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 left and told the Judean leaders that it was Yeshua who had made him well. 16Because Yeshua was doing these things on Shabbat, the Judean leaders started persecuting Him. But Yeshua said to them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18So for this reason the Judean leaders kept trying even harder to kill Him—because He was not only breaking Shabbat, but also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 19Therefore Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, the Son cannot do anything by Himself. He can do only what He sees the Father doing. 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 do the work of the One who sent Me, so long as it is day! Night is coming when no one can work.
• John 14:10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own; but the Father dwelling in Me does His works.
• Genesis 2:1So the heavens and the earth were completed along with their entire array.
• Psalms 65:6You respond to us in righteousness with awe-inspiring works —O God of our salvation— hope of all ends of the earth and farthest seas,
• Isaiah 40:26Lift up your eyes on high, and see! Who created these? The One who brings out their host by number, the One who calls them all by name. Because of His great strength and vast power, not one is missing.
• Matthew 10:29“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them shall fall to the ground apart from your Father’s consent.
• Acts 14:17Yet He did not leave Himself without a witness—He did good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with joy and gladness.”
• Acts 17:28for ‘In Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’
• 1 Corinthians 12:6There are various kinds of working, but the same God who works all things in all people.
• Colossians 1:16For by Him all things were created— in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him.
• Hebrews 1:3This Son is the radiance of His glory and the imprint of His being, upholding all things by His powerful word. When He had made purification for our 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