John 8:43
New International Version
Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.

New Living Translation
Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me!

English Standard Version
Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

Berean Standard Bible
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.

Berean Literal Bible
Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to hear My word.

King James Bible
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

New King James Version
Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.

New American Standard Bible
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot listen to My word.

NASB 1995
“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

NASB 1977
“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

Legacy Standard Bible
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

Amplified Bible
Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word.

Christian Standard Bible
Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to My word.

American Standard Version
Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word.

Contemporary English Version
Why can't you understand what I am talking about? Can't you stand to hear what I am saying?

English Revised Version
Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Why don't you understand the language I use? Is it because you can't understand the words I use?

Good News Translation
Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message.

International Standard Version
Why don't you understand what I've said? It's because you can't listen to my words.

Majority Standard Bible
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.

NET Bible
Why don't you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept my teaching.

New Heart English Bible
Why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my word.

Webster's Bible Translation
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Weymouth New Testament
How is it you do not understand me when I speak? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my words.

World English Bible
Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
why do you not know My speech? Because you are not able to hear My word.

Berean Literal Bible
Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to hear My word.

Young's Literal Translation
wherefore do ye not know my speech? because ye are not able to hear my word.

Smith's Literal Translation
Wherefore ye know not my speech, for ye cannot hear my word.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Why do you not know my speech? Because you cannot hear my word.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Why do you not recognize my speech? It is because you are not able to hear my word.

New American Bible
Why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word.

New Revised Standard Version
Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Why therefore do you not understand my word? Because you cannot obey my word?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“And why do you not understand my word? It is because you cannot hear my word.”
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
Why do you not know what I say? Because you can not understand my words.

Godbey New Testament
Wherefore do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to hear my word.

Haweis New Testament
Wherefore do ye not understand my speech? because ye cannot hear my word.

Mace New Testament
why do not you understand my language? unless because ye cannot bear my doctrine?

Weymouth New Testament
How is it you do not understand me when I speak? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my words.

Worrell New Testament
Why do ye not understand My speech? it is because ye cannot hear My word.

Worsley New Testament
And why do ye not understand my language, but because ye cannot bear my doctrine?
Audio Bible



Context
The Children of the Devil
42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me. 43Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. 44You 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.…

Cross References
John 5:43
I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him.

John 7:17
If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

John 10:26-27
But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. / My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

John 12:39-40
For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says: / “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”

John 14:17
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.

John 18:37
“Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

Matthew 13:13-15
This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ / In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. / For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

Matthew 15:14
Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 23:24
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Romans 8:7
because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12
and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. / For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, / in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

Hebrews 3:7-8
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, / do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,

Isaiah 6:9-10
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”


Treasury of Scripture

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

do.

John 8:27
They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.

John 5:43
I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

John 7:17
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

ye cannot.

John 6:60
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

Isaiah 6:9
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Jeremiah 6:10
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

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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.














Why do you not understand
This phrase reflects Jesus' deep frustration and sorrow over the spiritual blindness of His audience. The Greek word for "understand" is "γινώσκω" (ginōskō), which implies a deep, experiential knowledge. Jesus is not merely speaking of intellectual comprehension but a profound, spiritual insight that His listeners lack. Historically, this reflects the persistent misunderstanding and rejection of Jesus by the religious leaders of His time, who were often more concerned with legalistic traditions than the transformative truth He offered.

what I am saying?
The phrase "what I am saying" refers to the teachings and revelations Jesus has been sharing. The Greek word "λέγω" (legō) is used here, emphasizing the spoken word and the authority of Jesus' teachings. In the broader scriptural context, Jesus' words are life-giving and truth-revealing, yet they are met with resistance. This highlights the spiritual battle between truth and deception, a theme prevalent throughout the Gospel of John.

It is because you are unable
The phrase "you are unable" indicates a spiritual incapacity. The Greek word "δύναμαι" (dynamai) suggests a lack of power or ability. This inability is not due to a lack of opportunity or evidence but a willful resistance to the truth. Historically, this reflects the hardened hearts of many in Jesus' audience, who were entrenched in their own beliefs and unwilling to open themselves to the transformative power of Jesus' message.

to accept My message
The word "accept" comes from the Greek "ἀκούω" (akouō), which means to hear or listen with understanding and obedience. The "message" refers to the Gospel, the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. In the historical and scriptural context, this rejection of Jesus' message is a recurring theme, illustrating the spiritual blindness and stubbornness of those who refuse to believe. Theologically, it underscores the necessity of divine intervention for true understanding and acceptance of the Gospel, as human nature alone is insufficient to overcome spiritual blindness.

(43) Why do ye not understand my speech, . . . my word.--The distinction between "speech" (the form) and "word" (the matter which was spoken) is rightly preserved. Comp. John 12:48, "the word that I have spoken." A good instance of the meaning of "speech is found in Matthew 26:73, "thy speech betrayeth thee." From John 8:33 onwards, they had constantly misunderstood His expressions. The reason is that the subject-matter of His discourse is altogether above them. He is speaking of spiritual things, which are spiritually discerned. They, if children of the Father whom they claimed, would recognise these spiritual truths and know the language of home.

Ye cannot hear.--Comp. Note on John 6:60. The sense is, "Ye cannot hear, so as to receive and obey." He supplies the answer to His own question. In the following verses (44-47), He expresses this answer more fully.

Verse 43. - Why do ye not understand - come to appreciate and penetrate the significance of - my speech? There is delicate subtle distinction between λαλιά and λόγος, corresponding to that between λαλέω and λέγω. The former word connotes the form, manner, and tone of utterance, and the latter its inner substance and power. Λαλιά is a, word used for any manifestation of sound, a voice, the babble of children, the cries and songs of beasts or birds, for which purpose λὲγω and λόγος are not used (Trench, 'Syn. of N.T.'). Peter's λαλιά betrayed him to the Jerusalem crowd (Matthew 26:73). Λόγος is the substance of the message, the burden of the revelation. The speech (λαλιά) of Christ refers to the appropriate and significant clothing which he gave to his word (λόγος). He mournfully asks why they had failed to get to understand the method of his converse; why they perpetually failed to appreciate his discourse; why they persistently put wrong constructions upon his phrase, and imagined him to be speaking of earthly things when he was discoursing to them of heavenly ones. Why? Because ye cannot hear my word - the Divine communication I have made to you. They were morally so far from him that they could not listen so as to receive his revelation. The inward organ of receptivity was lacking, and "so the spiritual idiom in which he spake was not spiritually understood" (Alford). The Divine significance of the whole word of Christ, the new and strange doctrines of Messiah, of redemption, of the Father, of a sacrifice and death on the part of the Son of man for the salvation of the world excited their animosity and bitter antipathies. They were not conscious of any of the need he came to satisfy, and so they failed to apprehend the entire manner of his revelation. They were from beneath (ver. 23). He is disclosing heavenly things. "Their ears have they closed, lest they should hear."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Why
Διὰ (Dia)
Preposition
Strong's 1223: A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through.

do you not understand
γινώσκετε (ginōskete)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1097: A prolonged form of a primary verb; to 'know' in a great variety of applications and with many implications.

what
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

I
ἐμὴν (emēn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Feminine 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1699: My, mine. From the oblique cases of ego; my.

am saying?
λαλιὰν (lalian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2981: (in classical Greek: babble, chattering) speech, talk; manner of speech, dialect. From laleo; talk.

[It is] because
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

you are unable
δύνασθε (dynasthe)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1410: (a) I am powerful, have (the) power, (b) I am able, I can. Of uncertain affinity; to be able or possible.

to accept
ἀκούειν (akouein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 191: To hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported. A primary verb; to hear.

My
ἐμόν (emon)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1699: My, mine. From the oblique cases of ego; my.

message.
λόγον (logon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3056: From lego; something said; by implication, a topic, also reasoning or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, the Divine Expression.


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