They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
Parallel translations
- WEB They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father.
- BSB They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father.
- NKJV They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
- NASB They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father.
- NLT But they still didn’t understand that he was talking about his Father.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The crowd failed to realize Jesus was speaking of God as his Father. Their spiritual blindness kept them from understanding his relationship to God.
Overview
John adds this editorial note to highlight the hearers' incomprehension despite Jesus' clear references to the One who sent him. Their failure illustrates that without spiritual sight, even plain teaching about the Father remains obscure. It sets up Jesus' coming explanation that full understanding will come through the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 6:9And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
- Isa 42:18–20Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
- Rom 11:7–10What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
- John 8:43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
- Isa 59:10We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
- John 8:47He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
- 2 Cor 4:3–4But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 8:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.