John 10

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth: anyone who does not go into the sheep pen through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

1Verily, 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.

Note"Verily, verily" renders a doubled Hebrew word, "amen, amen," a formula used to swear that what follows is certain and to be relied on. A sheepfold was a walled enclosure of stone or piled thorn brush, sometimes attached to a house, often shared by a village, with a single opening. Flocks were penned there overnight; a man with honest business came to the gate, and anyone going over the wall was there to steal.

2But the man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

2But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

3To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

NoteThe KJV "porter" does not mean a baggage carrier. In 1611 it meant a doorkeeper: the man paid to guard the pen through the night and open up in the morning to the shepherds he recognized. Shepherds did name individual sheep, and flocks penned together overnight could be sorted out in the morning by voice alone, each animal going to the call it knew.

4When he has brought out all his own sheep, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him, because they know his voice.

4And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

5They will not follow a stranger. They will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

5And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

6Jesus told them this word picture, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

6This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

NoteThe Greek word here is paroimia, not the word used for Jesus' parables in Matthew, Mark and Luke. It means a veiled saying or figure of speech, a comparison that works like a riddle, rather than a story with a plot.

7So Jesus said to them again, "I tell you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep.

7Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

8Everyone who came before me was a thief and a robber, but the sheep did not listen to them.

8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

NoteThe Greek is open on two points, and the sentence carries both. "Came before me" can mean earlier in time or can carry the sense of coming forward in place of the rightful shepherd; and the reference is unspecified, so it need not take in every leader Israel ever had. Some early manuscripts do not have the words "before me" at all.

9I am the gate. Anyone who comes in through me will be saved. He will go in and out and find grass to eat.

9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Note"Go in and out" is a standard Hebrew idiom for carrying on the whole ordinary round of daily life freely and in safety, the way a man moves in and out of his own house without fear.

10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came so that they may have life, and have it to the full.

10The 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.

11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives up his life for the sheep.

11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

NoteThe Greek behind "good" here is kalos, which means fine, genuine, the model of its kind, the real thing as opposed to a counterfeit. It is a different word from the ordinary term for morally good.

12A hired worker is not the shepherd, and the sheep do not belong to him. When he sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf grabs them and scatters the flock.

12But 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.

NoteA hired hand was paid by the day and had nothing of his own at risk in the flock. Wolves were the standard danger to sheep in that country, and a shepherd was expected to fight them off; losses he could not prevent he had to account for to the owner.

13The hired worker runs away because he is only working for pay and does not care about the sheep.

13The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

14I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me,

14I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I give up my life for the sheep.

15As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16I have other sheep that are not in this pen. I must bring them in too, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.

16And 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.

NoteThe KJV says "fold" in both halves of the verse, but the Greek uses two different words. The first, at "this fold," is the walled pen. The last is a different word meaning the flock itself. The saying is that there will be one flock, not that there will be one enclosure.

17This is why my Father loves me: I give up my life so that I may take it back again.

17Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

18No one takes my life from me. I give it up by my own choice. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back again. This is the command I received from my Father."

18No 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.

Note"Power" in 1611 English commonly meant authority or the right to do a thing, which is the sense of the Greek word here, rather than physical strength.

19Because of these words, the Jews there were divided again.

19There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.

NoteIn John's Gospel the phrase "the Jews" usually points to the Judean religious authorities in and around Jerusalem who are opposing Jesus, not to Jewish people as a whole. Jesus, his disciples and the crowds around him were all Jews.

20Many of them said, "He has a demon in him, and he is out of his mind. Why do you listen to him?"

20And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

NoteThe KJV "devil" here translates daimonion, a subordinate evil spirit, not Satan himself. In ordinary speech of the time, being possessed by such a spirit and being out of one's mind were two ways of saying the same thing, which is why the two charges are joined.

21Others said, "These are not the words of a man with a demon in him. Can a demon open the eyes of a blind person?"

21Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?

22It was winter, and the Feast of Dedication was being held in Jerusalem.

22And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

NoteThe Feast of the Dedication is Hanukkah. It marked the cleansing and rededication of the temple in 164 BC, after the Syrian king Antiochus IV had defiled it and stopped its worship. The feast ran eight days in the month Kislev, which falls in December. The note that it was winter explains why Jesus is in a roofed colonnade rather than the open court.

23Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the covered walkway called Solomon's porch.

23And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

NoteSolomon's porch was a long covered walkway running along the eastern side of the temple's outer court, a roof carried on rows of pillars, popularly believed to survive from Solomon's original temple. "Porch" in 1611 meant such a colonnade, not a step at a front door. It was the usual place in the temple for teachers to walk and talk, and it gave shelter in winter.

24The Jews there gathered around him and said, "How long will you keep us waiting and unsure? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

24Then 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.

Note"How long dost thou make us to doubt" translates a Greek idiom that literally reads "how long do you lift up our soul," meaning how long will you hold us in suspense. "Christ" is simply the Greek for the Hebrew "Messiah," the anointed one, the awaited king from David's line.

25Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you did not believe me. The things I do in my Father's name speak for me and show who I am.

25Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

26But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep, just as I told you.

26But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28I give them life that lasts forever, and they will never be destroyed. No one can grab them out of my hand.

28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to grab them out of my Father's hand.

29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

NoteThe manuscripts differ here, and the difference changes the sense. Some read as the KJV does, "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all." Others read "What my Father has given me is greater than all," making the gift, rather than the Father, the thing that nothing can overpower.

30I and my Father are one."

30I and my Father are one.

31Then the Jews there picked up stones again to throw at him and kill him.

31Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

NoteStoning was the prescribed form of execution for blasphemy: the community threw stones until the offender died. What happens here is not a trial and sentence but a crowd acting on the spot.

32Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works are you going to stone me?"

32Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

33The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning you for any good work, but for insulting God. You are only a man, but you make yourself out to be God."

33The 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.

NoteBlasphemy meant speech that insulted God or claimed for a human being what belonged to God alone. Under the law in Leviticus 24:16 it carried the death penalty, which is why the charge is followed at once by stones.

34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, you are gods'?

34Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

Note"Your law" here is used broadly for the whole of the Hebrew scriptures, not only the five books of Moses, since the words quoted come from Psalm 82:6. That psalm addresses those who judge and rule, and the sense of "gods" in it was already debated in Jesus' day.

35If God called those people gods, the people the word of God came to, and the scripture cannot be set aside,

35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

Note"Cannot be broken" translates a verb meaning loosed, undone or annulled. The point is that the scripture cannot be set aside or declared not to count.

36then how can you say to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, 'You are insulting God,' just because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

36Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Note"Sanctified" here means set apart and dedicated to a purpose, the way the temple was consecrated for its use. It does not mean made morally pure.

37If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.

37If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

38But if I am doing them, then even if you do not believe me, believe the works themselves. Then you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father."

38But 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.

39So they tried again to arrest him, but he got away from them.

39Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,

40He went away again across the Jordan River, to the place where John had first been baptizing, and he stayed there.

40And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.

NoteThe Jordan River marked the eastern boundary of Judea; "beyond Jordan" means the east bank, outside the reach of the Jerusalem authorities. John 1:28 names the spot as Bethany beyond the Jordan, not the Bethany near Jerusalem.

41Many people came to him. They said, "John never did a miracle, but everything John said about this man was true."

41And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.

NoteThe KJV "miracle" translates the Greek word for a sign, which is John's regular term for Jesus' miraculous acts throughout this Gospel. The crowd's point is that John the Baptist performed none of them, and was believed on the strength of his words alone.

42And many people there believed in him.

42And many believed on him there.