John 8:23

Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses a group of Jewish questioners immediately after they speculate about His death, responding to their confusion over His claim that they cannot follow Him to His destination.

The words — The verse pivots on ἐκ κάτω (ek katō), literally “from below,” contrasted with the implied ἐκ ἄνω (ek anō), “from above,” which establish two mutually exclusive origins.

The thread — This origin-based division appears in John 3:31, which contrasts the One from above with those belonging to the earth, and in John 17:14, where Jesus states His followers share His non-worldly status.

Why it lands — The text establishes that spiritual destination is determined by one's source, requiring a reader to identify which origin governs their allegiance rather than assuming earthly frameworks apply to divine matters.

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

And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

Cross-references

John 3:31 The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
John 17:14 I have given them Your word and the world has hated them. For they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
John 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Psalms 17:4 As for the deeds of men—by the word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.
1 John 4:5 They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them.
John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
Romans 8:7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
James 4:4 You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.