John 8:13 (YLT)

Passage

The Pharisees, therefore, said to him, `Thou of thyself dost testify, thy testimony is not true;'

Nearby Context

John 8:11 and she said, `No one, Sir;' and Jesus said to her, `Neither do I pass sentence on thee; be going on, and no more sin.'

John 8:12 Again, therefore, Jesus spake to them, saying, `I am the light of the world; he who is following me shall not walk in the darkness, but he shall have the light of the life.'

John 8:13 The Pharisees, therefore, said to him, `Thou of thyself dost testify, thy testimony is not true;'

John 8:14 Jesus answered and said to them, `And if I testify of myself--my testimony is true, because I have known whence I came, and whither I go, and ye--ye have not known whence I come, or whither I go.

John 8:15 `Ye according to the flesh do judge; I do not judge any one,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pharisees", "therefore", "said", "thou", "thyself", "dost", "testify", and "testimony". 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 spake to them saying..." into verse 14's "Jesus answered and said to them And...", 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.