Charles Ellicott Commentary John 8:53

"Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?" — John 8:53 (ASV)

Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead?—The question is exactly the same, with the substitution of “Abraham” for “Jacob,” as that asked by the Samaritan woman in John 4:12 (see Note). “Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham, who indeed died?”

Whom makest thou thyself?—“If Abraham, who received God’s covenant, himself died, and if the prophets, who uttered the oracles of God, themselves died, what kind of person do You assert Yourself to be that Your word shall deliver men from death?” The same phrase occurs again in John 5:18; John 10:33; John 19:7.