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

15The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well. 16Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him. So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” 18For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God. 19So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.

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 9:4We must perform the deeds of the one who sent me as long as it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work.
• John 14:10Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds.
• Genesis 2:1The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them.
• Psalms 65:6You created the mountains by your power, and demonstrated your strength.
• Isaiah 40:26Look up at the sky! Who created all these heavenly lights? He is the one who leads out their ranks; he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing.
• Matthew 10:29Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
• Acts 14:17yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.”
• Acts 17:28For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’
• 1 Corinthians 12:6And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.
• Colossians 1:16for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.
• Hebrews 1:3The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

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