John 8:27
What does John 8:27 mean?
A plain-English look at John 8:27 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What John 8:27 means
They fail to understand that Jesus is speaking about the Father. This note exposes the depth of their spiritual dullness: even explicit references to being sent and hearing from “him” do not register. Knowing God is not merely a matter of religious proximity but of spiritual receptivity to the Son’s words. Their blindness is not intellectual failure alone; it is moral and relational. The veil remains because the heart resists. This misunderstanding becomes the backdrop against which the cross will shine as God’s unmistakable testimony about His Son.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000They perceived not that he spake to them of the Father.
KJV
King James Version · 1611They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901They perceived not that he spake to them of the Father.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949They did not see that his words were about the Father.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862They knew not that of the Father he spake to them;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And they understood not that he called God his Father.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890They knew not that he spoke to them of the Father.
Context
This editorial comment bridges Jesus’ statements about speaking what He hears from the One who sent Him and His next prediction concerning being “lifted up.” It helps the reader see why Jesus must point to a future event as clarifying—present discourse has not broken through. The following verse will announce that at the lifting up of the Son of man, they will know who He is and the source of His words. The momentum is building toward the cross as the interpretive key to Jesus’ identity.
v.26I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you: howbeit he that sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these speak I unto the world.
v.27This passage
v.28Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Isaiah 42:18
Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
- John 8:47
He that is of God heareth the words of God: for this cause ye hear them not, because ye are not of God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:3
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish:
- Isaiah 6:9
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
- Romans 11:7
What then? That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened:
- Isaiah 59:10
We grope for the wall like the blind; yea, we grope as they that have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among them that are lusty we are as dead men.
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