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.
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.
- KJV 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.
- 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.
- 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 speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”
- Gal 4:29But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
- Gal 4:16So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
- Rev 12:12–13Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”
- Ps 37:32The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.
- 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.
- John 8:37–38I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
- Rev 12:17The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.
- Ps 37:12The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
- Rev 12:4His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
- 1 Jn 3:12–15unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- John 8:56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. 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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