New International Version
John 8:38
38I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
John 8:38 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."
- New King James Version (NKJV)I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”
Context of John 8:38
36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.” 39“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 40As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.
Read all of John 8John 8:38 word by word
ἃ ἐγὼ ἑώρακα παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ λαλῶ· καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν ἃ ἠκούσατε παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ποιεῖτε.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980
- thatὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
- whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- withπαράpara · from/with/besideG3844
- Fatherὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Fatherπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- yeσύsu · youG4771
- doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
- thatοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
Cross-references for John 8:38
- John 8:26“I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
- John 3:32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.
- John 5:19Jesus 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.
- John 12:49For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.
- John 14:10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
- John 17:8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
- John 8:41You are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
- Matthew 3:7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- 1 John 3:8The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Commentaries on John 8:38
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 38I speak that which I have seen - I speak nothing but that unchangeable, eternal truth which I have received from the bosom of God. Ye do that which ye have seen - Instead of ̔, ye have seen, I think we should read , ye have heard, on the authority of BCKL, fifteen others; Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, later Syriac in the margin, Gothic, one copy of the Itala; Origen, Cyril, and Chrysostom. This reading, says Bishop Pearce, (who has adopted it), seems…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 38I speak - John 3:11-13. My Father - God. Your father - The devil. See John 8:44. To see here means to learn of. They had learned of or been taught by the devil, and imitated him.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 37-40Verses 37-40 Our Lord opposed the proud and vain confidence of these Jews, showing that their descent from Abraham could not profit those of a contrary spirit to him. Where the word of God has no place, no good is to be expected; room is left there for all wickedness. A sick person who turns from his physician, and will take neither remedies nor food, is past hope of recovery. The truth both heals and nourishes the hearts of those who receive it. The…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 37-41The leaders' plan to kill Jesus revealed their true identity (5:18). They were part of a different spiritual family, and their spiritual father was not Jesus's Father. They were relying on the fact that their ancestral father was Abraham, but Jesus challenged their spiritual heritage. The most important part of his challenge comes in 8:44.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 37-4137-41. ye seek to kill me--He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them. because my word hath no place in you--When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them. But here is One who holds up "His word" as that which ought to find…Read the comment
Topics related to John 8:38
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on John 8
- 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
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