John 8:44

John 8:44-47 . Ye are of your father the devil — Ye are the genuine children of Satan; and the lusts — Τας επιθυμιας , the desires; of your father ye will do — Namely, resolutely and obstinately, as the words, θελετε ποιειν , evidently imply. The account which Josephus gives of the wickedness of the Jews, about this time, abundantly vindicates this assertion of our Lord from any appearance of undue severity. He was a murderer — Greek, ανθρωποκτονος , man-slayer, or man-killer; from the beginning — The common term for murderer, in the New Testament, is φονευς . And it seems “not without intention, that the devil, a being not of earthly extraction, is rather called a manslayer than a murderer, as marking with greater precision his enmity to the human race.” — Campbell. Satan was a manslayer in inclination, from the beginning of his becoming a devil, and actually such from the beginning of the world: for, from the beginning of the creation, he contrived and designed the ruin of mankind. And he has ever since endeavoured to work their ruin; sometimes by seducing them into sin by his lies, (for as he abode not in the truth, there is no truth in him, ) and sometimes by instigating them to kill those whom God sends to reclaim them; as well as in various other ways.

Withal, having early departed from holiness and truth, a habit of lying has become perfectly natural to him; and when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own — Speaketh what is proper to himself, he being the proper parent, and, as it were, creator of lying. Because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not — Ye, his children, disbelieve me, because, instead of soothing you in your sins, and flattering you with lies, I tell you the truth, to which, like your father, you are utterly averse. Which of you convinceth me of sin? — Greek, ελεγχει με περι αμαρτιας , which of you convicteth me of sin. The word convinceth is not the proper term in this place; for it relates only to the opinion of the person himself, about whom the question is. But our Lord here, in order to show that the unbelief of his hearers had no reasonable excuse, challenges them openly to convict him, if they could, in any instance, of a deviation from truth or righteousness. As if he had said, Bring evidence of such a deviation, evince it to the world: prove that I have not received my commission from God; or that I have done something to render me unworthy of credit. Show, if you can, that I have taught false doctrine, reproved you unjustly for your actions, or committed sin myself. If you cannot, but must acknowledge that my life is as unreprovable as my doctrine; that the latter is confirmed by the former, and that both are such as become a messenger of God; what is the reason that ye do not believe me?

John 8:44 . This was the result and evidence of their paternity: ὑμεῖς … [ τοῦ πατρὸς is read by all recent editors]. “Ye are of the father who is the devil.” The translation, “of the father of the devil,” i.e. , the (Gnostic) God of the Jews, is, as Meyer says, thoroughly un-Johannine. Perhaps a slight pause before the culminating words τοῦ διαβόλου would emphasise them and show that this had been in His mind throughout the conversation. Being, of this parentage they deliberately purpose [ θέλετε ] and not merely unintentionally are betrayed into the fulfilment of his desires. Their origin is determined by the fact that “from the first the devil was a manslayer”. To what does ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς refer? Since the beginning of the human race, or since men first were killed; not since the devil’s beginning. Cyril and some others think it is the first murder, that of Abel, that is in view ( cf. 1 John 3:15 ), but far more probably it is the introduction of death through the first sin ( Wis 2:23-24 ). So almost all recent commentators. Some think both references are admissible (see Lücke).— καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οὐχ ἕστηκεν , “and stands not in the truth”. R.V[70] has “and stood not”; so the Vulgate “et in veritate non stetit”. W.H[71] adopt the same translation, reading οὐκ ἔστηκεν , the imperfect of στήκω , I stand; but good reasons against this reading are given by Thayer s.v. ἕστηκεν is the usual perfect of ἵστημι with the sense of a present.

The reference therefore is not to the fall of the angels, but to the constant attitude of the devil; οὐκ ἐμμένει , Euthymius. “The truth is not the domain in which he has his footing.” Meyer, Weiss. He does not adhere to the truth and live in it. The reason being, ὅτι … αὐτῷ , “because truth is not in him”. There is not in him any craving for the truth. He is not true to what he knows. His nature is so false that ὅταν λαλῇ τὸ ψεῦδος ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων λαλεῖ , “whenever he speaks what is false, he speaks of his own”. “But the article may mean ‘the lie that is natural to him,’ ‘ his lie’ ” (Plummer).— ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων means that he speaks out of that which is characteristically and peculiarly his ( cf. Matthew 12:34 ); “because he is”—this is his character and description—“a liar and his father,” i.e. , he is himself a liar and the father of all liars. This is added to reflect light on the first statement of this verse. So Holtzmann and most recent interpreters. But Weiss rightly defends the reference of αὐτοῦ to ψεῦδος as in A.V[72] Westcott proposes to translate: “Whenever a man speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for his father also is a liar”. Paley renders: “When (one) utters … he is speaking from his own, because he is a liar, and (so is) his father”.

Ye (ὑμεῖς) Emphatic, in contrast with ἡμεῖς, we, of John 8:41. Of your father (ἐκ) Very suggestive, implying community of nature, as in John 8:42. Compare 1 John 3:8, 1 John 3:10. The Devil See on Matthew 4:1. John uses Satan only once in the Gospel (John 13:27), frequently in Revelation, and nowhere in the Epistles. A few critics have adopted the very singular rendering, which the Greek will bear, ye are of the father of the devil. This is explained by charging John with Gnosticism, and making him refer to the Demiurge, a mysterious and inferior being descended from God, by whom God, according to the Gnostics, created the universe, and who had rebelled against God, and was the father of Satan. It is only necessary to remark with Meyer that such a view is both unbiblical and un-Johannine. Lusts (ἐπιθυμίας) See on Mark 4:19. Ye will do (θέλετε ποιεῖν) Wrong. Properly, ye will to do. Rev., it is your will to do. See on John 7:17. Murderer (ἀνθρωποκτόνος) Only here and 1 John 3:15. Literally, a manslayer; from ἄνθρωπος, man, and κτείνω, to kill. The epithet is applied to Satan, not with reference to the murder of Abel, but to the fact of his being the author of death to the race. Compare Romans 7:8, Romans 7:11; Hebrews 2:14. From the beginning Of the human race. continued...

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the {l} beginning, and {m} abode not in the {n} truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his {o} own: for he is a liar, and the {p} father of it. (l) From the beginning of the world: for as soon as man was made, the devil cast him headlong into death. (m) That is, did not continue constantly, or did not remain. (n) That is, in faithfulness and uprightness, that is, he did not remain in the manner in which he was created. (o) Even from his own head, and from his own mind or disposition. (p) The author of it.

44. Ye are of your father the devil—"This is one of the most decisive testimonies to the objective (outward) personality of the devil. It is quite impossible to suppose an accommodation to Jewish views, or a metaphorical form of speech, in so solemn an assertion as this" [Alford]. the lusts of your father—his impure, malignant, ungodly propensities, inclinations, desires. ye will do—are willing to do; not of any blind necessity of nature, but of pure natural inclination. He was a murderer from the beginning—The reference is not to Cain (as Locke, De Wette, Alford, &c.), but to Adam [Grotius, Calvin, Meyer, Luthardt, &c.]. The death of the human race, in its widest sense, is ascribed to the murderous seducer of our race. and abode not in the truth—As, strictly speaking, the word means "abideth," it has been denied that the fall of Satan from a former holy state is here expressed [Locke, &c.], and some superior interpreters think it only implied [Olshausen, &c.]. But though the form of the thought is present—not past—this is to express the important idea, that his whole character and activity are just a continual aberration from his own original truth or rectitude; and thus his fall is not only the implied basis of the thought, but part of the statement itself, properly interpreted and brought out. no truth in him—void of all that holy, transparent rectitude which, as His creature, he originally possessed.

When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own—perhaps his own resources, treasures (Mt 12:35) [Alford]. (The word is plural). It means that he has no temptation to it from without; it is purely self-begotten, springing from a nature which is nothing but obliquity. the father of it—that is, of lying: all the falsehood in the world owes its existence to him. What a verse is this! It holds up the devil (1) as the murderer of the human race; but as this is meant here in the more profound sense of spiritual death, it holds him up, (2) as the spiritual parent of this fallen human family, communicating to his offspring his own evil passions and universal obliquity, and stimulating these into active exercise. But as there is "a stronger than he," who comes upon him and overcomes him (Lu 11:21, 22), it is only such as "love the darkness," who are addressed as children of the devil (Mt 13:38; 1Jo 3:8-10).

Our Saviour now plainly tells them what he meant by their father, mentioned John 8:38 ; viz. the devil, whose children though they were not by natural traduction, yet they were by imitation, wilfully doing the things which the devil would have them do. He instances in two of these lusts: 1. Murder. He saith, The devil from the beginning of the world had a mind and design against the sons of men; and he ever since (as the apostle tells us, 1 Peter 5:9 ) hath gone about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And in this they were his true children, using all arts imaginable to destroy him whom God had sent into the world for man’s salvation. In another thing also they were the true and genuine children of the devil; the devil had no truth in him, nor did he abide in the truth. God indeed created the angels (who afterward fell) in a state of rectitude, without unrighteousness; but they did not keep their first station. So, neither did they love the truth, nor abide in it, but were wholly false and liars, and could not abide the truth.

John 8:44 . Ὑμεῖς , ye ) A most undisguised proof against them.— καὶ , and ) and thence it is that.— ἐπιθυμίας , the lusts ) which from the beginning he has been unable to accomplish, as respects the Son of God.— θέλετε , ye wish ) with all your might.— ἀνθρωπο — κτόνος ) a man-destroyer [murderer].— ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς , from the beginning ) ever since he knew anything of the nature of man.— καὶ ἐν — ὅταν , and in—when ) Two sentences, expressing two contraries; to each of the two, ὅτι , because [for] is added.— οὐκ ἕστηκεν , he abode not [did not stand fast]) The Præterite time, and the theme itself ἵστημι , I stand , imply this to be the meaning; He did not attain to a fixed standing in the truth: (A similar expression occurs Romans 5:2 , “We have access by faith into this grace, wherein we have obtained an established standing ”) i.e. He was a liar from the beginning, as well as a man-destroyer ; for this clause does not go before the mention of his lust of murder, but follows it.— οὐκ ἔστιν , is not ) There was truth in him; but there is not now . Moreover, when first the truth ceased to exist in him, it was by his own fault; the lust of murder had place in him, and he determined to destroy man for that very reason, because man was then in the truth.