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John 18 · a question people ask

Pilate asked, "What is truth?" (18:38). What did he mean by it?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say. Jesus had just said, "For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (18:37). "Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”" (18:38), and "When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews" (18:38). The chapter tells no answer to his question and gives no reason for it, and these notes don't either.

The verses

“Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”
John 18:37-38 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of John 18

John 18: Who are you looking for?

When they came for him, Jesus went out to them and asked, "Who are you looking for?" (18:4). Before Pilate he said why he came: "For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth" (18:37).

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions