Passage
They did not know that He had been speaking to them about the Father.
John 8:27 (LSB)
Nearby Context
John 8:25 So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning?
John 8:26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I am saying to the world.”
John 8:27 They did not know that He had been speaking to them about the Father.
John 8:28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing from Myself, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
John 8:29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "been", "speaking", and "father". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "been" and "speaking", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 26's "I have many things to say and..." into verse 28's "So Jesus said When you lift up...", so "been" and "speaking" 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 "been" and "speaking" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.