King James Version
John 10
42 verses with commentary
I Am the Good Shepherd
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold , but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus begins His Good Shepherd discourse by contrasting true and false shepherds. The true shepherd enters by the door; thieves and robbers climb in elsewhere. This establishes authority's source - legitimate shepherds are recognized and authorized, while false teachers use deception to access sheep. Reformed emphasis on proper ordination and calling finds support here.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Verily, verily, I say unto you.**—This formula is not used at the beginning of a fresh discourse, but is, in every case, the solemn introduction of some development of our Lord’s deeper teaching. (Comp. Note on John 1:51.) We are not, then, to regard this chapter as a new subject, but as part of the teaching commenced in John 9:35, and arising out of the sign of healing the blind man. This s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-19. bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true--**How does He meet this specious cavil? Not by disputing the wholesome human maxim that "self-praise is no praise," but by affirming that He was an exception to the rule, or rather, that it had no application to Him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The parable of the good shepherd.(1-5)
Christ the Door.(6-9)
Christ the good Shepherd.(10-18)
The Jews' opinion concerning Jesus.(19-21)
His discourse at the feast of dedication.(22-30)
The Jews attempt to stone Jesus.(31-38)
He departs from Jerusalem.(39-42)
**Verses 1-5**
Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of t...
Read full commentary →But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
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KJV Study Commentary
The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Legitimate authority isn't seized but received through proper means. This verse emphasizes ordained ministry - those called, equipped, and authorized by God to shepherd His flock. The Reformed tradition values orderly calling to ministry over self-appointed religious leadership.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **But he that entereth in by the door.**—See Notes on John 10:7-9.
**Is the shepherd of the sheep.**—Better, *is a shepherd of the sheep.* The word here (comp. John 10:12) simply characterises him that entereth by the door as a shepherd, in opposition to the robber who climbeth over the fence.
-2John 10:16 of this chapter finds the commencement of its fulfilment in this mission. The appointmen...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. These words spake Jesus in the treasury--**a division, so called, of the fore court of the temple, part of the court of the women [Josephus, Antiquities, 19.6.2, &c.], which may confirm the genuineness of Joh 8:2-11, as the place where the woman was brought.
**no man laid hands on him, &c.--**(See on Joh 7:30). In the dialogue that follows, the conflict waxes sharper on both sides,...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The parable of the good shepherd.(1-5)
Christ the Door.(6-9)
Christ the good Shepherd.(10-18)
The Jews' opinion concerning Jesus.(19-21)
His discourse at the feast of dedication.(22-30)
The Jews attempt to stone Jesus.(31-38)
He departs from Jerusalem.(39-42)
**Verses 1-5**
Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of t...
Read full commentary →To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
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KJV Study Commentary
The shepherd is known to the porter (doorkeeper) and calls his sheep by name - they recognize his voice and follow him. This beautiful picture shows intimate relationship between Christ and believers. We're not nameless masses but individually known and called. The sheep's ability to recognize the Shepherd's voice demonstrates spiritual discernment given to true believers.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **To him the porter openeth.**—The word “porter” is not, perhaps, misleading to many, but for the sake of the possible few, it may be noted that *door-keeper* is what is here meant. There is no further interpretation of what, in the spiritual fold, corresponds to the office of the porter, whereas the door and the shepherd are successively made the texts of fuller expositions of Christ’s own wo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-25. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, &c.--**(See on Joh 7:33).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The parable of the good shepherd.(1-5)
Christ the Door.(6-9)
Christ the good Shepherd.(10-18)
The Jews' opinion concerning Jesus.(19-21)
His discourse at the feast of dedication.(22-30)
The Jews attempt to stone Jesus.(31-38)
He departs from Jerusalem.(39-42)
**Verses 1-5**
Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of t...
Read full commentary →And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
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KJV Study Commentary
After leading his sheep out, the shepherd goes before them and they follow because they know his voice. True spiritual leadership leads by example, going before rather than driving from behind. Sheep follow freely, not under compulsion but by recognition. This models authentic Christian leadership - earned trust, not demanded submission.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **And when he putteth forth his own sheep.**—The majority of the better MSS. add the word “all.” The tense is past. We should read, therefore, *when he has put forth all his own sheep.* The addition is important as marking the care of the shepherd to count his flock and see that none is missing. The word “put forth” is stronger than “lead out,” in the previous verse, and represents the details...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-25. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, &c.--**(See on Joh 7:33).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The parable of the good shepherd.(1-5)
Christ the Door.(6-9)
Christ the good Shepherd.(10-18)
The Jews' opinion concerning Jesus.(19-21)
His discourse at the feast of dedication.(22-30)
The Jews attempt to stone Jesus.(31-38)
He departs from Jerusalem.(39-42)
**Verses 1-5**
Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of t...
Read full commentary →And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
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KJV Study Commentary
Sheep flee from strangers because they don't recognize their voice. True believers possess spiritual discernment to recognize false teaching and false shepherds. This distinguishes genuine Christians from mere professors - the regenerate can discern spiritual truth and detect error. The Reformed emphasis on the Spirit's illumination appears here.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **And a stranger will they not follow.**—The “ stranger” is any one other than their own shepherd, and the term is not to be limited to the “thief” and “robber” of John 10:1. The thought is of the flock following the shepherd to the pasture. On the road they would meet other persons whom they would not follow. Some would, as thieves and robbers, seek to lead them away, calling them by their na...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-25. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, &c.--**(See on Joh 7:33).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The parable of the good shepherd.(1-5)
Christ the Door.(6-9)
Christ the good Shepherd.(10-18)
The Jews' opinion concerning Jesus.(19-21)
His discourse at the feast of dedication.(22-30)
The Jews attempt to stone Jesus.(31-38)
He departs from Jerusalem.(39-42)
**Verses 1-5**
Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of t...
Read full commentary →This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
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KJV Study Commentary
John notes the audience didn't understand Jesus' parable. Spiritual truth requires spiritual capacity to comprehend. The religious leaders heard the words but missed the meaning, illustrating that natural man cannot receive spiritual things (1 Cor 2:14). Understanding requires the Spirit's illumination, not merely human intelligence.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **This parable spake Jesus unto them.**—Better, *this allegory spake Jesus unto them.* The word rendered “parable” is the wider word (παροιμία,* paroimia*) which includes every kind of figurative and proverbial teaching, every kind of speech, as the etymology reminds us, which departs from the usual course (οῑμος,* oimos*)*.* St. John nowhere uses the word “parable.” The word *paroimia* occurs...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-25. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, &c.--**(See on Joh 7:33).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain dir...
Read full commentary →Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
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KJV Study Commentary
The 'door' metaphor emphasizes exclusivity: Christ is THE door (definite article), not A door among many. This confronts religious pluralism. As the door, Christ is both the entrance to salvation and the protector of His sheep. In ancient sheepfolds, the shepherd literally became the door, lying across the entrance. This 'I AM' statement claims divine authority—only God can be humanity's exclusive...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Then said Jesus unto them again.**—Better, *Therefore said Jesus again,* the words “unto them” being of uncertain authority. He says what follows because they did not understand what He had said before. It is not that a new allegory begins at this place. He spake in the beginning of the door and of the shepherd (John 10:1-2). He now proceeds to unfold the meaning of both.
**Verily, verily, I...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21-25. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, &c.--**(See on Joh 7:33).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain dir...
Read full commentary →All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus identifies false shepherds as thieves and robbers who came before Him. These include false messiahs, corrupt religious leaders, and anyone claiming to offer salvation apart from Christ. True sheep didn't follow them, demonstrating that God's elect ultimately recognize and reject false shepherds who don't enter through the proper door.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers.**—Comp. Note on John 10:1. The Sinaitic MS. and several of the early versions read this verse without the words translated “before Me,” but the balance of authority is strongly in their favour; and the fact of their being hard to understand, or having been misunderstood, is the probable reason of their omission. Retaining them, as we seem...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26-27. I have many things to say and to judge of you; but he that sent me is true, &c.--**that is, I could, and at the fitting time, will say and judge many things of you (referring perhaps to the work of the Spirit which is for judgment as well as salvation, Joh 16:8), but what I do say is just the message My Father hath given Me to deliver.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain dir...
Read full commentary →I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
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KJV Study Commentary
Christ repeats 'I am the door' for emphasis, adding explanation: entrance through Him brings salvation (spiritual security), free access ('go in and out'), and provision ('find pasture'). The three-fold blessing mirrors the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). Going 'in and out' suggests freedom and security—sheep don't fear entering/leaving when the True Shepherd guards them. This contrasts with t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **By me if any man enter in.**—He returns to the thought of the door, through which every true shepherd must himself enter the fold. The thought is parallel to that of the “strait gate” and “narrow way,” in Matthew 7:13-14, and with St. Paul’s thought in Romans 5:2, and Ephesians 2:18. No one can really enter the fold and become a shepherd of the flock who does not seek to do so through the ch...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26-27. I have many things to say and to judge of you; but he that sent me is true, &c.--**that is, I could, and at the fitting time, will say and judge many things of you (referring perhaps to the work of the Spirit which is for judgment as well as salvation, Joh 16:8), but what I do say is just the message My Father hath given Me to deliver.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain dir...
Read full commentary →The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.</strong> This verse crystallizes Jesus's entire mission and ministry in stark contrast to the thief and false shepherds mentioned in the preceding verses. The emphatic "I am come" (ἐγὼ ἦλθον/<em>egō ēlthon</em>) declares divine purpose and intentionality—Christ's incarnation was no accident but a purposeful m...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **The thief cometh not, but for to steal.**—Comp. Notes on John 10:1; John 10:8. The description of the thief is opposed to that of the shepherd, who constantly goes in and out and finds pasture. His visits are but rare, and when he comes it is but for his own selfish purposes, and for the ruin of the flock. Each detail of his cruel work is dwelt upon, to bring out in all the baseness of its ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28-30. When ye have lifted up the Son of man--**The plainest intimation He had yet given in public of the manner and the authors of His death.
**then shall ye know that I am he, &c.--**that is, find out, or have sufficient evidence, how true was all He said, though they would be far from owning it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares 'I am the good shepherd' (ego eimi ho poimen ho kalos), using kalos (good/beautiful/noble) rather than merely agathos (good). The quality emphasized is not just moral goodness but excellence, attractiveness, and nobility of character. The defining action follows: 'the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep' (ten psychen autou tithesi hyper ton probaton). The verb tithemi (to la...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **I am the good shepherd.**—The central point of the allegory has now passed from the “Door,” through the last verse as the connecting-link, to the “Good Shepherd.” If we think that the whole discourse was suggested by a scene actually occurring (comp. Note on John 10:1), then the prominence of an actual shepherd passing before them would suggest the turn which it now takes.
The word “good” m...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28-30. When ye have lifted up the Son of man--**The plainest intimation He had yet given in public of the manner and the authors of His death.
**then shall ye know that I am he, &c.--**that is, find out, or have sufficient evidence, how true was all He said, though they would be far from owning it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus contrasts the true shepherd with the hireling who works for wages rather than love for sheep. When danger comes, hirelings flee because the sheep aren't theirs. This distinguishes genuine from mercenary ministry - true shepherds risk themselves for the flock, while hirelings protect themselves. Reformed theology values pastoral calling over religious careerism.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **But he that is an hireling.**—The Greek word occurs again in the New Testament only in the next verse and in Mark 1:20. It implies a lower position than the household servant, and is more nearly what we should call the tramp-labourer. The thought follows from that of the good shepherd who in the time of danger will give his own life for the sheep. The hireling has no interest in the sheep, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28-30. When ye have lifted up the Son of man--**The plainest intimation He had yet given in public of the manner and the authors of His death.
**then shall ye know that I am he, &c.--**that is, find out, or have sufficient evidence, how true was all He said, though they would be far from owning it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
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KJV Study Commentary
The hireling flees because he's a hireling and doesn't care about the sheep. Motive determines action in crisis. Those serving for self-interest abandon flock when serving becomes costly. True shepherds remain because they love the sheep, not merely the position or income. This exposes false ministry.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **The hireling fleeth.**—These words are again an addition to the text, and should he omitted with the great majority of the best authorities. If we omit them this verse must be immediately connected with that which precedes, the last clause of which is a parenthesis—“But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31-33. Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, &c.--**The impression produced by the last words of our Lord may have become visible by some decisive movement, and here He takes advantage of it to press on them "continuance" in the faith, since then only were they His real disciples (compare Joh 15:3-8), and then should they expe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
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KJV Study Commentary
The repetition 'I am the good shepherd' (also v. 11) employs Semitic emphasis, with 'good' (Greek 'kalos') meaning noble, beautiful, ideal—in contrast to hirelings. The mutual knowledge—'I know my sheep, and am known of mine'—describes intimate relationship, not mere acquaintance. This echoes Jeremiah 31:34 and anticipates the New Covenant's personal knowledge of God. The parallel structure ('I kn...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **And know my sheep, and am known of mine.**—Better, *and know those who are Mine, and those who are Mine know Me.* The thought of the Good Shepherd is repeated to show that it expresses the closest communion between the shepherd and the sheep. It is not simply that the sheep know the Shepherd’s voice, but they partake of His nature, and the solemn form in which He expresses this union is in ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31-33. Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, &c.--**The impression produced by the last words of our Lord may have become visible by some decisive movement, and here He takes advantage of it to press on them "continuance" in the faith, since then only were they His real disciples (compare Joh 15:3-8), and then should they expe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares perfect mutual knowledge between Himself and believers, paralleling His relationship with the Father. This mutual knowledge isn't merely information but intimate relationship - knowing and being known personally. Christ's declaration 'I lay down my life for the sheep' demonstrates the ultimate proof of the Good Shepherd's love - voluntary death for His own.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father.**—Better, . . . *and I know the Father.* Our version, by its rendering, and by the division of verses, fails to give the full meaning, and there is thus, indeed, no reason for the assertion of the mutual knowledge of the Father and the Son. But connecting the words with those of the previous verse, we have, “I am the Good Shepherd, and kn...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31-33. Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, &c.--**The impression produced by the last words of our Lord may have become visible by some decisive movement, and here He takes advantage of it to press on them "continuance" in the faith, since then only were they His real disciples (compare Joh 15:3-8), and then should they expe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold</strong>—Jesus looks beyond Israel to the Gentiles who will be brought into His flock. The Greek ἄλλα πρόβατα (<em>alla probata</em>, "other sheep") refers to believers from every nation, not yet incorporated into the covenant community. The phrase "not of this fold" (οὐκ... ἐκ τῆς αὐλῆς ταύτης/<em>ouk ek tēs aulēs tautēs</em>) distinguish...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.**—The words recall to the mind a question which the Jews had asked at this very feast, “Will He go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?” (John 7:35). They asked it in the bitterness of scorn. He asserts that among the Gentiles—who are not of the Jewish fold—He already possesses sheep; just as He says to Paul conce...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**34-35. Whosoever committeth sin--**that is, liveth in the commission of it--(Compare 1Jo 3:8; Mt 7:23).
**is the servant of sin--**that is, the bond-servant, or slave of it; for the question is not about free service, but who are in bondage. (Compare 2Pe 2:19; Re 6:16). The great truth here expressed was not unknown to heathen moralists; but it was applied only to vice, for they were total str...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life</strong>—This stunning statement reveals the relational dynamics within the Trinity. The Father's love for the Son is grounded in (not caused by) the Son's voluntary self-sacrifice. The causal "because" (ὅτι/<em>hoti</em>) indicates the Father delights in the Son's obedient mission. This isn't merit-based love (the Father always ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Therefore doth my Father love me** **. . .** For the meaning of this difficult verse, comp. Notes on John 5:17 *et seq.,* and on Philippians 2:8-9. The thought is that in the relation between the Father and the human nature of Christ, the reason of the Father’s love is based upon the self-devotion of the Son. He who so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten Son to die for it, loves ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**34-35. Whosoever committeth sin--**that is, liveth in the commission of it--(Compare 1Jo 3:8; Mt 7:23).
**is the servant of sin--**that is, the bond-servant, or slave of it; for the question is not about free service, but who are in bondage. (Compare 2Pe 2:19; Re 6:16). The great truth here expressed was not unknown to heathen moralists; but it was applied only to vice, for they were total str...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself</strong>—Jesus insists on the voluntary nature of His death. The emphatic "no man" (οὐδεὪς/<em>oudeis</em>) demolishes any notion that Christ was a helpless victim. Though legally executed by Rome and religiously condemned by Jewish leaders, Jesus remained sovereign over His own death. The phrase "of myself" (ἀπ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ/<em>ap' emautou...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **No man taketh it from me.**—It is better to leave the words in the greater width of the Greek, *No one taketh it from Me,* for it may be, indeed, that even the Father is included in the thought. The laying down of the life is absolutely self-determined, and therefore it is the reason of the Father’s love. Up to the very last moments of life He lays stress on the perfectly voluntary nature o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid...
Read full commentary →There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings</strong>—The Greek σχίσμα (<em>schisma</em>, "division") literally means a tear or split, the word used for rending garments. Jesus's words didn't produce consensus but violent disagreement. The adverb "again" (πάλιν/<em>palin</em>) indicates this is a recurring pattern (see John 7:43, 9:16)—wherever Jesus teaches, peopl...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **There was a division therefore again . . .**—The words carry us back to those of John 9:16, where a like division was noted.
**Among the Jews.**—The Pharisees are mentioned before, and they are the persons who have been present all through this discourse. (Comp. John 9:40.) The wider word is here, and in John 9:18, applied to them. They were identifying themselves with, and becoming leaders...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**37-41. ye seek to kill me--**He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them.
**because my word hath no place in you--**When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them....
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-21**
Satan ruins many, by putting them out of conceit with the word and ordinances. Men would not be laughed out of their necessary food, yet suffer themselves thus to be laughed out of what is far more necessary. If our zeal and earnestness in the cause of Christ, especially in the blessed work of bringing his sheep into his fold, bring upon us evil names, let us not heed it, but ...
Read full commentary →And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad</strong>—The accusation of demon possession (δαιμόνιον ἔχει/<em>daimonion echei</em>) was not new; Jesus's enemies made this charge repeatedly (John 7:20, 8:48-52). The additional claim "is mad" (μαίνεται/<em>mainetai</em>) suggests insanity, loss of reason. This was a convenient way to dismiss Jesus without engaging His arguments: don't d...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **He hath a devil, and is mad.**—Comp. Note on John 8:48. The words “and is mad” are explanatory of the possession by a demon.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**37-41. ye seek to kill me--**He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them.
**because my word hath no place in you--**When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them....
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-21**
Satan ruins many, by putting them out of conceit with the word and ordinances. Men would not be laughed out of their necessary food, yet suffer themselves thus to be laughed out of what is far more necessary. If our zeal and earnestness in the cause of Christ, especially in the blessed work of bringing his sheep into his fold, bring upon us evil names, let us not heed it, but ...
Read full commentary →Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil</strong>—A dissenting voice emerges. While "many" (verse 20) accused Jesus of madness, "others" (ἄλλοι/<em>alloi</em>) recognized the inconsistency: demon-possessed people don't speak with such wisdom, authority, and coherence. The phrase "these are not the words" (ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα οὐκ ἔστιν/<em>tauta ta rhēmata ouk estin</em>) a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil.**—We trace here again the presence of the better party among the Sanhedrin, which we found before (John 9:16). “His words,” they would say, “are words of calm teaching. The possession by a demon disorders, frenzies, makes the slave of madness. It is inconsistent with words like these.”
**Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?**...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**37-41. ye seek to kill me--**He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them.
**because my word hath no place in you--**When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them....
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-21**
Satan ruins many, by putting them out of conceit with the word and ordinances. Men would not be laughed out of their necessary food, yet suffer themselves thus to be laughed out of what is far more necessary. If our zeal and earnestness in the cause of Christ, especially in the blessed work of bringing his sheep into his fold, bring upon us evil names, let us not heed it, but ...
Read full commentary →I and the Father Are One
And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter</strong>—John provides temporal and geographical context. The "feast of the dedication" is Hanukkah (ἐγκαίνια/<em>enkainia</em>), the Festival of Lights, commemorating the rededication of the temple in 164 BC after Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated it. The Maccabees cleansed the temple, and miraculously, one day's worth of...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) Between the last verse and this there is an interval of time which may be roughly taken as two months. Wieseler has calculated that the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles was on October 19, and the Feast of the Dedication on December 20. (See *Chron. Synops.,* Eng. Trans., p. 435; and comp. Note on John 7:2, and *Chronological Harmony of the Gospels,* p. 35) In this interval we may with gre...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**37-41. ye seek to kill me--**He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them.
**because my word hath no place in you--**When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them....
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch</strong>—The location is significant. Solomon's Porch (ἡ στοὰ τοῦ Σολομῶνος/<em>hē stoa tou Solomōnos</em>) was a covered colonnade on the temple's eastern side, overlooking the Kidron Valley. This structure, possibly dating to Solomon's original temple, survived the Babylonian destruction and was incorporated into Herod's temple. It was a ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **And Jesus walked in the temple . . .**—Better, *and Jesus was walking.* The scene is remembered and pictured as it took place.
**In Solomon’s porch.**—The place is mentioned again in Acts 3:11; Acts 5:12. It was rather a cloister *or* arcade than what we usually call a porch. It is said to have been on the east of the Temple, and to have been a relic of the original building which had survi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**37-41. ye seek to kill me--**He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them.
**because my word hath no place in you--**When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them....
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. make: or, hold us in suspense
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then came the Jews round about him</strong>—The verb "came round about" (ἐκύκλωσαν/<em>ekyklōsan</em>) means to encircle or surround, suggesting an aggressive posture. This isn't a friendly inquiry but a confrontation. The crowd forms a ring, perhaps to prevent escape or to create a public spectacle. The atmosphere is hostile, not curious.<br><br><strong>How long dost thou make us to doubt...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Then came the Jews round about him.**—The words mean literally, they *encircled Him.* It is again the impression of one who saw what he records. He remembers how they stood in a circle round our Lord, and watched Him with eager eyes as they asked their question.
**How long dost thou make us to doubt?**—Literally, *How long dost Thou lift up our souls?* or, as the margin, “How long dost Thou...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**42-43. If God were your Father, ye would love me--**"If ye had anything of His moral image, as children have their father's likeness, ye would love Me, for I am immediately of Him and directly from Him." But "My speech" (meaning His peculiar style of expressing Himself on these subjects) is unintelligible to you because ye cannot take in the truth which it conveys.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not</strong>—Jesus refuses their demand for a different kind of answer; He's already revealed His identity clearly. The problem isn't lack of evidence but refusal to believe. The verb "believed not" (οὐ πιστεύετε/<em>ou pisteuete</em>) is present tense—continuous unbelief despite continuous revelation. They keep demanding proof while ignorin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **I told you, and ye believed not.**—Better, *and ye believe not,* as all the best MSS. Here, as in John 8:25, where a similar direct question was put to Him, the answer is indirect. It could not be otherwise. Their misconception of the Messianic work had made the very word Messiah an impossible one for Him to utter to them. To have said He was the Messiah would have been to sanction their th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**42-43. If God were your Father, ye would love me--**"If ye had anything of His moral image, as children have their father's likeness, ye would love Me, for I am immediately of Him and directly from Him." But "My speech" (meaning His peculiar style of expressing Himself on these subjects) is unintelligible to you because ye cannot take in the truth which it conveys.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you</strong>—Jesus gives the ultimate explanation for their unbelief: they are not His sheep. The causal "because" (ὅτι/<em>hoti</em>) indicates the root problem isn't insufficient evidence but spiritual identity. The phrase "ye are not of my sheep" (οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐκ τῶν προβάτων τῶν ἐμῶν/<em>ouk este ek tōn probatōn tōn emōn</e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **But ye believe not.**—Comp. Notes on John 10:5; John 10:14; John 10:16.
**As I said unto you.**—These words are not found in the Sinaitic or Vatican MSS., and are omitted by the best modern editors. They are not, however, without considerable authority, and the fact of their difficulty may have led to their omission. They are sometimes joined to the following verse, and some expositors acce...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**44. Ye are of your father the devil--**"This is one of the most decisive testimonies to the objective (outward) personality of the devil. It is quite impossible to suppose an accommodation to Jewish views, or a metaphorical form of speech, in so solemn an assertion as this" [Alford].
**the lusts of your father--**his impure, malignant, ungodly propensities, inclinations, desires.
**ye will d...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus describes His sheep with three characteristics: 'hear my voice' (tes phones mou akouousin), 'I know them' (kago ginosko auta), and 'they follow me' (akolouthousin moi). Hearing Christ's voice indicates spiritual perception and receptivity - not merely auditory hearing but responsive listening. The verb ginosko (know) indicates intimate, experiential knowledge, not mere recognition. Jesus' kn...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27, 28) The reference to those who believe not because they were not of His sheep, introduces the contrast between them and those who were, and the position of the true members of the flock is expanded in this pair of parallel clauses. One member of each pair refers to the act or state of the sheep; and the other to the act or gift of the Shepherd. The pairs proceed in a climax from the first res...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares 'I give unto them eternal life' (kago didomi autois zoen aionion). The present tense didomi indicates ongoing action - He continually gives life, not a one-time transaction. The life given is zoen aionion - not merely endless duration but the quality of divine life itself. Jesus then promises 'they shall never perish' using the emphatic double negative ou me apolontai, the strongest...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.</strong> This verse anchors the doctrine of eternal security in divine sovereignty. The emphatic <strong>my Father</strong> (ὁ πατήρ μου/<em>ho patēr mou</em>) claims unique relationship, while <strong>which gave them</strong> (ὃς δέδωκέν/<em>hos dedōken</em>) uses the perfect tens...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **My Father, which gave them me **(better, *hath given them Me*)*,* **is greater than all.**—For the thought that they are given by the Father, comp. Note on John 6:37. Here our version has rightly made no limiting addition to “all” (comp. last verse). In the width of the word, which extends to every creature and to every power, and even to the Son in His subordination to the Father, the Fath...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →I and my Father are one.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' statement 'I and my Father are one' (ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν) is a profound assertion of unity with God the Father. The Greek ἕν (hen, 'one') is neuter gender, indicating not one person (which would require masculine εἷς/heis) but one in essence, nature, and purpose. Jesus claims substantial unity with the Father—sharing divine nature, power, and will—while maintaining personal distinction...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **I and my Father are one.**—The last clause of John 10:29 is identical with the last clause of John 10:28 if we identify “Father’s” with “My.” This our Lord now formally does. The last verses have told of power greater than all, and these words are an assertion that in the infinity of All-mighty Power the Son is one with the Father. They are more than this, for the Greek word for “one” is ne...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**48-51. Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?--**What intense and virulent scorn! (See He 12:3). The "say we not well" refers to Joh 7:20. "A Samaritan" means more than "no Israelite at all"; it means one who pretended, but had no manner of claim to the title--retorting perhaps, this denial of their true descent from Abraham.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them...
Read full commentary →Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him</strong> (Ἐβάστασαν πάλιν λίθους οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἵνα λιθάσωσιν αὐτόν, <em>Ebastastan palin lithous hoi Ioudaioi hina lithasosin auton</em>)—The word πάλιν (<em>palin</em>, 'again') references their previous attempt (8:59). Jesus's discourse about being one with the Father (10:30) triggers renewed murderous intent. The repetition demonstrates pers...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Then the Jews took up stones again.**—Better, *The Jews therefore* . . . Their action follows as an effect caused by His words. The word “again” reminds us that they had done this two months before, at the Feast of Tabernacles (8:59). The words for “took up” are not the same. There the sense is, “they lifted up stones,” and we are told that Jesus hid Himself; here the meaning is, “they carr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**48-51. Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?--**What intense and virulent scorn! (See He 12:3). The "say we not well" refers to Joh 7:20. "A Samaritan" means more than "no Israelite at all"; it means one who pretended, but had no manner of claim to the title--retorting perhaps, this denial of their true descent from Abraham.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father</strong> (ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Πολλὰ ἔργα καλὰ ἔδειξα ὑμῖν ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, <em>apekrithe autois ho Iesous· Polla erga kala edeixa hymin ek tou patros</em>)—Jesus emphasizes πολλά (<em>polla</em>, 'many') and καλά (<em>kala</em>, 'good, beautiful, noble') works sourced ἐκ τοῦ πατρός (<em>ek tou patros</em>, 'from the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **Jesus answered them**—*i.e.,* answered the thought which He read in their hearts, and the intention which was expressed by their act.
**Many good works have I shewed you from my Father.**—For the idea of “good” expressed here, comp. Note on John 10:14. We have no better word in English; but “excellent,” “distinguished,” approach the sense. It is not the nature of the works as beneficent tha...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**48-51. Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?--**What intense and virulent scorn! (See He 12:3). The "say we not well" refers to Joh 7:20. "A Samaritan" means more than "no Israelite at all"; it means one who pretended, but had no manner of claim to the title--retorting perhaps, this denial of their true descent from Abraham.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy</strong> (ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι· Περὶ καλοῦ ἔργου οὐ λιθάζομέν σε ἀλλὰ περὶ βλασφημίας, <em>apekrithesan auto hoi Ioudaioi· Peri kalou ergou ou lithazomen se alla peri blasphemias</em>)—They explicitly state the charge: βλασφημία (<em>blasphemia</em>, 'blasphemy'), speaking against God. <strong>And b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **The Jews answered him.**—Comp for the thoughts of this verse Notes on John 10:30 and on John 5:18.
**For a good work . . . but for blasphemy.**—The word rendered “for” is not the causal “on account of,” which we have in the last verse, but “concerning,” the technical form for an indictment. For the Mosaic law concerning blasphemy, see Leviticus 24:10-16.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**48-51. Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?--**What intense and virulent scorn! (See He 12:3). The "say we not well" refers to Joh 7:20. "A Samaritan" means more than "no Israelite at all"; it means one who pretended, but had no manner of claim to the title--retorting perhaps, this denial of their true descent from Abraham.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?</strong> (ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Οὐκ ἔστιν γεγραμμένον ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ὑμῶν ὅτι Ἐγὼ εἶπα· Θεοί ἐστε, <em>apekrithe autois ho Iesous· Ouk estin gegrammenon en to nomo hymon hoti Ego eipa· Theoi este</em>)—Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6, where God addresses human judges as 'gods' (אֱלֹהִים, <em>elohim</em>; θεοί, <em>theoi</em>)...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **Is it not written in your law**?—Comp. Note on John 8:17. The passage here quoted is in Psalm 82:6, but the term “Law” is here used in a wide sense for the whole of the Old Testament. There are other examples of this usage in John 7:49; John 12:34; John 15:25; Romans 3:19; 1Corinthians 14:21.
**I said, Ye are gods?**—In the Hebrew of the Psalm, as in the Greek here, the pronoun is emphatic....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**52-53. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil, &c.--**"Thou art now self-convicted; only a demoniac could speak so; the most illustrious of our fathers are dead, and Thou promisest exemption from death to anyone who will keep Thy saying! pray, who art Thou?"
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken</strong> (εἰ ἐκείνους εἶπεν θεοὺς πρὸς οὓς ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ οὐ δύναται λυθῆναι ἡ γραφή, <em>ei ekeinous eipen theous pros hous ho logos tou theou egeneto, kai ou dynatai lythenai he graphe</em>)—Jesus's parenthetical statement about Scripture's inviolability is crucial. The phrase οὐ δύν...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) **If he called them gods.**—The argument is another example of Hillel’s famous *First Canon of Interpretation*—that the greater may be inferred from the less. The pronoun “he” (*He*) refers probably to God (see Note on John 10:34), or the rendering may be “it,” as referring to “law”—*i.e.,* the Psalm.
**Unto whom the word of God came**—*i.e.,* the word declaring “Ye are gods,” and pointing ba...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**52-53. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil, &c.--**"Thou art now self-convicted; only a demoniac could speak so; the most illustrious of our fathers are dead, and Thou promisest exemption from death to anyone who will keep Thy saying! pray, who art Thou?"
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?</strong> (ὃν ὁ πατὴρ ἡγίασεν καὶ ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι Βλασφημεῖς, ὅτι εἶπον· Υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ εἰμι, <em>hon ho pater hēgiasen kai apesteilen eis ton kosmon hymeis legete hoti Blasphemeis, hoti eipon· Huios tou theou eimi</em>)—Jesus describes Hi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(36) **Whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world.**—Better, *Whom the Father sanctified, and sent into the world.* The tense refers to the time of His consecration to His Messianic work, and to the Incarnation, which was the commencement of it.
**Because I said, I am the Son of God.**—He had not said this in express words, but, as we have seen, it is directly implied in John 10:29-3...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**54-56. If I honour myself, my honour is nothing, &c.--**(See on Joh 5:31, &c.).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not</strong> (εἰ οὐ ποιῶ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατρός μου, μὴ πιστεύετέ μοι, <em>ei ou poio ta erga tou patros mou, mē pisteuete moi</em>)—Jesus invites skeptical investigation: if His works don't authenticate His claims, reject Him. This demonstrates confidence in empirical evidence. The 'works' (ἔργα, <em>erga</em>) are distinctly 'of my Father' (τοῦ ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(37) **If I do not the works of my Father.**—He has met the charge of blasphemy on technical grounds. In this and the following verse He advances from that defence to the ultimate test. Whether He is a blasphemer or not depends upon whether He represents God or not, and to prove this He appeals again to the works. Are they or are they not the works of the Father? (John 10:32; comp. John 5:17; John...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**54-56. If I honour myself, my honour is nothing, &c.--**(See on Joh 5:31, &c.).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him</strong> (εἰ δὲ ποιῶ, κἂν ἐμοὶ μὴ πιστεύητε, τοῖς ἔργοις πιστεύετε, ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ γινώσκητε ὅτι ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ πατὴρ κἀγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί, <em>ei de poio, kan emoi mē pisteuēte, tois ergois pisteuete, hina gnōte kai ginōskēte hoti en emoi ho patēr kagō en tō patri</em>)—Je...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(38) **But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works.**—A higher faith would have believed Him. Had they truly known their own spiritual needs, and truly known the meaning of that great truth He had taught, they would have found in Him the true satisfaction of the mind’s cravings, and the faculty of faith would have rested in the object of its existence. For all this the Old Testament h...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**54-56. If I honour myself, my honour is nothing, &c.--**(See on Joh 5:31, &c.).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-38**
Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in...
Read full commentary →Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand</strong> (Ἐζήτουν οὖν αὐτὸν πάλιν πιάσαι· καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν, <em>Ezētoun oun auton palin piasai· kai exēlthen ek tēs cheiros autōn</em>)—Despite Jesus's rational defense and evidential appeal, they respond with renewed violence. The word πάλιν (<em>palin</em>, 'again') emphasizes persistent rejection. <...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(39) **Therefore they sought again to take him.**—He has removed all ground for the charge of blasphemy, and they have abandoned the attempt to stone Him, though He here repeats the very truth which led to that attempt before (John 10:30-31). The word “again” refers to previous attempts to take Him (John 7:30; John 7:32; John 7:44).
**But he escaped out of their hand.**—Nothing is said of the mann...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**57-59. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old--**"No inference can be drawn from this as to the age of our Lord at the time as man. Fifty years was with the Jews the completion of manhood" [Alford].
**and hast thou seen Abraham?--**He had said Abraham saw Him, as being his peculiar privilege. They give the opposite turn to it--"Hast Thou seen Abraham?" as an honor too gr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-42**
No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive him o...
Read full commentary →And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized ; and there he abode.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode</strong> (καὶ ἀπῆλθεν πάλιν πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου εἰς τὸν τόπον ὅπου ἦν Ἰωάννης τὸ πρῶτον βαπτίζων, καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐκεῖ, <em>kai apēlthen palin peran tou Iordanou eis ton topon hopou ēn Iōannēs to prōton baptizōn, kai emeinen ekei</em>)—Jesus returns to where His public ministry began, the site of J...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(40) **And went away again beyond Jordan.**—Comp. Note on John 1:28. In Matthew 19:1 we have the fuller expression, “the coasts of Judæa beyond Jordan,” referring to the same locality. The whole of Judæa proper was Cis-Jordanic, and the “Judah upon Jordan” (Joshua 19:34) was the boundary “toward the sun-rising” of the tribe of Naphthali—*i.e.,* it answered to what was afterwards known as Gauloniti...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**57-59. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old--**"No inference can be drawn from this as to the age of our Lord at the time as man. Fifty years was with the Jews the completion of manhood" [Alford].
**and hast thou seen Abraham?--**He had said Abraham saw Him, as being his peculiar privilege. They give the opposite turn to it--"Hast Thou seen Abraham?" as an honor too gr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-42**
No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive him o...
Read full commentary →And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true</strong> (καὶ πολλοὶ ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι Ἰωάννης μὲν σημεῖον ἐποίησεν οὐδέν, πάντα δὲ ὅσα εἶπεν Ἰωάννης περὶ τούτου ἀληθῆ ἦν, <em>kai polloi ēlthon pros auton kai elegon hoti Iōannēs men sēmeion epoiēsen ouden, panta de hosa eipen Iōannēs peri toutou alēthē ēn</em>)—T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(41) **And many resorted unto him.**—It is one of the key-notes of this Gospel, struck in its opening words (see Note on John 1:5), and recurring at frequent intervals, that in the midst of even the deepest darkness the light is never absent. In contrast with the rejection at Jerusalem there is the reception on the old ground, which brings memories of early days and bright hopes, which are not wit...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**57-59. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old--**"No inference can be drawn from this as to the age of our Lord at the time as man. Fifty years was with the Jews the completion of manhood" [Alford].
**and hast thou seen Abraham?--**He had said Abraham saw Him, as being his peculiar privilege. They give the opposite turn to it--"Hast Thou seen Abraham?" as an honor too gr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-42**
No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive him o...
Read full commentary →And many believed on him there.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And many believed on him there</strong> (καὶ πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ, <em>kai polloi episteusan eis auton ekei</em>)—The phrase πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν (<em>polloi episteusan</em>, 'many believed') indicates saving faith: ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτόν (<em>episteusan eis auton</em>, 'believed into Him') uses the preposition εἰς (<em>eis</em>, 'into'), signifying commitment to Christ's person, no...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(42) **And many believed on him there.**—The word “there” is, in the best texts, in a position of emphasis. “And *there* many believed on Him.” It marks the contrast between the rejection in Jerusalem and the reception at Bethania.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 39-42**
No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive him o...
Read full commentary →