John 8:43 (YLT)

Passage

wherefore do ye not know my speech? because ye are not able to hear my word.

Nearby Context

John 8:41 ye do the works of your father.' They said, therefore, to him, `We of whoredom have not been born; one Father we have--God;'

John 8:42 Jesus then said to them, `If God were your father, ye were loving me, for I came forth from God, and am come; for neither have I come of myself, but He sent me;

John 8:43 wherefore do ye not know my speech? because ye are not able to hear my word.

John 8:44 `Ye are of a father--the devil, and the desires of your father ye will to do; he was a man-slayer from the beginning, and in the truth he hath not stood, because there is no truth in him; when one may speak the falsehood, of his own he speaketh, because he is a liar--also his father.

John 8:45 `And because I say the truth, ye do not believe me.

Study Lenses

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

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