Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
Parallel translations
- WEB Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”
- BSB Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, as did the prophets. Who do You claim to be?”
- NKJV Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
- NASB You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died, are You? The prophets died too. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?”
- NLT Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
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 demand to know if Jesus claims to be greater than Abraham and the prophets. The question, meant as a rebuke, presses Jesus toward his greatest claim.
Overview
Incredulous, they ask who Jesus thinks he is to surpass Abraham and the prophets. Ironically, the answer is yes: he is far greater. Their hostile question becomes the occasion for Jesus to reveal his eternal existence and deity in the verses that follow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- John 4:12Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
- Rom 9:5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
- Isa 9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
- Heb 7:1–7For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
- Heb 3:2–3Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
- John 12:34The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
- Matt 12:41–42The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
- John 10:33The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
- John 10:29–30My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
- John 19:7The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
- John 5:18Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
- John 8:58Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
- Matt 12:6But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 8:53 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.