John 8:43 (DBY)

Passage

Why do ye not know my speech? Because ye cannot hear my word.

Nearby Context

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.

John 8:43 Why do ye not know my speech? Because ye cannot hear my word.

John 8:44 Ye are of the devil, as [your] father, and ye desire to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks falsehood, he speaks of what is his own; for he is a liar and its father:

John 8:45 and because I speak the truth, ye do not believe me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "speech", "hear", and "word". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "speech" and "hear", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 42's "Jesus said to them If God were..." into verse 44's "Ye are of the devil as your...", so "speech" and "hear" 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 "speech" and "hear" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.