John 8:43

43 "Why * do you not understand ¹what I am saying? It is because you cannot * ²hear My word.

John 8:43 Meaning and Commentary

John 8:43

Why do ye not understand my speech?
&c.] Language, idiom, dialect, and form of speaking, in a figurative way; for they did not know what he meant by liberty, and bondage, and by having another father than Abraham, or by his own procession and coming forth from God:

[even] because ye cannot hear my word;
as they had no spiritual discerning and understanding of the doctrine of Christ, which showed them to be carnal, and natural men, and not regenerate ones, and the children of God; so they had an aversion to it, and could not bear to hear it.

John 8:43 In-Context

41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

45 "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

Cross References

• 1. John 8:33, 39, 41
• 2. John 5:25

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "My way of speaking"