They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father.
Parallel translations
- KJV They understood not that he spake to them of 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 6:9He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
- Isa 42:18–20“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
- Rom 11:7–10What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened.
- John 8:43Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word.
- Isa 59:10We grope for the wall like the blind. Yes, we grope as those who have no eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. Among those who are strong, we are like dead men.
- John 8:47He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”
- 2 Cor 4:3–4Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who perish;
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.