John 12:29

THE MESSAGE

The listening crowd said, "Thunder!" Others said, "An angel spoke to him!"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

King James Version (1611)
The people therefore that stood by, and heard it, said, that it thundered: others said, An Angel spake to him.

King James Version
The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

English Standard Version
The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

New American Standard Bible
So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him!"

New Century Version
The crowd standing there, who heard the voice, said it was thunder. But others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

Amplified Bible
The crowd of people who stood nearby and heard the voice said that it had thundered; others said, "An angel has spoken to Him!"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him."

Legacy Standard Bible
So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him."

Berean Standard Bible
The crowd standing there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.

Contemporary English Version
When the crowd heard the voice, some of them thought it was thunder. Others thought an angel had spoken to Jesus.

Complete Jewish Bible
The crowd standing there and hearing it said that it had thundered; others said, "An angel spoke to him."

Darby Translation
The crowd therefore, which stood [there] and heard [it], said that it had thundered. Others said, An angel has spoken to him.

Easy-to-Read Version
The people standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder. But others said, "An angel spoke to him!"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then saide the people that stoode by, and heard, that it was a thunder: other said, An Angel spake to him.

George Lamsa Translation
And the people who stood by heard it, and said, It was thunder; others said, An angel spoke to him.

Good News Translation
The crowd standing there heard the voice, and some of them said it was thunder, while others said, "An angel spoke to him!"

Lexham English Bible
Now the crowd that stood there and heard it said it had thundered. Others were saying, "An angel has spoken to him!"

Literal Translation
Then standing and hearing, the crowd said that thunder occurred. Others said, An angel has spoken to Him.

American Standard Version
The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him.

Bible in Basic English
Hearing the sound, a number of people who were there said that it was thunder: others said, An angel was talking to him.

Hebrew Names Version
The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

International Standard Version
The crowd standing there heard this and said that it was thunder. Others were saying, "An angel has spoken to him."

Etheridge Translation
And the company who stood, heard, and they said there was thunder. But others said, An angel spake with him.

Murdock Translation
And the multitude standing by, heard [fn] ; and they said: There was thunder. But others said: An angel spoke with him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The people therfore that stoode by and hearde it, sayde that it thundred: Other sayde, an Angel spake to hym.

English Revised Version
The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him.

World English Bible
The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
The multitude who stood and heard it, said, It thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

Weymouth's New Testament
The crowd that stood by and heard it, said that there had been thunder. Others said, "An angel spoke to him."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the puple that stood, and herde, seide, that `thundur was maad; othere men seide, an aungel spak to hym.

Update Bible Version
The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel has spoken to him.

Webster's Bible Translation
The people therefore that stood by, and heard [it], said that it thundered. Others said, An angel spoke to him.

New English Translation
The crowd that stood there and heard the voice said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to him.

New King James Version
Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."

New Living Translation
When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.

New Life Bible
The people heard the voice. Some who stood there said, "It was thunder." Others said, "An angel spoke to Him."

New Revised Standard
The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So, the multitude that was standing by, and heard it, were saying - It hath, thundered. Others, were saying - A messenger, unto him, hath spoken.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The multitude therefore that stood and heard said that it thundered. Others said: An angel spoke to him.

Revised Standard Version
The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then sayd the people yt stode by and hearde: it thoundreth. Other sayde an angell spake to him.

Young's Literal Translation
the multitude, therefore, having stood and heard, were saying that there hath been thunder; others said, `A messenger hath spoken to him.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the people that stode by and herde: It thondereth. Other sayde: An angell spake vnto him.

Mace New Testament (1729)
the people therefore present who heard the noise, said it was thunder: others said, an angel spake to him.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Everyone was looking around to see where the voice came from. Some said it was thunder and others said an angel had spoken.

Contextual Overview

²⁷"Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? ‘Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. I'll say, ‘Father, put your glory on display.'" A voice came out of the sky: "I have glorified it, and I'll glorify it again." ²⁹ The listening crowd said, "Thunder!" Others said, "An angel spoke to him!" ³⁰Jesus said, "The voice didn't come for me but for you. At this moment the world is in crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me." He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death. ³⁴ Voices from the crowd answered, "We heard from God's Law that the Messiah lasts forever. How can it be necessary, as you put it, that the Son of Man ‘be lifted up'? Who is this ‘Son of Man'?" ³⁵Jesus said, "For a brief time still, the light is among you. Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in darkness, you don't know where you're going. As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light." Jesus said all this, and then went into hiding. All these God-signs he had given them and they still didn't get it, still wouldn't trust him. This proved that the prophet Isaiah was right: God, who believed what we preached? Who recognized God's arm, outstretched and ready to act? First they wouldn't believe, then they couldn't—again, just as Isaiah said: Their eyes are blinded, their hearts are hardened, So that they wouldn't see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts, And turn to me, God, so I could heal them. Isaiah said these things after he got a glimpse of God's cascading brightness that would pour through the Messiah. On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn't come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God's glory. Jesus summed it all up when he cried out, "Whoever believes in me, believes not just in me but in the One who sent me. Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won't have to stay any longer in the dark. "If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn't take it seriously, I don't reject him. I didn't come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I'm saying, is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I'm not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That's all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thundered: Exodus 19:16, Exodus 20:18, Job 37:2-5, Job 40:9, Ezekiel 10:5, Revelation 6:1, Revelation 8:5, Revelation 11:19, Revelation 14:2

An angel: Acts 23:8, Acts 23:9, Revelation 18:1, Revelation 18:2

Reciprocal: Exodus 19:9 - that the Psalms 18:13 - thundered Psalms 29:3 - thundereth Psalms 68:33 - his voice John 11:42 - but Acts 22:9 - but 2 Peter 1:17 - there came

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The people therefore that stood by and heard [it],.... Some more confusedly, who were farthest off; others more distinctly, who were nearer: the first of these,

said that it thundered; as it used to do when "Bath Kol" was heard, which, as the Jews say a,

"is a voice that comes out of heaven proceeding from the midst of another voice,''

as thunder; wherefore some took this for thunder, and others for the voice of an angel out of the thunder:

others said, an angel spoke to him; these being nearer, perceived it was an articulate voice, which expressed certain distinct words, which they thought were delivered by an angel; for the Jews had a mighty notion of the discourse and conversation of angels with men, which their doctors pretended to understand; particularly R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, a Rabbi, who was living at this time, had learned their speech, and was well versed in it b.

a Piske Tosephot in T. Bab. Sanhedrin, art. 30. b T. Bab. Succa, fol. 28. 1. & Bava Bathra, fol. 134. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The people - A part of the people.

It thundered - The unexpected sound of the voice would confound and amaze them; and though there is no reason to doubt that the words were spoken distinctly Matthew 3:17, yet some of the people, either from amazement or envy, would suppose that this was a mere natural phenomenon.

An angel spake - It was the opinion of many of the Jews that God did not speak to men except by the ministry of angels, Hebrews 2:2; “The word spoken by angels;” Galatians 3:19; “It was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 29. The people - said that it thundered: others - an angel spake to him. — Bishop Pearce says, Probably there was thunder as well as a voice, as in Exodus 19:16-17, and some persons, who were at a small distance, might hear the thunder without hearing the voice; while others heard the voice too; and these last said, "An angel hath spoken to him."

Wetstein supposes that the voice was in the language then in use among the Jews; which the Greeks, not understanding, took for thunder; the others, the Jews, who did understand it, said it was the voice of an angel. In Revelation 6:1, the voice of one of the living creatures is compared to thunder; and in Revelation 10:3, the voice of an angel is compared to seven thunders. The voice mentioned was probably very loud, which some heard distinctly, others indistinctly; hence the variety of opinion.