John 8:23-24

8:23 Jesus replied,¹ “You people² are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world. 8:24 Thus I told you³ that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he,⁴ you will die in your sins.”

John 8:42-47

8:42 Jesus replied,⁵ “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here.⁶ I⁷ have not come on my own initiative,⁸ but he⁹ sent me. 8:43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept¹⁰ my teaching.¹¹ 8:44 You people¹² are from¹³ your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.¹⁴ He¹⁵ was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth,¹⁶ because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies,¹⁷ he speaks according to his own nature,¹⁸ because he is a liar and the father of lies.¹⁹ 8:45 But because I am telling you²⁰ the truth, you do not believe me. 8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty²¹ of any sin?²² If I am telling you²³ the truth, why don’t you believe me? 8:47 The one who belongs to²⁴ God listens and responds²⁵ to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond,²⁶ because you don’t belong to God.”²⁷

¹tn Grk “And he said to them.”

²tn The word “people” is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

³tn Grk “thus I said to you.”

⁴tn Grk “unless you believe that I am.” In this context there is an implied predicate nominative (“he”) following the “I am” phrase. What Jesus’ hearers had to acknowledge is that he was who he claimed to be, i.e., the Messiah (cf. 20:31). This view is also reflected in English translations like NIV (“if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be”), NLT (“unless you believe that I am who I say I am”), and CEV (“if you don’t have faith in me for who I am”). For a different view that takes this “I am” and the one in 8:28 as nonpredicated (i.e., absolute), see R. E. Brown, John (AB), 1:533-38. Such a view refers sees the nonpredicated “I am” as a reference to the divine Name revealed in Exod 3:14, and is reflected in English translations like NAB (“if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins”) and TEV (“you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I Am Who I Am’”).

sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

⁵tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

⁶tn Or “I came from God and have arrived.”

⁷tn Grk “For I.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

⁸tn Grk “from myself.”

⁹tn Grk “that one” (referring to God).

¹⁰tn Grk “you cannot hear,” but this is not a reference to deafness, but rather hearing in the sense of listening to something and responding to it.

¹¹tn Grk “my word.”

¹²tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.

¹³tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).

¹⁴tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”

¹⁵tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).

¹⁶tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).

¹⁷tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”

¹⁸tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”

¹⁹tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”

²⁰tn Or “because I tell you.”

²¹tn Or “can convict me.”

²²tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”

²³tn Or “if I tell you.”

²⁴tn Grk “who is of.”

²⁵tn Grk “to God hears” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).

²⁶tn Grk “you do not hear” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).

²⁷tn Grk “you are not of God.”