John 7:17
New International Version
Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

New Living Translation
Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.

English Standard Version
If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

Berean Standard Bible
If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

Berean Literal Bible
If anyone desires to do His will, he will know concerning the teaching, whether it is from God, or I speak from Myself.

King James Bible
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

New King James Version
If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.

New American Standard Bible
If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself.

NASB 1995
“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

NASB 1977
“If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.

Legacy Standard Bible
If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God or I speak from Myself.

Amplified Bible
If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is of God or whether I speak on My own accord and by My own authority.

Christian Standard Bible
If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If anyone wants to do His will, he will understand whether the teaching is from God or if I am speaking on My own.

American Standard Version
If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Whoever is willing to do his will understands my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak for my own pleasure.”

Contemporary English Version
If you really want to obey God, you will know if what I teach comes from God or from me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
If any man do the will of him; he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

English Revised Version
If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from myself.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Those who want to follow the will of God will know if what I teach is from God or if I teach my own thoughts.

Good News Translation
Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority.

International Standard Version
If anyone wants to do his will, he'll know whether this teaching is from God or whether I'm speaking on my own.

Literal Standard Version
if anyone may will to do His will, he will know concerning the teaching, whether it is of God, or—[if] I speak from Myself.

Majority Standard Bible
If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

New American Bible
Whoever chooses to do his will shall know whether my teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own.

NET Bible
If anyone wants to do God's will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.

New Revised Standard Version
Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.

New Heart English Bible
If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself.

Webster's Bible Translation
If any man will do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God, or whether I speak from myself.

Weymouth New Testament
If any one is willing to do His will, he shall know about the teaching, whether it is from God or originates with me.

World English Bible
If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or if I am speaking from myself.

Young's Literal Translation
if any one may will to do His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is of God, or -- I do speak from myself.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
16“My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me. 17If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own. 18He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood.…

Cross References
Psalm 25:9
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.

Psalm 25:14
The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

Proverbs 3:32
for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.

Proverbs 28:5
Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD comprehend fully.

Daniel 12:10
Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

John 3:21
But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God."

John 8:43
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.


Treasury of Scripture

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

John 1:46-49
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see…

John 8:31,32,43,47
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; …

Psalm 25:8,9,12
Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way…

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Authority Chooses Desire Desires Doctrine Find God's Originates Pleasure Practise Ready Speak Speaking Teaching Whether Willing
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Authority Chooses Desire Desires Doctrine Find God's Originates Pleasure Practise Ready Speak Speaking Teaching Whether Willing
John 7
1. Jesus reproves the ambition and boldness of his kinsmen;
10. goes up from Galilee to the feast of tabernacles;
14. teaches in the temple.
40. Various opinions of him among the people.
45. The Pharisees are angry that their officers took him not,
50. and chide with Nicodemus for taking his side.














(17) If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.--Better, If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching. The stress is upon "willeth," which in our version reads as if it were only the auxiliary verb. It is not deed, which is the outcome of faith; but will, which precedes it, that is here spoken of. This human will to do the divine will is the condition of knowing it. The words are unlimited and far-reaching in their meaning. Those who heard them would naturally understand them, as it was intended they should, of the divine will expressed in the Law and the Prophets (John 7:19), but they include the will of God revealed, more or less clearly, to all men and in all times. Our thoughts dwell naturally on representative lives, such as those of Saul the Pharisee, Cornelius the centurion, Justin the philosopher; but the truth holds good for every honest heart in every walk of life. The "any man" of Christ's own words excludes none from its reach, and the voice of comfort and of hope is spoken alike to all in our ignorance, fears, doubts--that he who in very deed willeth to do God's will, shall not fail to know, now or in the life to come, of the teaching whether it be of God. (Comp. Notes on John 5:44 et seq., and John 6:29 and John 6:45.)

Verse 17. - The moral test is then applied to the great dictum which he had just uttered. If any man willeth - not merely desires, but performs the distinct act of willing - to do his will - as his will - he shall know; i.e. his intellectual faculty will be quickened into high activity by this moral and practical effort. If the Divine will concerning conduct meets the spontaneous act of the human will, if a man's will is set to fulfil the Divine will, to will and do what is revealed to him by God, the eye of the soul will be opened to see other things as well, and especially will have power to discern the all-pervading Divine element in this teaching of mine. He shall know concerning (περί) the teaching, whether it be of (ἐκ) God, or whether I speak from myself - from the simple ground of my own independent, self-taught humanity. The first and natural application of this mighty dictum and condition was a test by which the Jews might come at once to the understanding of his more than prophetic claim to teach - he having never learned in their rabbinical schools. It amounted to this: Your moral harmony with the will of God as already revealed to you will be the sure index and confirmation of the great fact I have just referred to. You will discern the Divine in my words, the absolutely true in my teaching. Here the Lord again refers to the great principle, "He that hath heard of the Father, and learned, cometh unto me;" "He that is of the truth heareth my voice." This moral submission to God will quicken all your powers to discern and come to an invincible assent as to my claims. This is not the deep subjective testimony of the inner intuition of those that already believe, by which a verbal assent becomes a fall consent, an unchangeable conviction, or "the full assurance of faith;" but it is addressed to unbelievers, and assures those who are bewildered by the novelty and sweep of his own words that, if they are set on doing the will of God, they will become perfectly satisfied that his own teaching, such as it is, is a stream of heavenly truth bursting from the very heart of God. The text has been cited by certain writers as the sum totel of the Christian revelation, almost as though it substituted practical obedience for true thinking, as though people might well be content with holy living, and might safely leave the decision of all difficult problems of thought and revelation to shift for themselves. Nothing could be further from its real meaning, either at the time or in any of its subsequent or universal applications. The solemn utterance has a wide outlook, and is constantly establishing its own verity. A profound and voluntary desire to do the will of God is the best preparation for intuitively perceiving the Divine authority of Christ and of his religion. The desire for holiness of principle and life sees in Christ not only the loftiest ideal of perfection, but the surest satisfaction to its conscious weakness, and casts itself upon his promises of saving power. The faith which is satisfied with Christ is not merely a conclusion drawn by logical processes from satisfactory premisses, it is the consequence of a new nature or a moral regeneration. In other words, it is the more practical and expanded form of the truth first of all addressed to Nicodemus, and also lying at the heart of the Beatitudes: "Except a man be born anew [from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God." If he is born again he will see it. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." "No man can come unto me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him." The sentence presents the truth in a hopeful and positive form, and puts the criterion of the Divine informant within the reach of practical ethics. It is an appeal to the conscience as well as to the understanding. Apart from the subjective moral element, all other evidences of the presence of the Divine in nature, in history, in Christ, will be unimpressive and unimportant. A willingness to do the will of God is not a substitute for, but a condition of, true knowledge.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
If
ἐάν (ean)
Conjunction
Strong's 1437: If. From ei and an; a conditional particle; in case that, provided, etc.

anyone
τις (tis)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5100: Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object.

desires
θέλῃ (thelē)
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2309: To will, wish, desire, be willing, intend, design.

to do
ποιεῖν (poiein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

will,
θέλημα (thelēma)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2307: An act of will, will; plur: wishes, desires. From the prolonged form of ethelo; a determination, i.e. choice or inclination.

he will know
γνώσεται (gnōsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1097: A prolonged form of a primary verb; to 'know' in a great variety of applications and with many implications.

whether
πότερον (poteron)
Adverb
Strong's 4220: Which of two, whether. Neuter of a comparative of the base of pou; interrogative as adverb, which, i.e. Is it this or that.

[My]
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

teaching
διδαχῆς (didachēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1322: Teaching, doctrine, what is taught. From didasko; instruction.

is
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

from
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

God
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

or [whether]
(ē)
Conjunction
Strong's 2228: Or, than. A primary particle of distinction between two connected terms; disjunctive, or; comparative, than.

I
ἐγὼ (egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

speak
λαλῶ (lalō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2980: A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. Utter words.

on
ἀπ’ (ap’)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

My own.
ἐμαυτοῦ (emautou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1683: Genitive case compound of emou and autos; of myself so likewise the dative case emautoi em-ow-to', and accusative case emauton em-ow-ton'.


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