John 8:43 (GNV)

Passage

Why doe ye not vnderstande my talke? because ye cannot heare my worde.

Nearby Context

John 8:41 Ye do the workes of your father. Then said they to him, We are not borne of fornication: we haue one Father, which is God.

John 8:42 Therefore Iesus sayde vnto them, If God were your Father, then woulde ye loue mee: for I proceeded foorth, and came from God, neither came I of my selfe, but he sent me.

John 8:43 Why doe ye not vnderstande my talke? because ye cannot heare my worde.

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the deuill, and the lustes of your father ye will doe: hee hath bene a murtherer from the beginning, and abode not in the trueth, because there is no trueth in him. When hee speaketh a lie, then speaketh hee of his owne: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.

John 8:45 And because I tell you the trueth, yee beleeue me not.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 42's "Therefore Iesus sayde vnto them If God..." into verse 44's "Ye are of your father the deuill...", so "vnderstande" and "talke" 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 "vnderstande" and "talke" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.