John 3:34

THE MESSAGE

"The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he gives the Spirit without measure.

King James Version (1611)
For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: For God giueth not the Spirit by measure vnto him.

King James Version
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

English Standard Version
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

New American Standard Bible
"For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly.

New Century Version
The One whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God gives him the Spirit fully.

Amplified Bible
"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God [proclaiming the Father's own message]; for God gives the [gift of the] Spirit without measure [generously and boundlessly]!

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.

Legacy Standard Bible
For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.

Berean Standard Bible
For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

Contemporary English Version
The Son was sent to speak God's message, and he has been given the full power of God's Spirit.

Complete Jewish Bible
because the one whom God sent speaks God's words. For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree —

Darby Translation
for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives not the Spirit by measure.

Easy-to-Read Version
God sent him, and he tells people what God says. God gives him the Spirit fully.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For hee whome God hath sent, speaketh the woordes of God: for God giueth him not the Spirit by measure.

George Lamsa Translation
For he whom God has sent, speaks the words of God; for God did not give the Spirit by measure.

Good News Translation
The one whom God has sent speaks God's words, because God gives him the fullness of his Spirit.

Lexham English Bible
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit by measure.

Literal Translation
For the One whom God sent speaks the Words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

American Standard Version
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.

Bible in Basic English
For he whom God has sent says God's words; and God does not give him the Spirit by measure.

Hebrew Names Version
For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.

International Standard Version
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God, because Godhe">[fn] does not give the Spirit in limited measure.John 1:16; 7:16;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
For he whom Aloha hath sent, the very words of Aloha speaketh; for it was not in measure that Aloha gave the Spirit.

Murdock Translation
For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God; for God hath not given the Spirit by measure [fn] .

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the wordes of God: For God geueth not the spirite by measure vnto hym.

English Revised Version
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.

World English Bible
For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not him the Spirit by measure.

Weymouth's New Testament
For He whom God has sent speaks God's words; for God does not give the Spirit with limitations."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But he whom God hath sent, spekith the wordis of God; for not to mesure God yyueth the spirit.

Update Bible Version
For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God: for he does not give the Spirit by measure.

Webster's Bible Translation
For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: for [to him] God giveth not the Spirit by measure.

New English Translation
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly.

New King James Version
For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

New Living Translation
For he is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.

New Life Bible
He was sent by God and He speaks God's Word. God gives Him all of His Spirit.

New Revised Standard
He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, he whom God hath sent, the sayings of God, doth speak; for, not by measure, giveth he the Spirit.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God doth not give the Spirit by measure.

Revised Standard Version
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the wordes of God. For God geveth not the sprete by measure.

Young's Literal Translation
for he whom God sent, the sayings of God he speaketh; for not by measure doth God give the Spirit;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For he who God hath sent, speaketh ye wordes of God: for God geueth not the sprete (vnto him) by measure.

Mace New Testament (1729)
for he whom God hath sent, saith nothing but what is divine: for God hath given him the spirit without restriction.

Simplified Cowboy Version
That's because God sent him and he speaks with God's words. The Top Hand is given the Spirit without any limitations.

Contextual Overview

²²After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us." ²⁷John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his ‘best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start? "That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. "The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. "The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that." ³⁰Born from Above There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it." Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom." "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above' talk?" Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit. "So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone ‘born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God." Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?" Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God? "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. "This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is." After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us." John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his ‘best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start? "That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. ³¹"The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. ³⁴"The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he: John 7:16, John 8:26-28, John 8:40, John 8:47

for God: John 3:17, John 1:16, John 5:26, John 7:37-39, John 15:26, John 16:7, Numbers 11:25, 2 Kings 2:9, Psalms 45:7, Isaiah 11:2-5, Isaiah 59:21, Isaiah 62:1-3, Romans 8:2, Ephesians 3:8, Ephesians 4:7-13, Colossians 1:19, Colossians 2:9, Revelation 21:6, Revelation 22:1, Revelation 22:16, Revelation 22:17

Reciprocal: Exodus 28:41 - anoint them Exodus 29:7 - General Exodus 37:29 - he made Exodus 40:9 - the anointing oil Exodus 40:10 - sanctify Exodus 40:12 - General Exodus 40:13 - anoint him Leviticus 2:4 - wafers Leviticus 7:35 - portion Leviticus 14:15 - General Numbers 27:18 - a man Deuteronomy 34:9 - full of the spirit Judges 13:25 - the Spirit 1 Samuel 16:13 - the Spirit Psalms 2:2 - anointed Psalms 72:1 - Give Psalms 89:20 - General Isaiah 28:6 - for a spirit Isaiah 42:1 - I have Isaiah 48:16 - the Lord God Isaiah 51:16 - I have put Isaiah 61:1 - Spirit Ezekiel 4:11 - shalt drink Daniel 9:24 - and to anoint Matthew 3:16 - and he Matthew 12:18 - I will Matthew 25:4 - oil Luke 4:1 - full John 1:33 - the same John 10:36 - whom John 14:24 - and John 17:3 - and Jesus Acts 1:2 - through Acts 10:38 - God Romans 8:9 - the Spirit Romans 12:3 - according 1 Corinthians 11:3 - and the head of Christ 2 Corinthians 1:21 - anointed Galatians 4:6 - the Spirit Colossians 1:18 - in all Hebrews 1:9 - anointed Hebrews 9:14 - who 1 Peter 1:21 - gave 1 John 4:14 - the Father Revelation 3:1 - he that

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For he whom God hath sent,.... Still meaning Christ, who was sent in human nature, in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the fulness of time; to be the Saviour of the world, of that which was lost, of the chief of sinners; and to preach the glad tidings of the Gospel, which is more especially here designed; and for which he was abundantly qualified by the Spirit of God, with which he was anointed:

speaketh the words of God; the words which God gave unto him; the doctrines of grace; the word of truth; the word of faith; the word of righteousness; the word of reconciliation; the words of salvation and eternal life; the whole mind and will of God; and whatever he spoke were as true as the oracles of God, and were such.

For God giveth not the Spirit by measure [unto him], as he did to the prophets of the Old Testament, and to the apostles of the New; and to the ordinary ministers of the word, who have gifts differing one from another; to one is given one gift of the Spirit; and to another, another gift, as the Spirit pleaseth; and to everyone is given grace, or gifts of grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ, Ephesians 4:7. To which agrees what the Jews say a of the Holy Spirit, and his gifts.

"Says R. Joden bar R. Simeon, even the waters which descend from above are not given, but, במדה, "in measure".--Says R. Acha, even the Holy Spirit, which dwells upon the prophets, does not dwell, but במשקל, "in weight".''

But the Lord Jesus has every, gift of the Spirit, and the fulness of grace in him: he is anointed with the oil of gladness, with the Holy Ghost above his fellows; and has an immeasurable unction of the holy one; which, like the precious oil poured on Aaron, descends from him to the members of his body.

a Vajikra Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 157. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Whom God hath sent - The Messiah.

Speaketh the words of God - The truth, or commands of God.

For God giveth not the Spirit - The Spirit of God. Though Jesus was God as well as man, yet, as Mediator, God anointed him, or endowed him with the influences of his Spirit, so as to be completely qualified for his great work.

By measure - Not in a small degree, but fully, completely. The prophets were inspired on particular occasions to deliver special messages. The Messiah was continually filled with the Spirit of God. “The Spirit dwelt in him, not as a vessel, but as in a fountain, as in a bottomless ocean (Henry).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 34. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure — He is the most perfect of all teachers, as having received the Holy Spirit as none before him ever did. Without measure-not for a particular time, people, purpose, c., but for the whole compass of time, and in reference to all eternity. Former dispensations of the Holy Spirit made partial discoveries of infinite justice and mercy but now the sum of justice, in requiring such a sacrifice, and the plenitude of mercy, in providing it, shall, by that Spirit with which he baptizes, be made manifest to all the children of men. It is worthy of remark that this was fully done after the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of pentecost, Acts 2:1, c., as may be clearly seen in all the apostolic epistles. The Jews observe, that the Holy Spirit was given only in certain measures to the prophets some writing only one book, others two. So Rab. Acba.