John 8:41
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
You are doing the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
We be not born of fornication . . . we have one Father, God--meaning, as is generally allowed, that they were not an illegitimate race in point of religion, pretending only to be God's people, but were descended from His own chosen Abraham.
Open source ↗In this chapter we have, I. Christ's evading the snare which the Jews laid for him, in bringing to him a woman taken in adultery (Joh 8:1-11). II. Divers discourses or conferences of his with the Jews that cavilled at him, and sought occasion against him, and made every thing he said a matter of controversy. 1. Concerning his being the light of the world (Joh 8:12-20). 2. Concerning the ruin of the unbelieving Jews (Joh 8:21-30). 3. Concerning liberty and bondage (Joh 8:31-37). 4. Concerning his Father and their father (Joh 8:38-47). 5. Here is his discourse in answer to their blasphemous reproaches (Joh 8:48-50). 6. Concerning the immortality of believers (Joh 8:51-59). And in all this he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself.
Open source ↗8:41 your real father: Jesus knew who controlled them. • We aren’t illegitimate children! This was both a defense and an attack. In Greek, the pronoun we is emphatic: “We [in contrast to you] are not illegitimate,” implying that Jesus was illegitimate (see Matt 1:18-25).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.
Is this how you repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is He not your Father and Creator? Has He not made you and established you?
You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.