---
title: John 17:20
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-17-20/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-17-20.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 17:20
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 17:20

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (1984 edition): "I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those putting faith in me through their word"
- NWT (2013 revision): "I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those putting faith in me through their word"

## JW Usage

Watchtower publications cite John 17:20 to anchor the perpetual relevance of Jesus' upper-room teaching: his prayer reaches forward to "those putting faith in me through their message" — every Christian since the apostles. The verse appears in JW devotional literature and as a connecting text in apostolic-succession discussions, often paired with the organisation's "channel of communication" framing.

## Protestant Usage

Jesus' prayer extends explicitly to every believer who would come to faith through the apostolic preaching. The verse closes the door on a reading of his upper-room teaching that is restricted to the original twelve. Whatever Jesus has prayed for the apostles in vv.6-19 is here extended to the whole future church. Read with John 15:5 ("I am the vine, you are the branches"), the structure rules out an organisational tier between Christ and the believer: Jesus draws every Christian who comes to faith through the apostolic word into direct relationship with himself, not into a relationship mediated by an institution.

## NWT Issue

The NWT renders pisteuontōn eis eme as "those putting faith in me" — a periphrastic rendering of the simple Greek "those believing in me." Standard translations (ESV, NIV, NASB, KJV) read "believe in me." The NWT's "exercise faith / put faith" pattern across the New Testament reframes pisteuō as ongoing activity rather than the receptive trust the verb usually denotes. The shift fits a works-oriented soteriology where faith is something the believer continually does to maintain standing — compare Galatians 3:1-5, where Paul rebukes exactly that flesh-finishes-what-Spirit-started framing. The translation choice is consistent across the NWT, and consistent with the Watchtower's wider salvation theology.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Vine Has Two Roles, Not Three](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/vine-not-channel-ecclesiology.md) — John 15:1, 15:5 — No Channel Between Christ and the Branch [Authority]
- [Perichoresis — Three Persons Sharing One Will, Not Three](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-perichoresis-one-will.md) — Mutual indwelling, not a committee of gods [Deity of Christ]