John 5:45-47

5:45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. ¹  5:46 If ²  you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses ³  wrote, how will you believe my words?”

[5:45]  ¹ sn The final condemnation will come from Moses himself – again ironic, since Moses is the very one the Jewish authorities have trusted in (placed your hope). This is again ironic if it is occurring at Pentecost, which at this time was being celebrated as the occasion of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is evidence that some Jews of the 1st century looked on Moses as their intercessor at the final judgment (see W. A. Meeks, The Prophet King [NovTSup], 161). This would mean the statement Moses, in whom you have placed your hope should be taken literally and relates directly to Jesus’ statements about the final judgment in John 5:28-29.

[5:46]  ² tn Grk “For if.”

[5:47]  ³ tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.