John 5:35
New International Version
John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

New Living Translation
John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message.

English Standard Version
He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Berean Standard Bible
John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.

Berean Literal Bible
He was the lamp burning and shining, and you were willing to rejoice for a season in his light.

King James Bible
He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

New King James Version
He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.

New American Standard Bible
He was the lamp that was burning and shining, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

NASB 1995
“He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

NASB 1977
“He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Legacy Standard Bible
He was the lamp that was burning and shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Amplified Bible
John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining [to show you the way], and you were willing for a while to rejoice in his light.

Christian Standard Bible
John was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a time you were willing to enjoy his light.

American Standard Version
He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
He was a blazing and shining lamp, and you were willing to boast about the time in his light.

Contemporary English Version
John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.

English Revised Version
He was the lamp that burneth and shineth: and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
John was a lamp that gave off brilliant light. For a time you enjoyed the pleasure of his light.

Good News Translation
John was like a lamp, burning and shining, and you were willing for a while to enjoy his light.

International Standard Version
That man John was a lamp that burns and brightly shines, and for a while you were willing to rejoice in his light.

Literal Standard Version
he was the burning and shining lamp, and you willed to be glad, for an hour, in his light.

Majority Standard Bible
John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.

New American Bible
He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.

NET Bible
He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light.

New Revised Standard Version
He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

New Heart English Bible
He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Webster's Bible Translation
He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

Weymouth New Testament
He was the lamp that burned and shone, and for a time you were willing to be gladdened by his light.

World English Bible
He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Young's Literal Translation
he was the burning and shining lamp, and ye did will to be glad, for an hour, in his light.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Testimonies about Jesus
34Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved. 35John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light. 36But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.…

Cross References
2 Samuel 21:17
But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished."

Daniel 12:3
Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

Mark 1:5
People went out to him from all of Jerusalem and the countryside of Judea. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

2 Peter 1:19
We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.


Treasury of Scripture

He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

was.

John 1:7,8
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe…

Matthew 11:11
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Luke 1:15-17,76,77
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb…

and ye.

John 6:66
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Ezekiel 33:31
And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

Matthew 3:5-7
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, …

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Burned Burneth Burning Chose Enjoy Glad Gladdened Happy Hour John Lamp Ready Rejoice Season Shineth Shining Shone Time Willing
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Burned Burneth Burning Chose Enjoy Glad Gladdened Happy Hour John Lamp Ready Rejoice Season Shineth Shining Shone Time Willing
John 5
1. Jesus on the Sabbath day cures him who was diseased thirty-eight years.
10. The Jews therefore object, and persecute him for it.
17. He answers for himself, and reproves them, showing by the testimony of his Father,
31. of John,
36. of his works,
39. and of the Scriptures, who he is.














(35) He was a burning and a shining light.--Better, He was the lamp that is lighted and (then) giveth light. The statement of the Prologue, "He was not the Light, but came to bear witness of the Light" (John 1:8), shows how important this change is. The word rendered "light" occurs again in Matthew 5:15; Matthew 6:22; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16; Luke 11:33-34; Luke 11:36; Luke 12:35; Luke 15:8; 2Peter 1:19; Revelation 18:23; Revelation 21:23; Revelation 22:5. The reader who will take the trouble to com pare these passages, will see clearly the difference in the Greek words. It should be lamp in all these instances. The article in "the lamp" is to be explained from a reference to the one lamp of every home. (Comp. Notes on Matthew 5:15 and Mark 4:21.) The term was in common use to denote a distinguished hero or teacher. The Rabbis were often called "Lamps of the Law," and David was "The Lamp of Israel" (2Samuel 21:17). Comp. the remarkable parallel spoken of the Baptist's great prototype, "Then stood up Elias the prophet, as fire, and his word was kindled like a lamp" (Ecclesiasticus 48:1). Others explain the words here of the promised lamp which was to appear, or of the torchbearer who lights the bridegroom's path. . . . Verse 35. - He was the lamp (λύχνος, not φῶς) that burneth and shineth. He was not the Light, but came to bear witness to the Light (John 1:8). The glory of his appearance was a derived or kindled illumination (cf. Matthew 6:22; 2 Peter 1:19). (It is not against this inference that in Revelation 21:23 the Lamb is the Lamp of the New Jerusalem.) The household lamp or torch, when kindled, burns with more or less brilliance, but burns itself out, exhausts itself. One may walk in the light of it, see the way one should take, discharge duties that would otherwise be impossible, avoid perils that might without the lamp prove disastrous or destructive; but the capacity of the torch is soon reduced to a minimum. Bengel, Stier, Alford, think that the celebrated passage in Ecclus. 48:1 may be referred to: "Then stood up Elijah the prophet like as a fire, and his word burned as a lamp." This is not impossible, though it would stand alone as a distinct reference in the Gospels to any apocryphal book. Lunge has given a long series of the lamp and fire symbols of the Old Testament; the group of events in which the Lord appeared in flames of fire and clouds of glory, from Exodus 3 to Malachi 3:2, affirming John to be "the flame signal of Messiah, the last Old Testament form of the pillar of fire and candlestick of the temple, therefore the lamp at once flaming and shining." More than this, and more to the point, we find that, under the figure of lamps of fire, the messengers of God, the activities of the Church, here repeatedly set forth (cf. Matthew 5:14-16; Matthew 25:1-8; Revelation 1:20; Philippians 2:15). John was the burning lamp, not the archetypal Light. Ye desired for a season to rejoice in his light. Many interpretations have been suggested, such as the exultation of a wedding party in the brief light of the torch bearer, announcing the approach of the bridegroom; or the dancing of ephemerides in the glitter of a lamp. The metaphor is lost in the solemn memory of the high gratification for a season which the populations of Judaea, Galilee, and the wilderness had manifested on the apparition of the great prophet. The universal acclaim soon subsided. The leaders of the people fell back when they heard John's call to repentance. Publicans and harlots pressed into the kingdom before the scribes and Pharisees. "The generation of vipers" did to John "whatsoever they listed." The secular power hushed his voice and crushed the man. "For a season" only did they listen to his word or respond to his challenge. His great testimony, though given to him by God, and by no means proceeding from his mere human consciousness, had been in the main unheeded. Wunsche quotes from 'Sota,' fol. 21, a, "Rabbi Menahem said that Solomon (Proverbs 6:23) compares 'prayer' with 'lamp,' and 'teaching' with 'light,' because the one flashes for the twinkling of an eye, comforts in the moment during which it shines; while the other, like the shining of the sun, burns evermore, and leads to eternal rest."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[John]
Ἐκεῖνος (Ekeinos)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1565: That, that one there, yonder. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed.

was
ἦν (ēn)
Verb - Imperfect 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.

a
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

lamp
λύχνος (lychnos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3088: A lamp. From the base of leukos; a portable lamp or other illuminator.

that
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

burned
καιόμενος (kaiomenos)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2545: To ignite, light, burn, lit. and met; I consume with fire. Apparently a primary verb; to set on fire, i.e. Kindle or consume.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

gave light,
φαίνων (phainōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5316: Prolongation for the base of phos; to lighten, i.e. Show.

and
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

you
ὑμεῖς (hymeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

were willing
ἠθελήσατε (ēthelēsate)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2309: To will, wish, desire, be willing, intend, design.

for
πρὸς (pros)
Preposition
Strong's 4314: To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward.

a season
ὥραν (hōran)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5610: Apparently a primary word; an 'hour'.

to bask
ἀγαλλιαθῆναι (agalliathēnai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Passive
Strong's 21: To exult, be full of joy. From agan and hallomai; properly, to jump for joy, i.e. Exult.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

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.

light.
φωτὶ (phōti)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5457: Light, a source of light, radiance. From an obsolete phao; luminousness.


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NT Gospels: John 5:35 He was the burning and shining lamp (Jhn Jo Jn)
John 5:34
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