some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative singular masculine
testify
μαρτυρήσῃmarturēsē
G3140
to be a witness · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
of
περὶperi
G4012
properly · preposition
man
ἀνθρώπου·anthrōpou
G444
from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive singular masculine
for
γὰρgar
G1063
properly · conjunction
he
αὐτὸςautos
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — nominative singular masculine
knew
ἐγίνωσκενeginōsken
G1097
to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
what
τίti
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular neuter
was
ἦνēn
G2258
I (thou
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
man
ἀνθρώπῳ.¶anthrōpō
G444
from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — dative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
John 13:11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
John 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
John 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 2:23–end
We have here an account of the success, the poor success, of Christ's preaching and miracles at Jerusalem, while he kept the passover there. Observe,
I. That our Lord Jesus, when he was at Jerusalem at the passover, did preach and work miracles. People's believing on him implied that he preached; and it is expressly said, They saw the miracles he did. He was now in Jerusalem, the holy city, whence the word of the Lord was to go froth. His residence was mostly in Galilee, and therefore when he was in Jerusalem he was very busy. The time was holy time, the feast-day, time appointed for the service of God; at the passover the Levites taught the good knowledge of the Lord (Ch2 30:22), and Christ…
knew what was in man--It is impossible for language more clearly to assert of Christ what in Jer 17:9-10, and elsewhere, is denied of all mere creatures.
Next: John Chapter 3
Adam Clarke on John 2:24
He knew all men - Instead of παντας all men, EGH, and about thirty others, read παντα, every man, or all things; and this I am inclined to believe is the true reading. Jesus knew all things; and why? Because he made all things, Joh 1:3, and because he was the all-wise God, Joh 1:1; and he knew all men, because he alone searches the heart, and tries the reins. He knows who are sincere, and who are hypocritical: he knows those in whom he can confide, and those to whom he can neither trust himself nor his gifts. Reader, he also knows thee: thy cares, fears, perplexities, temptations, afflictions, desires, and hopes; thy helps and hinderances; the progress thou hast made in the Divine life, or t…
And needed not that any should testify of man,.... Of this or the other man, that he was a good or a bad man; he needed no proofs to be made, or testimonies bore, or evidence given of men's characters and actions; he was of quick understanding, and could distinguish at once between a wicked man and a good man; and so had the characteristic which the Jews require of the Messiah; for they rejected Bar Cozba from being the Messiah, and slew him, because he could not smell, referring to Isaiah 11:3, or discern a bad man from a good man (n); but this Jesus could do, without any external evidence:
for he knew what was in man; which none but the spirit of a man can know; his inward thoughts, the s…
The Church Fathers
(Tr. xi. c. 2) The Maker knew better what was in His own work, than the work knew what was in itself. Peter knew not what was in himself when he said, I will go with Thee unto death; (Luke 22:33. ver. 61) but our Lord's answer showed that He knew what was in man; Before the cock crow, thou shalt thrice deny Me.
"Because He knew all men, and needed not that any should bear witness of man: for Himself knew what was in man." The artificer knew what was in His own work better than the work knew what was in itself. The Creator of man knew what was in man, which the created man himself knew not. Do we not prove this of Peter, that he knew not what was in himself, when he said, "With Thee, even to death"? Hear that the Lord knew what was in man: "Thou with me even to death? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." The man, then, knew not what was in himself; but the Creator of the man knew what was in the man.
For inasmuch as the Word of God was man from the root of Jesse, and son of Abraham, in this respect did the Spirit of God rest upon Him, and anoint Him to preach the Gospel to the lowly. But inasmuch as He was God, He did not judge according to glory, nor reprove after the manner of speech. For "He needed not that any should testify to Him of man, for He Himself knew what was in man." For He called all men that mourn; and granting forgiveness to those who had been led into captivity by their sins, He loosed them from their chains, of whom Solomon says, "Every one shall be holden with the cords of his own sins." Therefore did the Spirit of God descend upon Him, [the Spirit] of Him who had promised by the prophets that He would anoint Him, so that we, receiving from the abundance of His unction, might be saved.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Philip — Lover of horses. (1.) One of the twelve apostles; a native of Bethsaida, “the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44). He readily responded to the call of Jesus when first addressed to him (43), and…
Christ Is God · As discerning the thoughts of the heart — As discerning the thoughts of the heart
Man · Christ: Knew what was in — Christ: Knew what was in
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 2:23-25
23. And when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, many believed in his name, beholding the signs which he performed. 24. But Jesus himself did not confide in them, because he knew them all. [53] 25. And needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man.
23. Many believed. The Evangelist appropriately connects this narrative with the former. Christ had not given such a sign as the Jews demanded; and now, when he produced no good effect on them by many miracles -- except that they entertained a cold faith, which was only the shadow of faith -- this event sufficiently proves that they did not deserve that he should comply with their wishes. It was, indeed, so…
John uses a play on words here. Because of his signs, many people trusted in Jesus (2:23), but Jesus didn’t trust them. This did not refer to specific people Jesus met in Jerusalem, but reflects his knowledge of all humanity.
