They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
Parallel translations
- KJV They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
- BSB “Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.
- NKJV They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
- NASB They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham.
- NLT “Our father is Abraham!” they declared. “No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.
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
They claim Abraham as father, but Jesus says true children of Abraham would do Abraham's works. Likeness in conduct, not mere descent, proves spiritual sonship.
Overview
Jesus challenges their boast by appealing to character: genuine children resemble their father in action. Abraham believed God and welcomed his messengers, but they seek to kill the one God sent. The verse reinforces that faith and obedience, not lineage, mark the true family of Abraham and ultimately the family of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gal 3:7Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.
- John 8:37I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
- Rom 9:7Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.”
- Rom 2:28–29For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
- Matt 3:9Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
- Matt 5:45that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
- Gal 3:29If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
- Rom 4:12He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision.
- Rom 4:16For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
- Jas 2:22–24You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;
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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 8:39 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
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