The Meaning of John 8:38 Explained

John 8:38

KJV: I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

YLT: I -- that which I have seen with my Father do speak, and ye, therefore, that which ye have seen with your father -- ye do.'

Darby: I speak what I have seen with my Father, and ye then do what ye have seen with your father.

ASV: I speak the things which I have seen with my Father: and ye also do the things which ye heard from your father.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I  speak  that which  I have seen  with  my  Father:  and  ye  do  that  which  ye have seen  with  your  father. 

What does John 8:38 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jesus claimed to be God"s Son as the Jews claimed to be Abraham"s children. As their conduct showed, they were not Abraham"s true children, so Jesus" words proved that He was God"s true Son. Jesus" point was that conduct reveals paternity. He was hinting that their father was not God since they opposed Him.

Context Summary

John 8:31-38 - The Source Of True Liberty
Sin is not a necessary part of our being. The servant abideth not in the house for ever. Your child is an integral part of the household; he has become one with it. However far he travels, he can never break the link of indissoluble connection. But it is different with a servant, especially under the provisions of the Levitical law. In like manner, a man may have served sin, but, though tightly held, it has no necessary rights over him. The trumpet of Jubilee may sound, and he may go free. It is not freedom to do as we like. Jesus sets us free from the trap and the bird-lime, that is, from the unnatural conditions fastening and confining us from being what God meant us to be. The swallow would not thank you to be freed to live on carrion, but only to mount again into the sunny air.
Jesus frees us by the truth. The slave-girl will no longer serve in the house of her cruel oppressor, when she learns that the act of emancipation has passed and he has no longer any claim upon her. When we understand that we are accepted and triumphant because of our union with Christ, we begin to exercise our privilege and to draw upon the grace which he has made available. Thus we become free. [source]

Chapter Summary: John 8

1  Jesus delivers the woman taken in adultery
12  He declares himself the light of the world, and justifies his doctrine;
31  promises freedom to those who believe;
33  answers the Jews who boasted of Abraham;
48  answers their reviling, by showing his authority and dignity;
59  and slips away from those who would stone him

Greek Commentary for John 8:38

With my Father [παρα τωι πατρι]
Locative case of πατηρ — patēr and article used as possessive (common idiom), “by the side of my Father,” picture of intimate fellowship like προς τον τεον — pros ton theon (face to face with God) in John 1:1. From your father Ablative case with παρα — para (from the side of) and same possessive use of του — tou in each instance, though “the” will really answer both times. But ο πατηρ — ho patēr does not mean the same person. Christ‘s Father by contrast is not their father. [source]
Ye have seen []
The best texts read ἠκούσατε , ye heard. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 8:38

John 16:22 And ye therefore now [και υμεις ουν νυν]
See John 8:38 for like emphasis on ye The “sorrow” The metaphor points, of course, to the resurrection of Jesus which did change the grief of the disciples to gladness, once they are convinced that Jesus has risen from the dead. But I will see you again Future middle of οραω — horaō to see. In John 16:16, John 16:19 Jesus had said “ye shall see me” Shall rejoice Second future passive of χαιρω — chairō Taketh away Present active indicative, futuristic present, but B D have αρει — arei the future active (shall take away). This joy is a permanent possession. [source]
John 7:6 My time is not yet come [ο καιρος ο εμος ουπω παρεστιν]
Only use with John 7:8 of καιρος — kairos in this Gospel, elsewhere χρονος — chronos (John 5:6) or more often ωρα — hōra (John 2:4) “the predestined hour” (Bernard). Here καιρος — kairos is the fitting or proper occasion for Christ‘s manifesting himself publicly to the authorities as Messiah as in John 7:8. At the feast of tabernacles Jesus did make such public claims (John 7:29, John 7:33; John 8:12, John 8:28, John 8:38, John 8:42, John 8:58). Παρεστιν — Parestin is present active indicative of παρειμι — pareimi old compound, to be by, to be present. The brothers of Jesus had the regular Jewish obligation to go up to the feast, but the precise day was a matter of indifference to them. [source]
John 8:40 But now [νυν δε]
Clear statement that they are not doing “the works of Abraham” in seeking to kill him. See this use of νυν δε — nun de after a condition of second class without αν — an in John 16:22, John 16:24. This did not Abraham Blunt and pointed of their unlikeness to Abraham. A man that hath told you the truth Αντρωπον — Anthrōpon (here = person, one) is accusative case in apposition with me Here we have “I” in the English. “God” here is equal to “My Father” in John 8:38. The only crime of Jesus is telling the truth directly from God. [source]
John 8:41 Ye do the works of your father [υμεις ποιειτε τα εργα του πατρος υμων]
Who is not Abraham and not God as Jesus plainly indicates. We were not born of fornication First aorist passive indicative of γενναω — gennaō This they said as a proud boast. Jesus had admitted that they were physical (Deuteronomy 23:2) descendants of Abraham (John 8:37), but now denies that they are spiritual children of Abraham (like Paul in Romans 9:7). Πορνεια — Porneia is from πορνος — pornos (harlot) and that from περνημι — pernēmi to sell, a woman who sells her body for sexual uses. It is vaguely possible that in this stern denial the Pharisees may have an indirect fling at Jesus as the bastard son of Mary (so Talmud). We have one Father, even God No “even” in the Greek, “One Father we have, God.” This in direct reply to the implication of Jesus (John 8:38) that God was not their spiritual Father. [source]
1 John 1:4 Full [πεπληρωμένη]
More correctly, fulfilled. Frequent in John. See John 3:29; John 7:8; John 8:38; John 15:11; 2 John 1:12; Revelation 6:11. “The peace of reconciliation, the blessed consciousness of sonship, the happy growth in holiness, the bright prospect of future completion and glory, - all these are but simple details of that which, in all its length and breadth is embraced by one word, Eternal Life, the real possession of which is the immediate source of our joy. We have joy, Christ's joy, because we are blessed, because we have life itself in Christ” (Düsterdieck, cit. by Alford). And Augustine: “For there is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for thine own sake, whose joy Thou thyself art. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to Thee, of Thee; this is it and there is no other” (“Confessions,” x., 22). Alford is right in remarking that this verse gives an epistolary character to what follows, but it can hardly be said with him that it “fills the place of the χαίρειν greetinglit., rejoice, so common in the opening of Epistles.” [source]

What do the individual words in John 8:38 mean?

That which I have seen with the Father I speak also you therefore what you have heard from the father you do
ἐγὼ ἑώρακα παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ λαλῶ καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν ἠκούσατε παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ποιεῖτε

  That  which 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
ἑώρακα  have  seen 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: εἶδον 
Sense: to see with the eyes.
Πατρὶ  Father 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
λαλῶ  I  speak 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: ἀπολαλέω 
Sense: to utter a voice or emit a sound.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
ἠκούσατε  you  have  heard 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
πατρὸς  father 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
ποιεῖτε  you  do 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ποιέω  
Sense: to make.