John 5:39

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me,

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς γραφάς· ὅτι ὑμεῖς δοκεῖτε ἐν αὐταῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχειν: καὶ ἐκεῖναί εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ.

Transliteration

Ereunate the graphas; because you dokeite in them zōēn aiōnion echein: and those eisin the ones martyrousai peri emou.

Grammar Details

• *Ereunate*: present active indicative or imperative, 2nd plural of *ereunaō* - you search/search
• *graphas*: noun, accusative, feminine, plural - scriptures/writings
• *hymeis*: personal pronoun, nominative, 2nd plural - you
• *dokeite*: present active indicative, 2nd plural of *dokeō* - think/suppose
• *autais*: personal pronoun, dative, feminine, plural - them
• *zōēn*: noun, accusative, feminine, singular - life
• *aiōnion*: adjective, accusative, feminine, singular - eternal
• *echein*: present active infinitive of *echō* - to have
• *ekeinai*: demonstrative pronoun, nominative, feminine, plural - those
• *eisin*: present active indicative, 3rd plural of *eimi* - are
• *martyrousai*: present active participle, nominative, feminine, plural - bearing witness
• *peri*: preposition with genitive - concerning/about
• *emou*: personal pronoun, genitive, 1st singular - me

Word Meanings

• *Ereunate*: you search/search [imperative]/you are searching
• *graphas*: scriptures/writings
• *dokeite*: think/suppose/imagine
• *zōēn aiōnion*: eternal life/life everlasting
• *martyrousai*: bearing witness/testifying/giving evidence

Referenced Verses

• Luke 24:27 : 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures.
• Isa 34:16 : 16 Carefully read the scroll of the LORD! Not one of these creatures will be missing, none will lack a mate. For the LORD has issued the decree, and his own spirit gathers them.
• 2 Pet 1:19-21 : 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
• 1 Pet 1:10-11 : 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. 11 They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.
• Acts 26:22-23 : 22 I have experienced help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: 23 that the Christ was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
• 2 Tim 3:14-17 : 14 You, however, must continue in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know who taught you 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.
• Luke 24:44 : 44 Jesus’ Final Commission Then he said to them,“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”
• Prov 8:33-34 : 33 Listen to my instruction so that you may be wise, and do not neglect it. 34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching at my doors day by day, waiting beside my doorway.
• Acts 13:27 : 27 For the people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, and they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath by condemning him.
• Acts 17:11 : 11 These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so.
• Rom 1:2 : 2 This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
• Rom 3:2 : 2 Actually, there are many advantages. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
• Jer 8:9 : 9 Your wise men will be put to shame. They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. Since they have rejected the LORD’s message, what wisdom do they really have?
• Ps 119:97-99 : 97 מ(Mem) O how I love your law! All day long I meditate on it. 98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for I am always aware of them. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your rules.
• Deut 18:15 : 15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you– from your fellow Israelites; you must listen to him.
• Ps 16:11 : 11 You lead me in the path of life; I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight.
• Acts 8:32-35 : 32 Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this:“He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his posterity? For his life was taken away from the earth.” 34 Then the eunuch said to Philip,“Please tell me, who is the prophet saying this about– himself or someone else?” 35 So Philip started speaking, and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him.
• John 5:46 : 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.
• Matt 22:29 : 29 Jesus answered them,“You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.
• Mark 12:10 : 10 Have you not read this scripture:‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
• John 1:45 : 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him,“We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about– Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
• John 5:32 : 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.
• John 5:36 : 36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete– the deeds I am now doing– testify about me that the Father has sent me.
• John 7:52 : 52 They replied,“You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee!”
• Luke 16:29 : 29 But Abraham said,‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’
• Luke 16:31 : 31 He replied to him,‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
• Prov 6:23 : 23 For the commandments are like a lamp, instruction is like a light, and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life,
• Deut 32:47 : 47 For this is no idle word for you– it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
• Josh 1:8 : 8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful.
• Deut 11:18-20 : 18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols on your forehead. 19 Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. 20 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates
• Ps 36:9 : 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
• Ps 119:11 : 11 In my heart I store up your words, so I might not sin against you.
• Acts 26:27 : 27 Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.”
• Rev 19:10 : 10 So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said,“Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
• Rom 2:17-18 : 17 The Condemnation of the Jew But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relationship to God 18 and know his will and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law,
• Col 3:16 : 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.
• Heb 11:16 : 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
• Heb 11:35 : 35 and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.
• Ps 133:3 : 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which flows down upon the hills of Zion. Indeed, that is where the LORD has decreed a blessing will be available– eternal life.
• Dan 12:2 : 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake– some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence.
• Matt 19:16-20 : 16 The Rich Young Man Now someone came up to him and said,“Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?” 17 He said to him,“Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied,“Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him,“I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?”
• Deut 17:18-19 : 18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law on a scroll given to him by the Levitical priests. 19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out.
• Deut 18:18 : 18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command.
• Ps 1:2 : 2 Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the LORD’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night.
• Ps 21:4 : 4 He asked you to sustain his life, and you have granted him long life and an enduring dynasty.
• Luke 10:25-29 : 25 The Parable of the Good Samaritan Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying,“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him,“What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” 27 The expert answered,“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 28 Jesus said to him,“You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus,“And who is my neighbor?”
• Isa 8:20 : 20 Then you must recall the LORD’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.