John 3:34, John 5:36, John 5:37, John 6:27-29, John 6:57, John 7:29, John 10:36, John 11:42, John 12:49, John 12:50, John 14:26, Isaiah 48:16, Isaiah 61:1, Mark 9:37, Luke 9:48, 1 John 4:14, 1 John 4:15, 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:12

Reciprocal: Exodus 33:13 - that I Deuteronomy 30:20 - thy life 1 Samuel 2:12 - knew 1 Kings 10:1 - concerning 2 Chronicles 30:22 - the good 2 Chronicles 33:13 - knew Job 22:21 - Acquaint Job 24:1 - they that know Psalms 36:10 - that Psalms 91:14 - known Psalms 100:3 - Know Psalms 119:144 - understanding Proverbs 2:5 - find Proverbs 9:10 - the knowledge Proverbs 30:3 - nor Ecclesiastes 7:12 - the excellency Isaiah 19:21 - Lord shall Jeremiah 9:3 - they know Jeremiah 22:16 - was not Ezekiel 20:42 - ye shall Ezekiel 39:22 - know Daniel 11:32 - the people Hosea 2:20 - and Matthew 11:27 - neither Matthew 19:16 - eternal Luke 10:42 - one John 1:26 - whom John 3:15 - eternal John 4:10 - and who John 4:14 - shall never John 4:15 - give John 5:26 - so hath John 7:28 - whom John 10:14 - am John 14:6 - the life John 14:7 - ye John 16:3 - because Acts 5:20 - all Acts 17:23 - To 1 Corinthians 2:2 - not 1 Corinthians 8:6 - one God 1 Corinthians 15:45 - a quickening Galatians 4:9 - ye have Ephesians 1:17 - in the knowledge Ephesians 3:19 - to know Ephesians 4:13 - the knowledge Philippians 3:8 - the excellency Colossians 1:10 - increasing Colossians 2:2 - understanding Colossians 3:10 - knowledge 1 Timothy 2:5 - one God 2 Timothy 1:1 - the promise James 2:19 - General 2 Peter 1:2 - the knowledge 2 Peter 1:3 - through 2 Peter 3:18 - knowledge 1 John 1:2 - that eternal 1 John 1:3 - our fellowship 1 John 2:3 - we know 1 John 2:13 - because 1 John 2:25 - General 1 John 3:23 - his commandment 1 John 4:7 - and knoweth

Cross-References

Genesis 17:17
Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?”
Genesis 17:18
So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!”
Genesis 17:23
So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him.
Genesis 17:24
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised,
Exodus 3:6
Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Numbers 14:5
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community.
Numbers 16:22
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “God, God who gives breath to all, when one man sins, will you vent your wrath on the whole community?”
Numbers 16:45
“Get away from this community so that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell facedown.
Joshua 5:14
“Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.”
Judges 13:20
When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And this is life eternal,.... That is, the beginning and pledge of it, the way unto it, and means of it, and what will certainly issue in it:

that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. The knowledge of God here spoken of, is not the knowledge of him by the light of nature, and works of creation; for a man may know God in this sense, and not know him in Christ, nor anything of Christ; yea, may know God and profess him in words, and in works deny him, as the Heathens did; nor is eternal life known hereby, nor connected with it: nor is it such a knowledge of God as is to be obtained by the law of Moses, in which God is represented as a righteous and incensed Being; nor is there in it any discovery of God, as a God of love, grace, and mercy in Christ; nor any revelation of a Mediator, Saviour and Redeemer; nor can it either show, or give to persons eternal life; and yet what is here said of the knowledge of God and Christ, the Jews say of the law d,

"one man said to his friend, let us dash them against that wall and kill them, because they have left חיי עולם הבא, "eternal life"; (the gloss upon it is, תורה, "the law";) and employ themselves in a temporary life, the gloss says of this world, which is merchandise.''

More truly does Philo the Jew say e, that

"fleeing to the Divine Being, "is eternal life"; and running front him is death.''

But this is to be understood of an evangelic knowledge of God, as the God and Father of Christ, as the God of all grace, pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin, and of Christ Mediator; not a general, notional, and speculative knowledge; but a practical and experimental one; a knowledge of approbation and appropriation; a fiducial one, whereby a soul believes in Christ, and trusts in his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice for salvation; and which, though imperfect, is progressive. The Arians and Unitarians urge this text, against the true and proper deity of our Lord Jesus, and his equality with the Father, but without success; since the Father is called the only true God, in opposition to the many false gods of the Heathens, but not to the exclusion of the Son or Spirit; for Christ is also styled the one Lord, and only Lord God, but not to the exclusion of the Father; yea the true God and eternal life; was he not, he would never, as here, join himself with the only true God; and besides, eternal life is made to depend as much upon the knowledge of him, as of the Father. The reason of this different mode of expression, is owing to the character of Christ as Mediator, who is said to be sent by the only true God, about the business of man's salvation. Nor is it of any moment what the Jew f objects, that Jesus here confesses, that the true God is only one God; nor does he call himself God, only the Messiah sent by God; and that the Apostle Paul also asserts the unity of God, 1 Timothy 1:17; and therefore Jesus cannot be God: for Christ and his Father, the only true God, are one; and that he is the one true God with his Father, he tacitly suggests here by joining himself with him; and what the Apostle Paul says of the one and only wise God, may as well be understood of Christ, the Son of God, as of the Father; since all the characters in the text agree with him, and of him he had been speaking in the context.

d T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 21. 1. e De profugis, p. 461. f R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 55. p. 445.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This is life eternal - This is the source of eternal life; or it is in this manner that it is to be obtained. The knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ is itself a source of unspeakable and eternal joy. Compare John 11:25; John 6:63; John 12:50.

Might know thee - The word “know” here, as in other places, expresses more than a mere speculative acquaintance with the character and perfections of God. “It includes all the impressions on the mind and life which a just view of God and of the Saviour is fitted to produce.” It includes, of course, love, reverence, obedience, honor, gratitude, supreme affection. “To know God as he is” is to know and regard him as a lawgiver, a sovereign, a parent, a friend. It is to yield the whole soul to him, and strive to obey his law.

The only true God - The only God, in opposition to all false gods. What is said here is in opposition to idols, not to Jesus himself, who, in 1 John 5:20, is called “the true God and eternal life.”

And Jesus Christ - To know Jesus Christ is to have a practical impression of him as he is - that is, to suffer his character and work to make their due impression on the heart and life. Simply to have heard that there is a Saviour is not to know it. To have been taught in childhood and trained up in the belief of it is not to know it. To know him is to have a just, practical view of him in all his perfections as God and man; as a mediator; as a prophet, a priest, and a king. It is to feel our need of such a Saviour, to see that we are sinners, and to yield the whole soul to him, knowing that he is a Saviour suited to our needs, and that in his hands our souls are safe. Compare Ephesians 3:19; Titus 1:16; Philippians 3:10; 1 John 5:20. In this verse is contained the sum and essence of the Christian religion, as it is distinguished from all the schemes of idolatry and philosophy, and all the false plans on which men have sought to obtain eternal life. The Gentiles worshipped many gods; the Christian worships one - the living and the true God; the Jew, the Deist, the Muslim, the Socinian, profess to acknowledge one God, without any atoning sacrifice and Mediator; the true Christian approaches him through the great Mediator, equal with the Father, who for us became incarnate, and died that he might reconcile us to God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 17:3. This is life eternal — The salvation purchased by Christ, and given to them who believe, is called life:

1. Because the life of man was forfeited to Divine justice; and the sacrifice of Christ redeemed him from that death to which he was exposed.

2. Because the souls of men were dead in trespasses and sins; and Christ quickens them by his word and Spirit.

3. Because men who are not saved by the grace of Christ do not live, they only exist, no good purpose of life being answered by them. But when they receive this salvation they live - answer all the Divine purposes, are happy in themselves, useful to each other, and bring glory to God.

4. It is called eternal life to show that it reaches beyond the limits of time, and that it necessarily implies -

1. The immortality of the soul;

2. the resurrection of the body; and

3. that it is never to end, hence called αιωνιος ζωη, a life ever living; from αει, always, and ων, being or existence. And indeed no words can more forcibly convey the idea of eternity than these. It is called η αιωνιος ζωη, THAT eternal life, by way of eminence. There may be an eternal existence without blessedness; but this is that eternal life with which infinite happiness is inseparably connected.

The only true God — The way to attain this eternal life is to acknowledge, worship, and obey, the one only true God, and to accept as teacher, sacrifice, and Saviour, the Lord Jesus, the one and only true Messiah. Bishop Pearce's remark here is well worthy the reader's attention: -

"What is said here of the only true God seems said in opposition to the gods whom the heathens worshipped; not in opposition to Jesus Christ himself, who is called the true God by John, in 1 John 5:20."

The words in this verse have been variously translated:

1. That they might acknowledge thee, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, to be the only true God.

2. That they might acknowledge thee, the only true God, and Jesus, whom thou hast sent, to be the Christ or Messiah.

3. That they might acknowledge thee to be the only true God, and Jesus Christ to be him whom thou hast sent. And all these translations the original will bear.

From all this we learn that the only way in which eternal life is to be attained is by acknowledging the true God, and the Divine mission of Jesus Christ, he being sent of God to redeem men by his blood, being the author of eternal salvation to all them that thus believe, and conscientiously keep his commandments.

A saying similar to this is found in the Institutes of Menu. Brigoo, the first emanated being who was produced from the mind of the supreme God, and who revealed the knowledge of his will to mankind, is represented as addressing the human race and saying: "Of all duties, the principal is to acquire from the Upanishads (their sacred writings) a true knowledge of one supreme God; that is the most exalted of sciences, because it ensures eternal life. For in the knowledge and adoration of one God all the rules of good conduct are fully comprised." See Institutes of Menu, chap. xii. Inst. 85, 87.


 
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