What does Jesus mean when He says, "Verily, verily" or "Truly, truly," in the gospels?
Answered from the commentary of William Kelly, L. M. Grant, F. A. Hughes and 4 others
“Verily, verily” means “most assuredly”: Jesus gives His words with absolute authority and marks them as solemn, special revelation. He speaks as the truth and as the One who is Himself what He declares, so His words carry the certainty of God’s own testimony.
The double affirmation encourages full trust in what He says. It also calls for His words to be received: in them He reveals the Father and speaks the truth that gives life.
Verses: John 1:51, John 3:3, John 3:5, John 3:11, John 5:19, John 5:24, John 5:25, John 6:26, John 6:32, John 6:47, John 6:53
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What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
We add another witness to this. Our Lord sometimes prefaced His sayings by, “VERILY, VERILY.” Why this double affirmation of our Lord? Because of His gracious desire to encourage us to trust Him fully.
Over seventy times in the Gospels we read "Verily, verily, I say unto you." These are the words of the 'Amen' — a name signifying 'The God of Truth.' It is remarkable that 'Verily' and 'Amen' are both the same word, and this has great import and significance. He who in His person is 'the Truth' has brought that word of truth to bear upon men — teaching and drawing our thoughts and affections towards God — enabling us to respond to Him 'in spirit and in truth.' The revelation of God's heart, the wonder of His love, the making known of His desire, have been perfectly manifested in Christ and through Him the mighty response to God in a coming day will be commensurate with the revelation itself.
As appreciating the preciousness of this personal Name of Jesus we can enter somewhat into the understanding of other Names and Titles of our Lord. In Revelation 3 He is presented as "the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." These are remarkable words, involving both His deity and His holy humanity. The word "Amen" as one of the titles of our Lord is of tremendous import. It is a Hebrew word signifying "God of truth." It comes at the close of Paul's three doxologies in the Epistle to the Romans, the centre one of which (Rom. 9) so obviously applies to the Lord Jesus — setting the seal of divine truth on His Manhood — "of whom, as according to flesh, is the Christ;" and upon His deity — "who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." Some seventy or more times in the gospels we hear our Lord saying, "Verily I say unto you." The words "Amen" and "Verily" are the same in the original language, the "God of Truth" was here in the Person of Jesus. Let us value His sayings! A cognate of the word "Amen" suggests "going up to the right hand."
His claim to absolute authority involves His Deity. The prophets open their inspired utterances with a "Thus says the Lord." They appeal to their hearers on the authority of the Lord. It is otherwise with the sayings of Christ which are introduced with, "Verily I say to you." He can make no appeal to a higher authority for He is the Lord.
A prophet when addressing the people must say, “Thus says the Lord”; but Jesus says: “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” and declares that the one who believes on Him has everlasting life, and that the one that saw Him saw the Father.
His servants had been here before Him, and they had spoken His Word faithfully; but, as I have said, here was the Word itself. They could not direct attention to themselves. They could not say, Believe on me. They could only say, “Thus says the Lord.” Jesus says, “Very, verily, I say unto you.” He spoke with authority, and not as the Scribes. He could say, “He that believes on Me believes not on Me but on Him that sent Me,” and, “He that sees Me sees Him that sent Me.” He was here to divert our attention from ourselves, and to centre it upon the living God.
For the third time, in speaking to Nicodemus, the Lord Jesus uses the double affirmative, “Verily, verily,” or “most assuredly” (v. 11). How vital and crucial are His words therefore. He claims absolute knowledge of what He speaks, His testimony being of that which He “has seen.” But notice His using the plural “we” rather than “I”. The unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is involved in what He speaks, for the Trinity is united in this testimony (Compare John 12:50; John 14:10; John 16:13). How sad it is that man's heart is so darkened that he does not receive such witness.
What then is the resource when there is such hopeless obduracy? What sort of a person can help in such circumstances where the powerlessness is that of death? Only One who can act for God without any compromise of the nature of God; and, more than this, only One who can act as God and with God. Hence the Lord said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." Such a One then can only be God's own Son. He possesses more than a delegated authority, for in His own inherent right He can speak in His own authority. This He does, prefacing His words with the phrase characteristic of this Gospel, "Verily, verily, I say unto you" (verses 19, 24, 25).
Verses
- John 1:51And he says to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.
- John 3:3Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God.
- John 3:5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
- John 3:11Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and we bear witness of that which we have seen, and ye receive not our witness.
- John 5:19Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of himself save whatever he sees the Father doing for whatever things he does, these things also the Son does in like manner.
- John 5:24–2524Verily, verily, I say unto you, that he that hears my word, and believes him that has sent me, has life eternal, and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life. 25Verily, verily, I say unto you, that an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that have heard shall live.
- John 6:26Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say to you, Ye seek me not because ye have seen signs, but because ye have eaten of the loaves and been filled.