John 8:13 (DBY)

Passage

The Pharisees therefore said to him, Thou bearest witness concerning thyself; thy witness is not true.

Nearby Context

John 8:11 And she said, No one, sir. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 8:13 The Pharisees therefore said to him, Thou bearest witness concerning thyself; thy witness is not true.

John 8:14 Jesus answered and said to them, Even if I bear witness concerning myself, my witness is true, because I know whence I came and whither I go: but ye know not whence I come and whither I go.

John 8:15 Ye judge according to the flesh, I judge no one.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pharisees", "therefore", "said", "thou", "bearest", "witness", "concerning", and "thyself". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pharisees" and "therefore", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Again therefore Jesus spoke to them saying..." into verse 14's "Jesus answered and said to them Even...", so "pharisees" and "therefore" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "pharisees" and "therefore" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.