Robertson's Word Pictures of the NT

John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil

(υμεις εκ του πατρος του διαβολου). Certainly they can "understand" (γινωσκετε in John 8:43) this "talk" (λαλιαν) though they will be greatly angered. But they had to hear it (ακουειν in John 8:43). It was like a bombshell in spite of the preliminary preparation.Your will to do

(θελετε ποιειν). Present active indicative of θελω and present active infinitive, "Ye wish to go on doing." This same idea Jesus presents in Matthew 13:38 (the sons of the evil one, the devil) and John 23:15 (twofold more a son of Gehenna than you). See also 1 John 3:8 for "of the devil" (εκ του διαβολου) for the one who persists in sinning. In Revelation 12:9 the devil is one who leads all the world astray. The Gnostic view that Jesus means "the father of the devil" is grotesque. Jesus does not, of course, here deny that the Jews, like all men, are children of God the Creator, like Paul's offspring of God for all men in Acts 17:28. What he denies to these Pharisees is that they are spiritual children of God who do his will. They do the lusts and will of the devil. The Baptist had denied this same spiritual fatherhood to the merely physical descendants of Abraham (Matthew 3:9). He even called them "broods of vipers" as Jesus did later (Matthew 12:34).A murderer

(ανθρωποκτονος). Old and rare word (Euripides) from ανθρωπος, man, and κτεινω, to kill. In N.T. only here and 1 John 3:15. The Jews were seeking to kill Jesus and so like their father the devil.Stood not in the truth

(εν τη αληθεια ουκ εστηκεν). Since ουκ, not ουχ, is genuine, the form of the verb is εστεκεν the imperfect of the late present stem στηκω (Mark 11:25) from the perfect active εστηκα (intransitive) of ιστημ, to place.No truth in him

(ουκ εστιν αληθεια εν αυτω). Inside him or outside (environment). The devil and truth have no contact.When he speaketh a lie

(οταν λαλη το ψευδος). Indefinite temporal clause with οταν and the present active subjunctive of λαλεω. But note the article το: "Whenever he speaks the lie," as he is sure to do because it is his nature. Hence "he speaks out of his own" (εκ των ιδιων λαλε) like a fountain bubbling up (cf. Matthew 12:34).For he is a liar

(οτ ψευστης εστιν). Old word for the agent in a conscious falsehood (ψευδος). See 1 John 1:10; Romans 3:4. Common word in John because of the emphasis on αληθεια (truth).And the father thereof

(κα ο πατηρ αυτου). Either the father of the lie or of the liar, both of which are true as already shown by Jesus.Autou

in the genitive can be either neuter or masculine. Westcott takes it thus, "because he is a liar and his father (the devil) is a liar," making "one," not the devil, the subject of "whenever he speaks," a very doubtful expression.

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Robertson's Word Pictures of the NT

John 8:44

Old Testament

New Testament