John 8:40 (DBY)

Passage

but now ye seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God: this did not Abraham.

Nearby Context

John 8:38 I speak what I have seen with my Father, and ye then do what ye have seen with your father.

John 8:39 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;

John 8:40 but now ye seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God: this did not Abraham.

John 8:41 Ye do the works of your father. They said [therefore] to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one father, God.

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, If God were your father ye would have loved me, for I came forth from God and am come [from him]; for neither am I come of myself, but *he* has sent me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "seek", "kill", "spoken", "truth", "heard", and "abraham". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "seek" and "kill", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 39's "They answered and said to him Abraham..." into verse 41's "Ye do the works of your father...", so "seek" and "kill" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "seek" and "kill" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.