John 8:43

43 Why do ye not know my speech? Because ye cannot hear 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 Ye do the works of your father. They said [therefore] to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one father, God.

42 Jesus said to them, If God were your father ye would have loved me, for I came forth from God and am come [from him]; for neither am I come of myself, but *he* has sent me.

43 Why do ye not know my speech? Because ye cannot hear my word.

44 Ye are of the devil, as [your] father, and ye desire to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks falsehood, he speaks of what is his own; for he is a liar and its father:

45 and because I speak the truth, ye do not believe me.