Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John 8:58
Before Abraham was I AM — Even from everlasting to everlasting. This is a direct answer to the objection of the Jews, and shows how much greater he was than Abraham.
Before Abraham was I AM — Even from everlasting to everlasting. This is a direct answer to the objection of the Jews, and shows how much greater he was than Abraham.
Verse John 8:58. _BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM._] The following is a literal translation of Calmet's note on this passage:-"I am from all eternity. I have existed before all ages. You consider in me only...
VERILY, VERILY - This is an expression used only in John. It is a strong affirmation denoting particularly the great importance of what was about to be affirmed. See the notes at John 3:5. BEFORE ABR...
CHAPTER 8 _ 1. The Woman Taken in Adultery. (John 8:1 .)_ 2. The Light of the World. (John 8:12 .) 3. His Testimony Concerning Himself and the Father. (John 8:13 .) 4. His Solemn Declarations. ...
CONTROVERSY WITH THE JEWS WHO BELIEVED. Many are convinced by this appeal. The following section summarises the teaching by which Jesus tried to bring the more favourably disposed of the Jewish party...
VERILY, VERILY,. SAY UNTO YOU, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS,. AM. A solemn and official declaration preceded by" Verily, verily." The utterance is. remarkable one. It does not merely assert that he _was_ before...
"Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad." The Jews said to him: "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them: "This is the truth I t...
WRETCHEDNESS AND PITY (John 7:53 ; John 8:1-11)...
WAS. came into existence: i.e. was born. I AM. See note on John 6:35....
John 2:13 TO JOHN 11:57. The Work We here enter on the second portion of the first main division of the Gospel, thus subdivided: The Work (1) among _Jews_, (2) among _Samaritans_, (3) among _Galilean...
John 8:12 TO JOHN 9:41. Christ the Source of Truth and Light In John 8:12-46 the word -true" occurs six times, the word -truth" seven times....
_Before Abraham was, I am_ Here our translators have lamentably gone back from earlier translations. Cranmer has, -Ere Abraham _was born_, I am;" and the Rhemish, -Before that Abraham _was made_, I am...
ἈΜῊΝ�. For the third time in this discourse (John 8:34; John 8:51) Jesus uses this asseveration. Having answered the charge of self-glorification (John 8:54-55), and shewn that Abraham was on His side...
13–59. A comparison of the discourses in Chapter s 5–8 shews how the conflict increases in intensity. In 5 and 6. Christ proceeds almost without interruption, and the Jews demur rather than contradict...
VER 1A. IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD,...
_JESUS AND ABRAHAM -- JOHN 8:39-59:_ Jesus said these people wanted to kill Him for telling them the truth that God had given Him. The Jews claimed God as their father but they refused to obey Him. If...
ΓΕΝΈΣΘΑΙ _aor. inf. med. (dep.) от_ ΓΊΝΟΜΑΙ (G1096) становиться; появляться на свет (Morris). Обратите внимание на противопоставление ΈΓ ΕΙΜΊ, "Я есмь" (D. М. Ball, "J Am" in John's Gospel: Literary F...
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM.— _"Before Abraham was born,_ I had a glorious existence with the Father; and _I am_ still invariably the same, and one with him." Our Lord here, in the strongest terms, asser...
CHRIST DEFAMED _Text 8:48-59_ 48 The Jews answered and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon? 49 Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, an...
EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN John 8:33-59 The passage for our present consideration continues and completes the portion studied in our last chapter. It brings before us Christ as the Light reveal...
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, [ prin (G4250 ) Abraam (G11 ) genesth...
12-29 Nothing would so swiftly and surely prove the undoing of an impostor as the claim that he always pleases God. Of all living, only One has been able to stand such a severe test. In the mouth of a...
BEFORE ABRAHAM, etc.] lit. 'Before Abraham was born, I AM.' Christ seems here to declare Himself to be the Jehovah, or I AM of the OT., the eternal, self-existent Creator: cp. Exodus 3:14....
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES CONTINUED. CHRIST THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD John 7:53 to John 8:11. The woman taken in adultery. All modern critics agree that this section is no original part of the Fourth Gosp...
JOHN TELLS THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS GOSPEL OF JOHN _MARION ADAMS_ CHAPTER 8 JESUS FORGIVES A WOMAN 8:1-11 V1 But Jesus walked to the place called the Hill of *Olives. V2 Early next morning, he...
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM. — Better, _Before Abraham was born, I am._ (Comp. Note on John 1:6; and see another striking instance in Luke 6:36, “Become ye merciful as your Father also is merciful.”) Her...
CHAPTER 19 JESUS REJECTED IN JERUSALEM. “He said therefore again unto them, I go away, and ye shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin: whither I go, ye cannot come. The Jews therefore said, Will He...
The misunderstanding of His words elicits from Jesus the statement: πρὶν Αβραὰμ γενέσθαι, ἐγώ εἰμι. “Before Abraham was born I am.” “Antequam Abraham fieret, Ego sum,” Vulgate. Plummer aptly compares...
_Discussion between Jesus and the Jews regarding their paternity_....
THE ETERNAL CHRIST John 8:48-59 It is absolutely true that the Christian disciple does see death as the king of terrors or as a grim monster. Jesus has robbed death of its sting; He has destroyed Him...
The end of chapter 7 is closely linked with this, in that after declaring "every man went to his own house," the writer said, "But Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives." Here we have the story of a re...
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I (y) am. (y) Christ, as he was God, was before Abraham: and he was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world....
_Before Abraham was made, I am. [4] Christ here speaks of his eternal existence as God. St. Augustine shews this by these very words, I am. He does not say, before Abraham was made, I was made: becaus...
JESUS PRE-ABRAHAMIC John 8:52-59. _“The Jews said to Him, Now we know that Thou hast a demon.”_ Sharpers, sent out for that specific purpose, hung on His lips, like lightning upon the skirts of the cl...
“ _Whereupon the Jews said to him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and thou hast seen Abraham!_ 58. _Jesus said to them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham came into being_, _I am._ ” Fro...
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. Vv. 51-59. 1. In John 8:51 Jesus turns the discourse to the more positive side, and brings out one of the great thoughts presented in this Gospel, namely, tha...
4. “I AND YOU”: 8:30-59. Jesus, in His second discourse (John 8:12-20) attributed to Himself two modes of teaching: _testimony_, by which He reveals His origin, His mission, His work, and _judgment_,...
Why do ye not understand my speech; even because ye cannot hear my word. (44) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode...
The point at which we have arrived gives me an opportunity of saying a little on the beginning of this chapter, and the end of the last; for it is well known that many men, and, I am sorry to add, not...
58._Before Abraham was. _As unbelievers judge only from the appearance of the flesh, Christ reminds them that he has something greater and higher than human appearance, which is hidden from the senses...
In chapter 8, as we have said, the word of Jesus is rejected; and, in chapter 9, His works. But there is much more than that. The personal glories of chapter 1 are reproduced and developed in all thes...
JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU,.... Whether it will be believed or not, it is certainly fact: BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM; which is to be understood, not of his being in the purpos...
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Ver. 58. _Before Abraham was, I am_] "I am that I am," in regard of mine eternal generation. And as mediator, "I am Jes...
_Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day_ Ηγαλλιασατο ινα ιδη την ημεραν, _exulted with desire, to see my day._ “The words ινα ιδη, _that he might see_, immediately following the verb, show,” as Dr...
I AM; this denotes eternal self-existence. Exodus 3:14; JOHN 1:1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:17;...
The attempt to kill the Lord:...
JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM....
A WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY (vs.1-11) While others went to their homes, the Lord spent the night in the mount of Olives, away from all the words and thoughts of men, in the calm of His Father's prese...
54-59 Christ and all that are his, depend upon God for honour. Men may be able to dispute about God, yet may not know him. Such as know not God, and obey not the gospel of Christ, are put together, 2...
Some will have the meaning to be, that Christ was before Abraham's time constituted Mediator; as he is said to be _the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,_ REVELATION 13:8: so 1 PETER 1:20. B...
Epistle of Ignatius to the Tarsians And how, again, could such an one declare: "Before Abraham was, I am? "[23] Irenaeus Against Heresies Book IV But the Word of God did not accept of the friendshi...
John 8:58 Jesus G2424 said G2036 (G5627) them G846 Most G281 assuredly G281 say G3004 (G5719) you...
THE CHALLENGE COMES TO ITS CLIMAX BY JESUS REVEALING THAT HE IS THE ‘I AM' (JOHN 8:48). In this final section Jesus deals with their insults by facing them up with the issues of life and death, and t...
CHAPTER 8 JESUS - THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD AND THE ‘I AM' (JOHN 8:12). In this chapter Jesus is revealed as ‘the Light of the World'. This is a reminder of the one spoken of in the words of Isaiah, ‘the...
‘Jesus said to them, “In very truth I tell you that before Abraham was, I am'. At this claim they must have been shocked to the core. They had accused Him before on the basis of enigmatic statements,...
John 8:58. JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, VERILY, VERILY, SAY UNTO YOU, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS BORN, I AM. The third occurrence of the solemn formula ‘Verily, verily,' marks the highest point reached by the words...
The feast of Tabernacles is closed, and with it the great illumination of the temple-courts, of which the Jews were wont to boast in lofty terms. Starting from this, and from the fact that He is the t...
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS (πριν Αβρααμ γενεσθα). Usual idiom with πριν in positive sentence with infinitive (second aorist middle of γινομα) and the accusative of general reference, "before coming as to A...
John 8:58 The text is one of those rare passages in which Jesus Christ appears to stand upon His own dignity, in which the Lowly, the Humble, the Unresisting Son of man asserts His high origin, claim...
We will read, from the Revised Version, two passages which record attempts made to kill our Lord before his time had come. You will see, from the sermon, why we read them. (See Luke 4:16) John 8:37....
John 8:31. _Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;_ For there were many, in Christ's day, coming to him for a while, and then...
CONTENTS: The woman taken in adultery. Discourse after the feast on Jesus as Light of the world. Satan, the original liar and murderer, and the Satanic brotherhood. CHARACTERS: Jesus, adulterous woma...
John 8:1. _Jesus went to the mount of Olives,_ where it is probable he slept in some booth in the gardens; and returned early to the temple, to preach to the people, before the commencement of public...
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS BORN, I AM.' This is an _official declaration._ "I Was" would have shown priority, "I AM" shows _timeless existence!_ This identifies him with the "I AM" of the Old Testament. See n...
_Abraham is dead and the prophets_ ABRAHAM AND JESUS I. THE GREATNESS OF ABRAHAM: 1. The ancestor of the Jews. “Our father,” said they (John 8:53); “Your father,” conceded Christ (John 8:56). It wa...
_Before Abraham was, I am._ Here the Saviour claims with a double “Amen” the Incommunicable Name (Exodus 3:14). It signifies unchangeable essence and everlasting duration. This is the name which the J...
_Then said Jesus unto those Jews which believed on Him._ A GLORIOUS LIBERATOR I. FREEDOM PROFFERED. 1. Sin makes bondage (John 8:34; Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13;...
JOHN—NOTE ON JOHN 8:58 Jesus claims to have been alive BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS. He does not mean that he is more than 2,000 years old. Rather, he uses the present tense I AM in speaking of existence more...
VER. 37.. _know_, &c. By nature ye are Abraham's children, but in your deeds ye are degenerate. Your descent from Abraham will not therefore profit you. It will increase your damnation, for he will sa...
_Jesus said_, &c. That is, _I am God._ The word _am_ denotes eternity, which is ever present, and has no past or future. I am eternal, immutable, and ever the same. So S. Augustine, Bede, S. Gregory....
_EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES_ John 8:13. They forgot His vindication of Himself (John 5:31). John 8:14. EVEN IF I BEAR RECORD, ETC.—Although He was content to let the Father witness of Him, still...
EXPOSITION Verses 7:53-8:11 (8) _The pericope adulterae. _(A)_ Excursus on the genuineness of _John 7:53-43__John 7:53-43. It is our duty to examine the various grounds on which this passage has been...
Now Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again to the temple (John 8:1-2), Now the feast is over, but Jesus is returning to the temple on the next day. and all of th...
Colossians 1:17; Exodus 3:14; Hebrews 1:10; Hebrews 13:8; Isaiah 43:1
Was, I am [γ ε ν ε σ θ α ι, ε γ ω ε ι μ ι]. It is important to observe the distinction between the two verbs. Abraham's life was under the conditions of time, and therefore had a temporal beginning. H...