John 8:40

But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
now	νῦν nun	G3568	"now" (as adverb of date · adverb
ye seek	ζητεῖτέ zēteite	G2212	to seek (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person plural
to kill	ἀποκτεῖναι, apokteinai	G615	to kill outright · verb — aorist active infinitive
me	με me	G3165	me · personal pronoun — 1st person accusative singular
a man	ἄνθρωπον anthrōpon	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — accusative singular masculine
that	ὃς hos	G3739	the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
hath told	λελάληκα lelalēka	G2980	to talk · verb — perfect active indicative, 1st person singular
you	ὑμῖν hymîn	G5213	to (with or by) you
the truth	ἀλήθειαν alētheian	G225	truth · noun — accusative singular feminine
which	ἣν hēn	G3739	the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — accusative singular feminine
I have heard	ἤκουσα ēkousa	G191	to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
of	παρὰ para	G3844	properly · preposition
God	θεοῦ· theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
this	τοῦτο toûto	G5124	that thing
did	ἐποίησεν. epoiēsen	G4160	to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
Abraham	Ἀβραὰμ Abraam	G11	Abraham · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

John 8:26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
Galatians 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Galatians 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Psalms 37:32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
Revelation 12:12-13 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto…
Psalms 37:12 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
John 8:37-38 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:38-47

Here Christ and the Jews are still at issue; he sets himself to convince and convert them, while they still set themselves to contradict and oppose him. I. He here traces the difference between his sentiments and theirs to a different rise and origin (Joh 8:38): I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have seen with your father. Here are two fathers spoken of, according to the two families into which the sons of men are divided - God and the devil, and without controversy these are contrary the one to the other. 1. Christ's doctrine was from heaven; it was copied out of the counsels of infinite wisdom, and the kind intentions of eternal love. (1.) I speak that whic…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:40

this did not Abraham--In so doing ye act in direct opposition to him.

Adam Clarke on John 8:39

If ye were Abraham's children - Griesbach reads εϚε, ye are, instead of ητε, ye were, on the authority of BDL, Vulgate, four copies of the Itala; Origen and Augustin. Ye would do the works of Abraham - As the son has the nature of his father in him, and naturally imitates him, so, if ye were the children of Abraham, ye would imitate him in his faith, obedience, and uprightness; but this ye do not, for ye seek to kill me - ye are watching for an opportunity to destroy me, merely because I tell you the truth: Abraham never did any thing like this; therefore, you have no spiritual relationship to him.

John Gill on John 8:40

But now ye seek to kill me,.... A temper and disposition very foreign from that of Abraham's: a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God; to seek to kill a man is a very great crime, and punishable with death; to kill an innocent one, that had done no sin, who was pure, holy, harmless, and inoffensive to God and man, was an aggravation of the iniquity; and to kill a prophet, and one more than a prophet, who brought a revelation from God himself, and declared the whole truth of the Gospel, and particularly that of his divine, eternal sonship, which incensed them against him, and put them upon seeking to take away his life, still increased the sin. This did not Abraham: th…

The Church Fathers

As if to say, By this you prove that you are not the sons of Abraham; that you do works contrary to those of Abraham.
— Alcuin of York ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Those who seek to kill him seek to kill a man, since even if they should kill him, God is not killed. And if they seek to kill him when they have not yet killed him, they plot against him as against a man, not thinking that the one against whom they plot is God. For no one would continue to plot against him if he were convinced that the one against whom he plots is God.
— Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.80

Any one who refused to believe that that flesh was human might pretend it to be anything he liked, for-as much as (and this remark is applicable, to all heretics), if it was not human, and was not born of man, I do not see of what substance Christ Himself spoke when He called Himself man and the Son of man, saying: "But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth; " and "The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath-day.
— Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Persecution · OF JESUS — OF JESUS
Self-Righteousness · .Pharisees — .Pharisees

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

John 8:40

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:38-47

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:40

Adam Clarke on John 8:39

John Gill on John 8:40

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 8:40

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:38-47

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:40

Adam Clarke on John 8:39

John Gill on John 8:40

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on John 8:39-42

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 8:37-41