Charles Ellicott Commentary John 8:41

"Ye do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God." — John 8:41 (ASV)

You do the deeds of your father.—It is better to read works rather than “deeds,” as in John 8:39. They did not do the works of Abraham. They did the works of that father, who is now more clearly pointed out, but still not named. Before, when he was referred to (John 8:38), they could answer that Abraham was their father; but their works prove that they are not the true children of Abraham (John 8:39–40). They see that a spiritual father is intended, and they will claim God as their Father.

We are not born of fornication.—The meaning of this is to be found in the fact that the word “fornication” became a frequent symbol for idolatry in the Old Testament prophets. Compare Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:8–9; Ezekiel 16; Hosea 1:2 (especially), Hosea 4:12, and Hosea 5:7. They, as distinguished from the nations among whom they lived, had maintained a pure monotheism, and had never been idolaters, or children born of spiritual fornication.

We have one Father, even God.—We is strongly emphatic, expressing their pride in the theocracy, and their spiritual superiority to other nations. There may be in this pride also a touch of the scorn with which they asked, “Will He go unto the dispersion of the Gentiles?” (John 7:35), or with which they call Him a Samaritan, as they do in this very discussion (John 8:48). “Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.” This is the historian’s account of the spiritual paternity of the Samaritans, and these Jews may well have felt their superiority in contrast with their neighbors. (See the whole passage in 2 Kings 17:26–41, especially John 8:30-31.)