John 18:21
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
Why ask you me? ask them which heard me, what I have said to them: behold, they know what I said.
American King James Version (AKJV)
Why ask you me? ask them which heard me, what I have said to them: behold, they know what I said.
American Standard Version (ASV)
Why askest thou me? Ask them that have heard me , what I spake unto them: behold, these know the things which I said.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Why are you questioning me? put questions to my hearers about what I have said to them: they have knowledge of what I said.
Webster's Revision
Why dost thou ask me? ask them who heard me, what I have said to them: behold, they know what I have said.
World English Bible
Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. Behold, these know the things which I said."
English Revised Version (ERV)
Why askest thou me? ask them that have heard me, what I spake unto them: behold, these know the things which I said.
Barnes's John 18:21 Bible Commentary
Why askest thou me? Ask them ... - Jesus here insisted on his rights, and reproves the high priest for his unjust and illegal manner of extorting a confession from him. If he had done wrong, or taught erroneous and seditious doctrines, it was easy to prove it, and the course which he had a right to demand was that they should establish the charge by fair and incontrovertible evidence. We may here learn:
1. That, though Jesus was willing to be reviled and persecuted, yet he also insisted that justice should be done him.
2. He was conscious of innocence, and he had been so open in his conduct that he could appeal to the vast multitudes which had heard him as witnesses in his favor.
3. It is proper for us, when persecuted and reviled, meekly but firmly to insist on our rights, and to demand that justice shall be done us. Laws are made to protect the innocent as well as to condemn the guilty.
4. Christians, like their Saviour, should so live that they may confidently appeal to all who have known them as witnesses of the sincerity, purity, and rectitude of their lives, 1 Peter 4:13-16.
Wesley's John 18:21 Bible Commentary
18:21 Why askest thou me - Whom thou wilt not believe?