John 5:18

John 5:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
• New Living Translation (NLT)So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

Context of John 5:18

16So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

John 5:18 word by word

διὰ τοῦτο οὖν μᾶλλον ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀποκτεῖναι, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἔλυεν τὸ σάββατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγεν τὸν θεὸν ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ θεῷ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Thereforeδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• ·οὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• ·οὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• the JewsἸουδαῖοςIoudaios · JewG2453
• soughtζητέωzēteō · to seekG2212
• the moreμᾶλλονmallon · moreG3123
• to killἀποκτείνωapokteinō · to killG615
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• heλύωluō · to looseG3089
• notοὐou · noG3756
• onlyμόνονmonon · onlyG3440
• the sabbathσάββατονsabbaton · SabbathG4521
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• was hisἴδιοςidios · one's own/privateG2398
• Fatherπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• makingποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• himselfἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• equalἴσοςisos · equalG2470

Cross-references for John 5:18

• John 7:19Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
• John 7:22Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath.
• Matthew 12:5Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
• John 5:23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
• John 8:54Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.
• John 10:30I and the Father are one.”
• John 14:9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
• Zechariah 13:7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
• Philippians 2:6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
• Revelation 21:22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
• Revelation 22:1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

Commentaries on John 5:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Making himself equal with God - This the Jews understood from the preceding verse: nor did they take a wrong meaning out of our Lord's words; for he plainly stated that, whatever was the Father's work, his was the same; thus showing that He and the Father were One. They had now found out two pretenses to take away his life: one was that he had broken the Sabbath - , dissolved, as they pretended, the obligation of keeping it holy. The other was that he was…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18The more to kill him - The answer of Jesus was suited greatly to irritate them. He did not deny what he had done, but he “added” to that what he well knew would highly offend them. That he should claim the right of dispensing with the law, and affirm that, in regard to its observance, he was in the same condition with God, was eminently suited to enrage them, and he doubtless knew that it might endanger his life. We may learn from his answer: 1.that we…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. 1-40This chapter is structured like a courtroom case (a legal trial). It begins with a description of the event that led to the conflict (5:1–15). This is followed by the decision of the Jewish leaders to take action against Jesus (5:16). Next comes a statement of the charges against him (5:18). The chapter then presents the defense given by Jesus, where he explains his authority and his relationship with the Father (5:17, 19–40).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 5:18

• Bigotry
• God
• Power
• Slander

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Folk
• Judgment
• Lest
• Light
• Son of God
• Step
• Trouble
• Troubling

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