The Meaning of John 8:39 Explained

John 8:39

KJV: They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

YLT: They answered and said to him, 'Our father is Abraham;' Jesus saith to them, 'If children of Abraham ye were, the works of Abraham ye were doing;

Darby: They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus says to them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham;

ASV: They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They answered  and  said  unto him,  Abraham  is  our  father.  Jesus  saith  unto them,  If  ye were  Abraham's  children,  ye would do  the works  of Abraham. 

What does John 8:39 Mean?

Context Summary

John 8:39-47 - The Test Of Sonship
Godly ancestors and parents will avail nothing, unless we are animated by their spirit and do their works. There were in the old world two families that ran in parallel lines-that of Cain and that of Seth. See Genesis 4:1-26; Genesis 5:1-32. The Cainites were citizens of this world; the Sethites were pilgrims of the eternal. The one family finally reached such a pitch of wickedness that they were swept away by the flood, while the other furnished the world with an Enoch that walked with God and a Noah who was perfect in his generation.
This distinction has continued down the ages, and is not only accentuated by these words of our Lord but by 1 John 3:12; 1 John 3:15. In Ephesians 2:2, those who walk according to the course of this world are practically walking according to the spirit that works disobedience in men's lives. It becomes us, then, to see to it that we are not deceived. We may never have plunged into such depth of sin as overwhelmed the men of that generation; and yet if our hearts are steeped in the love of this world, which is passing away, we betray our affinity to evil and not to good, to the devil and not to God, Ephesians 2:2. [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 8:39

Our father is Abraham [ο πατηρ ημων Αβρααμ εστιν]
They saw the implication and tried to counter it by repeating their claim in John 8:33 which was true so far as physical descent went as Jesus had admitted (John 8:37). If ye were Strictly, “if ye are” as ye claim, a condition of the first class assumed to be true. Ye would do Read by C L N and a corrector of Aleph while W omits αν — an This makes a mixed condition (protasis of the first class, apodosis of the second. See Robertson, Grammar, p. 1022). But B reads ποιειτε — poieite like the Sin. Syriac which has to be treated as imperative (so Westcott and Hort). [source]
Children [τέκνα]
See on John 1:12. [source]

What do the individual words in John 8:39 mean?

They answered and said to Him The father of us Abraham is Says to them - Jesus If children - of Abraham you were the works of Abraham you would do
Ἀπεκρίθησαν καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ ἐστιν Λέγει αὐτοῖς Ἰησοῦς Εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐστε τὰ ἔργα Ἀβραὰμ ἐποιεῖτε

Ἀπεκρίθησαν  They  answered 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἀποκρίνομαι  
Sense: to give an answer to a question proposed, to answer.
εἶπαν  said 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
αὐτῷ  to  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
πατὴρ  father 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
ἡμῶν  of  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
Ἀβραάμ  Abraham 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἀβραάμ  
Sense: the son of Terah and the founder of the Jewish nation.
Λέγει  Says 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
αὐτοῖς  to  them 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Ἰησοῦς  Jesus 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰησοῦς  
Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor.
τέκνα  children 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Plural
Root: τέκνον  
Sense: offspring, children.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Ἀβραάμ  of  Abraham 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Ἀβραάμ  
Sense: the son of Terah and the founder of the Jewish nation.
ἐστε  you  were 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
ἔργα  works 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: ἔργον  
Sense: business, employment, that which any one is occupied.
Ἀβραὰμ  of  Abraham 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Ἀβραάμ  
Sense: the son of Terah and the founder of the Jewish nation.
ἐποιεῖτε  you  would  do 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ποιέω  
Sense: to make.