John 8:43

43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even 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 deeds of your father. Then they said to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would surely love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither did I come of myself, but he sent me.

43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye desire to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.

45 And because I tell you the truth, ye do not believe me.