Bible Strands
John 8:40
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to a group of Jewish interlocutors who claim Abraham as their father, directly addressing them at the moment their debate turns to violence. This exchange occurs immediately after Jesus contrasts Abraham’s character with their current hostility.
The words — The Greek verb ζητεῖτε (zēteite) means "you seek," paired with ἀποκτεῖναι (apokteinai) "to kill" to form the exact phrase "you seek to kill." The particle δέ (de) translates as "but" or "however," marking a sharp pivot from their previous claims to their present actions.
The thread — The tension between truth-telling and persecution runs through John 8:26, where Jesus notes the Father’s truthfulness, and Galatians 4:29, which parallels flesh-born opposition to Spirit-born life. Galatians 4:16 also surfaces the same dynamic of becoming an enemy by speaking truth.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to measure their response to revealed truth against their claimed spiritual lineage. It demands the plain acknowledgment that hostility toward truth contradicts any assertion of belonging to God or Abraham.
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
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.
Cross-references
- John 8:26 “I have much to say about you and much to judge. But the One who sent Me is truthful, and what I have heard from Him, I tell the world.”
- Galatians 4:29 At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.
- Galatians 4:16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
- Psalms 37:32 Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short time.”
- Psalms 37:12 The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
- John 8:37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you.
- John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
- Romans 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
- 1 John 3:12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.