John 8:39

To this ambiguous but ominous utterance the Jews reply: Ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ ἐστι, thereby meaning to clear themselves of the suspicion of having learned anything evil from their father. To which Jesus retorts: Εἰ τέκνα … ἐποιεῖτε ἄν. “If ye were Abraham's children ye would do the works of Abraham”; according to the law of John 8:38. If their origin could be wholly traced to Abraham, then their conduct would resemble his. νῦν δὲ … ἐποίησεν. “But now as the fact really is you seek to kill me; and this has not only the guilt of an ordinary murder, but your hostility is roused against me because I have spoken to you the truth I heard from God. It is murder based upon hostility to God. This is very different from the conduct of Abraham.” ἄνθρωπον seems to be used simply as we might use “person” a person who: certainly, as Lampe says, it is used “sine praejudicio deitatis”. Bengel thinks it anticipates ἀνθρωπόκτονος in John 8:44, and Westcott says it “stands in contrast with of God … and at the same time suggests the idea of human sympathy, which He might claim from them (a man), as opposed to the murderous spirit of the power of evil”.