John 8:51

Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Verily	Ἀμὴν Amēn	G281	properly · interjection — Hebrew
verily	ἀμὴν amēn	G281	properly · interjection — Hebrew
I say	λέγω legō	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
unto you	ὑμῖν hymîn	G5213	to (with or by) you
If	ἐάν ean	G1437	a conditional particle · conditional particle
a man	τις tis	G5100	some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative singular masculine
keep	τηρήσῃ, tērēsē	G5083	perhaps akin to G2334 (θεωρέω)) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
my	ἐμός emós	G1699	my
saying	λόγον logon	G3056	something said (including the thought) · noun — accusative singular masculine
he shall	θεωρήσῃ theōrēsē	G2334	to be a spectator of · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
never	οὐ ou	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
see	θεωρέω theōréō	G2334	to be a spectator of
death	θάνατον thanaton	G2288	(properly · noun — accusative singular masculine

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 11:25-26 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into c…
John 3:15-16 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;…
Luke 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he…
Psalms 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:51–end

In these verses we have, I. The doctrine of the immortality of believers laid down, Joh 8:51. It is ushered in with the usual solemn preface, Verily, verily, I say unto you, which commands both attention and assent, and this is what he says, If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death. Here we have, 1. The character of a believer: he is one that keeps the sayings of the Lord Jesus, ton logon ton emon - my word; that word of mine which I have delivered to you; this we must not only receive, but keep; not only have, but hold. We must keep it in mind and memory, keep it in love and affection, so keep it as in nothing to violate it or go contrary to it, keep it without spot (Ti1 6:14), ke…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:51

If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death--Partly thus vindicating His lofty claims as Lord of the kingdom of life everlasting, and, at the same time, holding out even to His revilers the scepter of grace. The word "keep" is in harmony with Joh 8:31, "If ye continue in My word," expressing the permanency, as a living and paramount principle, of that faith to which He referred: "never see death," though virtually uttered before (Joh 5:24; Joh 6:40, Joh 6:47, Joh 6:51), is the strongest and most naked statement of a very glorious truth yet given. (In Joh 11:26 it is repeated in nearly identical terms).

Adam Clarke on John 8:51

Shall never see death - As Moses promised a long life, with abundance of temporal blessings, to those who should keep his statutes and ordinances, so he who keeps my doctrine shall not only have a long life, but shall never see death - he shall never come under the power of the death of the soul, but shall live eternally with me in glory.

John Gill on John 8:51

Verily, verily, I say unto you,.... This is truth, and may be depended upon, as coming from the "Amen", and faithful witness: if a man keep my saying; or doctrine, receives the Gospel in the love of it, obeys it from his heart, and cordially embraces and firmly believes it; and retains and holds it fast, having a spiritual and comfortable experience of the doctrines of Christ, and yielding a cheerful and ready obedience to his commands and ordinances, in faith and love: he shall never see death; the second death, eternal death, which is an everlasting separation of a man, body and soul, from God: this death shall have no power on such a person, he shall never be hurt by it; and though he d…

The Church Fathers

(Hom. xviii. in Evang.) As the perversity of the wicked increases, preaching so far from giving way, ought even to become more active. Thus our Lord, after He had been accused of having a devil, imparts the treasures of preaching in a still larger degree: Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.
— Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

But what sayest Thou, O Lord, of Thyself? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." Ye say, "Thou hast a devil." I call you to life: keep my word and ye shall not die. They heard, "He shall never see death who keepeth my word," and were angry, because already dead in that death from which they might have escaped.
— Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 43

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death." Here He speaketh not of faith only, but of a pure life. Above He said, "shall have everlasting life," but here, "shall not see death." At the same time He hinteth to them that they could do nothing against Him, for if the man that should keep His saying should not die, much less should He Himself.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 55

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

Death, Eternal · Christ, the only way of escape from — Christ, the only way of escape from
Obedience · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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 8:51

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:51–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:51

Adam Clarke on John 8:51

John Gill on John 8:51

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 8:51

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:51–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:51

Adam Clarke on John 8:51

John Gill on John 8:51

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on John 8:51-55

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 8:48-49