John 5:18

Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — A narrative statement, not a speech: the Jews are the subject, acting against Jesus immediately after His claim in v. 17 that the Father works and He works, in the aftermath of the Sabbath healing at the pool.

The words — μᾶλλον (mallon), "the more," an adverb of degree that marks escalation: their pursuit intensifies, not merely continues.

The thread — The same charge reappears in John 10:33 ("You, who are a man, make Yourself God") and John 19:7 ("He declared Himself to be the Son of God"), showing the accusation hardening from implied equality to explicit blasphemy as the narrative moves toward the cross.

Why it lands — The verse forces the reader to identify which specific claim the Jews heard as equality with God, because that identification is the hinge on which the entire trial turns.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Therefore 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.

Cross-references

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”
John 10:33 “We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
John 19:7 “We have a law,” answered the Jews, “and according to that law He must die, because He declared Himself to be the Son of God.”
John 8:58 “Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
John 5:23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
John 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 7:1 After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him.
John 7:19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?”
John 8:54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
Philippians 2:6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,