John 5:17

John 5:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
• New International Version (NIV)In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."
• New King James Version (NKJV)But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

Context of John 5:17

15Then the man went to the Jewish leaders. He told them that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16The Jewish leaders were angry because Jesus had made a man well on their day of rest. As a result, they began to cause a lot of trouble for Jesus. But Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is still working, and I too must work.’ 18Because Jesus said this, the Jewish leaders became really angry. They wanted even more to kill him. Jesus not only worked on the day of rest. He was also calling God his own Father, so he was making himself equal with God. 19Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: The Son can do nothing by himself. He sees what the Father does, and he can do only those same things. What the Father does, the Son also does.

John 5:17 word by word

Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Butδέde · thenG1161
• JesusἸησοῦςIēsous · JesusG2424
• answeredἀποκρίνωapokrinomai · to answerG611
• themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• Myἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• Fatherπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• workethἐργάζομαιergazomai · to workG2038
• ·ἕωςheōs · untilG2193
• hithertoἄρτιarti · nowG737
• and Iκἀγώkagō kamoi kame · and IG2504

Cross-references for John 5:17

• John 9:4While it is still day, we must continue to work. God has sent me and we must do his work. We must work now because it will be night soon. Then nobody can work.
• John 14:10I am in the Father and the Father is in me. You should believe that. The words that I say to you do not come from me myself. But the Father lives in me, and he is doing his work.
• Genesis 2:1In that way God finished making the heavens and the earth, and everything that was in them.
• Psalms 65:6You used your power to make the mountains, and you showed how strong you are.
• Isaiah 40:26Look up at the sky! Think about the one who made all the stars. God is the one who brought together that great army! He knows how many they are and he knows each of their names! When he calls them, each one is there, because he is so strong and powerful.
• Matthew 10:29Think about this. People sell two birds for just one small coin. But God takes care of these little birds. Not one of them can fall to the ground unless God lets it happen.
• Acts 14:17But God has showed everybody very clearly what he is like. He has showed you that he is kind. He causes the rain to fall from the sky. He causes the plants to give you food at the right time each year. He gives you plenty of food to eat. In these ways he makes you very happy.’
• Acts 17:28Someone said this: “Because God gives us life, we are alive. Because of him, we can move about. Because of him we can be who we are.” One of your writers has also said, “We too are God's children.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:6We do different kinds of work. But it is the same God who helps us all to work in different ways.
• Colossians 1:16When God created everything, it was his Son who did it. His Son made everything that is on earth and in heaven. He created everything that we can see, as well as the things that we cannot see. He made rulers and leaders. He made everything that has power and authority. God gave his Son the authority to create everything, so that his Son would receive praise.
• Hebrews 1:3The Son shows us completely what God is like. He shines with God's great glory. His nature is the same as God's nature. The Son's powerful word causes everything to continue. He himself made it possible for us to be clean from our sins. After he had done that, he returned to heaven. He went and he sat at the right side of God, who rules with all authority.

Commentaries on John 5:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17My Father worked hitherto, and I work - Or, As my Father worketh until now, etc., being understood. God created the world in six days: on the seventh he rested from all creating acts, and set it apart to be an everlasting memorial of his work. But, though he rested from creating, he never ceased from preserving and governing that which he had formed: in this respect he can keep no sabbaths; for nothing can continue to exist, or answer the end proposed by…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17My Father - God. Worketh hitherto - Worketh “until now,” or until this time. God has not ceased to work on the Sabbath. He makes the sun to rise; He rolls the stars; He causes the grass, the tree, the flower to grow. He has not suspended His operations on the Sabbath, and the obligation to “rest” on the Sabbath does not extend to Him. He created the world in six days, and ceased the work of creation; but He has not ceased to govern it, and to carry…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-23Verses 17-23 The Divine power of the miracle proved Jesus to be the Son of God, and he declared that he worked with, and like unto his Father, as he saw good. These ancient enemies of Christ understood him, and became more violent, charging him not only with sabbath-breaking, but blasphemy, in calling God his own Father, and making himself equal with God. But all things now, and at the final judgment, are committed to the Son, purposely that all men might…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17My Father is at His work, and I too am working: The Sabbath was a day of rest. People were not supposed to work. However, Jewish teachers agreed that God still worked on the Sabbath. God gives life through birth. God also takes life in death. God’s work does not stop. Jesus used this idea to explain his actions. He said that, like his Father, he was also working. By speaking this way, Jesus compared himself with God. The Jewish leaders understood what he…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-1817-18. My Father worketh hitherto and I work--The "I" is emphatic; "The creative and conservative activity of My Father has known no sabbath-cessation from the beginning until now, and that is the law of My working."Read the comment

Topics related to John 5:17

• God
• Power
• Temple

In the dictionaries

• Jesus
• Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus
• Folk
• Judgment
• Lest
• Light
• Step
• Trouble
• Troubling
• Witness

Commentaries on John 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings