Did the Jews accuse Jesus of being born of fornication?

Answer:

You are reading more into the exchange than was stated.

" "I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father."

They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."

Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father."

They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God" " (John 8:37-41).

Jesus stated that he knew they were wanting to kill him because they did not believe what he was teaching. Jesus then made a distinction between his Father and their father.  Jesus had just stated that he knew they were Abraham's descendants; thus, the crowd's response to the claim they were trying to kill him was that since they were Abraham's descendants, they would never do such a thing.

But Jesus points out that they are not following the practices of Abraham. Abraham would never consider killing a man who is telling the truth received from God, since the Jews were plotting to do this very thing, they must have a different father than Jesus.

The crowd's response of "We were not born of fornication" is a claim that they were not involved in idolatry. In the Old Testament, harlotry and idolatry were closely connected ideas.

"When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD" " (Hosea 1:2).

"Also, I will have no compassion on her children, because they are children of harlotry" (Hosea 2:4).

This is why the Jews asserted that they were children of God. Heathens might kill people for teaching God's truth, but they insisted that they weren't heathens.

In this exchange, the Jews were attempting to defend themselves. There is no indication that they were trying to turn the accusations against them onto Jesus.