But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Parallel translations
- WEB But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this.
- BSB But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.
- NKJV But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
- NASB But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.
- NLT Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.
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 seek to kill Jesus for telling the truth he received from God, something Abraham never did. Their hostility proves they are unlike Abraham.
Overview
Jesus contrasts his truth-telling, received directly from God, with their murderous response. Abraham welcomed God's word and messengers; they reject and resist them. This exposes the gulf between claiming Abraham as father and actually sharing his faith, and it underscores the world's opposition to the truth Christ brings.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- John 8:26I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
- Gal 4:29But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
- Gal 4:16Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
- Rev 12:12–13Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
- Ps 37:32The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
- Rom 4:12And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
- John 8:37–38I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
- Rev 12:17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
- Ps 37:12The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
- Rev 12:4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
- 1 Jn 3:12–15Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- John 8:56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
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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 8:40 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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