John 8:59

Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Then	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
up	ἦραν ēran	G142	to lift up · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
stones	λίθους lithous	G3037	a stone (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative plural masculine
to	ἵνα ina	G2443	compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
cast	βάλωσιν balōsin	G906	to throw (in various applications · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
at	ἐπ᾽ ep᾽	G1909	properly · preposition
him	αὐτόν. auton	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
but	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
Jesus	Ἰησοῦς Iēsous	G2424	Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
himself	ἐκρύβη ekrubē	G2928	to conceal (properly · verb — second aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
out	ἐξῆλθεν exēlthen	G1831	to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
temple	ἱεροῦ hi'erou	G2411	a sacred place · noun — genitive singular neuter
going	διελθὼν dielthōn	G1330	to traverse (literally) · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
through	διὰ dia	G1223	through (in very wide applications · preposition
midst	μέσου mesou	G3319	middle (as an adjective or (neuter) noun) · adjective — genitive singular neuter
them	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
so	οὕτως.¶ houtōs	G3779	in this way (referring to what precedes or follows) · adverb
by	παρῆγεν parēgen	G3855	to lead near · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular

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 11:8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
John 10:30-33 I and my Father are one.
John 10:39-40 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
Leviticus 24:16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well t…
Luke 4:29-30 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him do…
Genesis 19:11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the…
2 Kings 6:18-20 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them wit…
Luke 24:31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:58

Before Abraham was, I am--The words rendered "was" and "am" are quite different. The one clause means, "Abraham was brought into being"; the other, "I exist." The statement therefore is not that Christ came into existence before Abraham did (as Arians affirm is the meaning), but that He never came into being at all, but existed before Abraham had a being; in other words, existed before creation, or eternally (as Joh 1:1). In that sense the Jews plainly understood Him, since "then took they up stones to cast at Him," just as they had before done when they saw that He made Himself equal with God (Joh 5:18). hid himself--(See on Luk 4:30). Next: John Chapter 9

Adam Clarke on John 8:59

Then took they up stones, etc. - It appears that the Jews understood him as asserting his Godhead; and, supposing him to be a blasphemer, they proceeded to stone him, according to the law. Lev 24:16. But Jesus hid himself - In all probability he rendered himself invisible - though some will have it that he conveyed himself away from those Jews who were his enemies, by mixing himself with the many who believed on him, (Joh 8:30, Joh 8:31), and who, we may suppose, favored his escape. Pearce. But where did they find the stones, Christ and they being in the temple? It is answered: 1st. It is probable, as the buildings of the temple had not been yet completed, there might have been many stones n…

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The Church Fathers

He fled, because His hour was not yet come; and because He had not chosen this kind of death.
— Alcuin of York ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mystically, a man throws a stone at Jesus, as often as he harbours an evil thought; and if he follows it up, so far as lies in him, he kills Jesus.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

He passed through them and left the place as if their eyes were closed by divine power so that they might not know how he had left from their midst.… Clearly, then, he slipped away from the Jews and, moving on, he performed the work on the blind man. Right after his discourse, then, one miracle was followed by another. This is so since, on the one hand, he was not seen by those who could see (because they were possessed by blindness) while on the other, he gave sight to the one who did not have the natural ability to see.
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON JOHN 3.8.57-59

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 8:59

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:51–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:58

Adam Clarke on John 8:59

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 8:59

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 8:51–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 8:58

Adam Clarke on John 8:59

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on John 8:59

John Calvin on John 8:56–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 8:59