The Jews answered HimThis phrase indicates a response from the Jewish leaders or people, often referring to the Pharisees or other religious authorities. In the context of
John 8, Jesus is engaged in a heated dialogue with these leaders, challenging their understanding of the law and their spiritual blindness. The term "Jews" in the Gospel of John frequently refers to the religious authorities rather than the Jewish people as a whole. This reflects the tension between Jesus and the established religious order of the time.
“Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan
The accusation of being a Samaritan was a significant insult in the Jewish context. Samaritans were considered heretical and ethnically impure by the Jews due to their mixed heritage and differing religious practices. This reflects the deep-seated animosity between Jews and Samaritans, which dates back to the Assyrian conquest and the subsequent intermarriage of Israelites with foreign settlers. By calling Jesus a Samaritan, the Jewish leaders are attempting to discredit Him and His teachings, associating Him with a group they viewed as outside the covenant community.
and You have a demon?”
Accusing Jesus of having a demon was a way to dismiss His authority and the divine nature of His mission. In the cultural and religious context of the time, attributing someone's actions or words to demonic influence was a serious charge, implying that they were not only wrong but spiritually corrupt. This accusation is a continuation of the theme in the Gospels where Jesus is misunderstood and rejected by the religious leaders. It also echoes earlier instances in the Gospels where Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul (e.g.,Matthew 12:24). This reflects the spiritual blindness and hardness of heart that Jesus often confronted in His ministry.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
The JewsIn this context, "the Jews" refers to the religious leaders and people who were in opposition to Jesus. They often challenged His teachings and authority.
2.
JesusThe central figure of the New Testament, Jesus is the one being accused in this verse. He is engaged in a dialogue with the Jewish leaders, defending His identity and mission.
3.
SamaritansA group of people living in Samaria, often despised by the Jews due to historical and religious differences. Calling Jesus a Samaritan was meant as an insult.
4.
DemonThe accusation that Jesus has a demon is a serious charge, implying that His teachings and actions are influenced by evil forces.
5.
JerusalemThe setting of this confrontation, where Jesus often taught and faced opposition from religious leaders.
Teaching Points
Understanding PrejudiceThe accusation of being a Samaritan reveals deep-seated prejudices. As Christians, we are called to examine and overcome our own biases, recognizing the image of God in all people.
Responding to False AccusationsJesus faced false accusations with truth and composure. We can learn to respond to misunderstandings and slander with grace and truth, trusting God to vindicate us.
Spiritual DiscernmentThe charge of having a demon shows a lack of spiritual discernment. We must seek the Holy Spirit's guidance to discern truth from falsehood in our spiritual journey.
The Power of WordsWords can be used to harm or heal. As followers of Christ, we should use our words to build up and encourage, rather than to insult or tear down.
Identity in ChristJesus' identity was constantly challenged, yet He remained secure in His mission and relationship with the Father. Our identity should be rooted in Christ, not in the opinions of others.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of John 8:48?
2.How does John 8:48 reveal the tension between Jesus and the Pharisees?
3.What does the accusation of being a Samaritan imply about cultural divisions?
4.How can we respond to false accusations as Jesus did in John 8:48?
5.Connect John 8:48 to other instances of Jesus facing opposition in the Gospels.
6.How should believers handle slander while maintaining a Christ-like attitude?
7.Why did the Jews accuse Jesus of being a Samaritan and demon-possessed in John 8:48?
8.How does John 8:48 reflect the tension between Jesus and the Jewish leaders?
9.What historical context explains the hostility in John 8:48?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from John 8?
11.How did Jesus interact with women?
12.Why didn't Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit immediately?
13.What did Jesus mean by "your father the devil"?
14.What is the belief system of Samaritanism?What Does John 8:48 Mean
The Jews answered Him• The response comes after Jesus’ bold claim, “Truly, truly, I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). His declaration of eternal existence provokes an immediate confrontation.
• Earlier in the chapter they had already challenged His identity (John 8:25, 33, 41). Now the tension reaches a climax as they speak collectively, displaying unified resistance similar to the council inJohn 11:47-48.
• Their answer illustrates the pattern that light exposes darkness and brings opposition (John 3:19-20;Acts 7:54-57).
Are we not right to say• They frame their accusation as obvious truth, revealing self-righteous certainty.Proverbs 26:12 warns, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
•Isaiah 5:20 describes the danger of calling evil good and good evil; here they call the sinless Son of God evil.
•1 Corinthians 8:2 reminds that “the one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.” Their confidence exposes their ignorance.
You are a Samaritan• In first-century Judea, calling someone a Samaritan was a slur questioning lineage, orthodoxy, and loyalty (John 4:9).
• They imply Jesus is an outsider, unclean, and heretical—dismissing His authority by labeling Him with a despised group (Luke 9:52-54).
• Ironically, Jesus had already shown compassion to Samaritans (John 4:4-42;Luke 17:11-19), revealing God’s heart for the marginalized, while His accusers cling to prejudice.
You have a demon• Accusing Jesus of being demon-possessed repeats earlier charges (John 7:20) and anticipates later mockery (John 10:20). The pattern traces back to those who called righteousness “sorcery” (Matthew 12:24;Mark 3:22).
• By attributing His words to demonic influence, they reject the witness of His miracles (John 5:36), His teaching (John 7:46), and the Father’s testimony (John 8:18).
• This blasphemous claim fulfills prophecy that the Messiah would be “despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3).
summaryJohn 8:48 captures hardened hearts responding to Christ’s self-revelation with insults instead of faith. Their collective certainty (“Are we not right”) masks spiritual blindness, leading them to smear Him as both a Samaritan outsider and a demon-possessed deceiver. The verse exposes the tragic reality that when confronted with undeniable truth, unrepentant hearts may choose slander over surrender.
(48)
Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?--The words imply that the saying was customary among the Pharisees. The knowledge of this, and the simple way in which the fact is told, is one of many instances of the writer's minute acquaintance with what was said and done by the leaders of the Jerusalem party. There is no instance given of the term "Samaritan" being applied to our Lord, but the term itself is frequently used by the Rabbis as one of opprobrium. The history of the fourth chapter is at once suggested to our minds, and was probably not absent from theirs. (Comp. Note on
John 7:35.) There may have been facts more immediately connected with this very Feast of Tabernacles present to their minds, which are unknown to us. The going up secretly of
John 7:10, must almost certainly have been through Samaria. He had kept the last Passover in the despised Galilee (
John 6:4). Had He kept Tabernacles in the hated Samaria? It is worth noting that the word Samaritan, in the singular, as applied to an individual, occurs but twice, except here and in John 4. One instance is in the parable spoken at no long interval after the present discourse (
Luke 10:25-37). The other tells us that the only one of the ten lepers who turned back to glorify God "was a Samaritan" (
Luke 17:16).
The rendering, "and hast a devil," is one which, probably, cannot now be improved. Wiclif's word here is "fiend," which in this sense is obsolete. But every reader of the Greek must feel how little our English word can represent the two distinct ideas, represented by two distinct words here and inJohn 8:44. "Demon," used originally for the lower divinities, and not unfrequently for the gods, passed in the Scriptures, which taught the knowledge of the true God, into the sense of an evil spirit. Thus the word which could represent the attendant genius of Socrates came to express what we speak of as demoniacal possession, and the supposed power of witchcraft and sorcery. Socrates is made to say, "For this reason, therefore, rather than for any other, he calls them demons, because they were prudent and knowing" (da?mones, Plato,Cratylus, xxiii.). The history of Simon Magus reminds us that the people of Samaria, from the least to the greatest, had been for a long time under the influence of his sorceries (Acts 8:9et seq.), and it is probable that there is a special connection in the words here, "Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon." (Comp.Excursus III. on Notes to St. Matthew's Gospel, p. 185.) . . .
Verse 48. - But it brought from them a shout of derision and a burst of scornful mockery.
The Jews answered and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a daemon? They imagine that the bare charge that they, the leaders of Israel, are "not of God," and that they reveal the fact by their inability to hear the words of God then sounding in their ears, was flat heresy, a gross lack of patriotism, and proved that, in his lofty self-assertion, he was no better than a Samaritan - the most hated of their neighbours. They return a harsh
tu-quoque to our Lord's refusal to admit their Abrahamic descent, and his condemnation of their utter moral dissimilarity from their putative father. The sentence, "a Samaritan art thou!" is singularly insulting in its tone and form. We cannot measure the exact amount of insult they condensed into this word, whether it be of heresy, or alienation from Israel, or accusation of impure descent. It is remarkable that our Lord had shown special kindness to Samaritans (ch. 4.), and had made in his parable "the good Samaritan" the type of neighbourly love; but these very Jews had, in the height of this controversy, accused him of being a "Galilaean," and it is not probable that they used the term otherwise than as a soubriquet of scorn. Edersheim (
loc. cit., 2:174, 175) would translate into Aramaic the language here cited, and finds in its form
Shomroni the real interpretation of its meaning.
Shomron is, according to him, used in rabbinical writing for
Ashmedai, and in the cabbalists is used for
Sammael or
Satan. Arabian traditions are brought in to confirm this interpretation of the speech, which he regards as equivalent to "Thou art a child of the devil," thus retorting upon Jesus the charge that they were doing the works of
their father, the devil. The one expression is thought by Edersheim equivalent to that which follows,
thou hast a daemon; and his explanation is thought to cover our Lord's silence respecting it. In our opinion this is far-fetched and unnatural. Christ's silence is better justified by his refusal to regard such a term as conveying opprobrium, tic had risen above the distinction of race, and could afford to despise the taunt. In
John 7:20 (see note) a similar charge had been made by the angry Jews. The Lord is accused of being mastered by some daemon, who is perverting his mind and confusing his speech. Some further force is added to the charge from the language of the Talmud, 'Jebamoth,' fol. 47,
a: "R. Nachman, son of Isaac, said to a Samaritan, 'Thou art a Cuthite, and testimony from thy mouth has no validity.'"
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Theοἱ(hoi)Article - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.JewsἸουδαῖοι(Ioudaioi)Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 2453:Jewish. From Iouda; Judaean, i.e. Belonging to Jehudah.answeredἈπεκρίθησαν(Apekrithēsan)Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 611:From apo and krino; to conclude for oneself, i.e. to respond; by Hebraism to begin to speak.Him,αὐτῷ(autō)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846:He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.“Are we notΟὐ(Ou)Adverb
Strong's 3756:No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.rightκαλῶς(kalōs)Adverb
Strong's 2573:Well, nobly, honorably, rightly. Adverb from kalos; well.to sayλέγομεν(legomen)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 3004:(a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.thatὅτι(hoti)Conjunction
Strong's 3754:Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.Youσὺ(sy)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771:You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.areεἶ(ei)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.a SamaritanΣαμαρίτης(Samaritēs)Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4541:A Samaritan. From Samareia; a Samarite, i.e. Inhabitant of Samaria.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.You haveἔχεις(echeis)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 2192:To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.a demon?”δαιμόνιον(daimonion)Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 1140:An evil-spirit, demon; a heathen deity. Neuter of a derivative of daimon; a d?Monic being; by extension a deity.
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NT Gospels: John 8:48 Then the Jews answered him Don't we (Jhn Jo Jn) 
