The Meaning of John 8:47 Explained

John 8:47

KJV: He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

YLT: he who is of God, the sayings of God he doth hear; because of this ye do not hear, because of God ye are not.'

Darby: He that is of God hears the words of God: therefore ye hear them not, because ye are not of God.

ASV: He that is of God heareth the words of God: for this cause ye hear them not, because ye are not of God.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He that is  of  God  heareth  God's  words:  ye  therefore  hear  [them] not,  because  ye are  not  of  God. 

What does John 8:47 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 8:47

He that is of God [ο ων εκ του τεου]
See this use of εκ — ek in John 3:31. “Their not listening proved that they were not of God” (Dods). They were of the earth and the devil, not of God. [source]
He that is of [ὁ ὣν ἐκ]
The familiar construction. See on John 1:46. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 8:47

John 18:37 Of the truth [ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας]
Literally, out of: sprung from: whose life and words issue from the truth. See on John 14:6, and compare John 8:47. [source]
John 17:8 The words [τὰ ῥήματα]
Compare thy word ( λόγον ), John 17:6. That signified the gospel message in its entirety. This, the message considered in its constituent parts. See on Luke 1:37. Compare John 5:38, John 5:47; John 6:60, John 6:63, John 6:68; John 8:43, John 8:47, John 8:51; John 12:47, John 12:48; John 15:3, John 15:7. [source]
John 10:32 From the Father [εκ του πατρος]
Proceeding out of the Father as in John 6:65; John 16:28 (cf. John 7:17; John 8:42, John 8:47) rather than παρα — para as in John 1:14; John 6:46; John 7:29; John 17:7. For which of those works Literally, “For what kind of work of them” (referring to the “many good works” πολλα εργα καλα — polla erga kala). Noble and beautiful deeds Jesus had done in Jerusalem like healing the impotent man (chapter 5) and the blind man (chapter 9). Ποιον — Poion is a qualitative interrogative pronoun pointing to καλα — kala (good). Do ye stone me Conative present active indicative, “are ye trying to stone me.” They had the stones in their hands stretched back to fling at him, a threatening attitude. [source]
John 12:39 For this cause they could not believe [δια τουτο ουκ εδυναντο πιστευειν]
Τουτο — Touto (this) seems to have a double reference (to what precedes and to what follows) as in John 8:47. The negative imperfect (double augment, εδυναντο — edunanto) of δυναμαι — dunamai John is not absolving these Jews from moral responsibility, but only showing that the words of Isaiah “had to be fulfilled, for they were the expression of Divine foreknowledge” (Bernard). [source]
John 6:63 That quickeneth [το ζωοποιουν]
Articular present active participle of ζωοποιεω — zōopoieō for which see John 5:21. For the contrast between πνευμα — pneuma (spirit) and σαρχ — sarx (flesh) see note on John 3:6. The words Those in this discourse (I have just spoken, λελαληκα — lelalēka), for they are the words of God (John 3:34; John 8:47; John 17:8). No wonder they “are spirit and are life” The breath of God and the life of God is in these words of Jesus. Never man spoke like Jesus (John 7:46). There is life in his words today. [source]
1 John 5:19 We are of God [ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμέν]
For the phrase εἷναι ἐκ tobe from, see on John 1:46. For ἐσμέν weare, see on 1 John 3:1. John expresses the relation of believers to God by the following phrases: To be born or begotten of God, γεννηθῆναι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ (1 John 5:1; 1 John 2:29; 1 John 4:7): denoting the initial communication of the new life. To be of God, εἷναι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ (John 8:47; 1 John 3:10; 1 John 4:6): denoting the essential connection in virtue of the new life. Child of God, τέκνον Θεοῦ (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1, 1 John 3:10): denoting the relation established by the new life. [source]
1 John 4:17 Herein [ἐν τούτῳ]
To what does this refer? Two explanations are given. (1.) To the following that we may have boldness. So Huther, who argues thus on the ground that 1 John 4:18shows that the drift of the writer's thought is toward the fearlessness of love. According to this, therefore, love has its fulfillment in freeing us from fear, and inspiring us with boldness even in view of the final judgment. (2.) To what precedes, viz., our dwelling in God and He in us. So Westcott: “The fellowship of God with man and of man with God, carries with it the consummation of love.” I prefer the latter, principally on the ground that in such phrases as ἐν τούτῳ inthis, διὰ τοῦτο onthis account, therefore, the pronoun usually refers to something preceding, though more fully developed in what follows. See John 5:16, John 5:18; John 6:65; John 8:47; John 10:17; John 12:18; John 16:15. [source]

What do the individual words in John 8:47 mean?

He who is of - God the words of God hears because of this you not hear because you are
ὢν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ ῥήματα Θεοῦ ἀκούει διὰ τοῦτο ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἀκούετε ὅτι ἐστέ

  He  who 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεοῦ  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ῥήματα  words 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: ῥῆμα  
Sense: that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word.
Θεοῦ  of  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἀκούει  hears 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
διὰ  because  of 
Parse: Preposition
Root: διά  
Sense: through.
τοῦτο  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
ἀκούετε  hear 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
ὅτι  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
ἐστέ  you  are 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.