And because I tell you the truth,.... And no lie, the whole truth of the Gospel, and particularly the truth of his divine sonship:

ye believe me not; to such an infatuation and judicial blindness were they give up, to disbelieve him, because he told the truth, and to believe a lie, that they might be damned; which showed them to be the children of the devil, and under his power and influence.

And because I((ἐγὼ δὲ ὅτι)

Render but, instead of and. You would believe falsehood if I should speak it, but because I tell you the truth, you do not believe. The I is emphatic. I, because I tell you, etc.

And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

8:45 Because I speak the truth - Which liars hate.

45-47. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not-not although, but just because He did so, for the reason given in the former verse. Had He been less true they would have hailed Him more readily.

8:41-47 Satan prompts men to excesses by which they murder themselves and others, while what he puts into the mind tends to ruin men's souls. He is the great promoter of falsehood of every kind. He is a liar, all his temptations are carried on by his calling evil good, and good evil, and promising freedom in sin. He is the author of all lies; whom liars resemble and obey, with whom all liars shall have their portion for ever. The special lusts of the devil are spiritual wickedness, the lusts of the mind, and corrupt reasonings, pride and envy, wrath and malice, enmity to good, and enticing others to evil. By the truth, here understand the revealed will of God as to the salvation of men by Jesus Christ, the truth Christ was now preaching, and which the Jews opposed.