John 10:18
New International Version
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

New Living Translation
No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

English Standard Version
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Berean Standard Bible
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

Berean Literal Bible
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment I received from My Father."

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
No one takes 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 command I have received from My Father.”

New American Standard Bible
No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father.”

NASB 1995
“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

NASB 1977
“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Legacy Standard Bible
No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Amplified Bible
No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I am authorized and have power to lay it down and to give it up, and I am authorized and have power to take it back. This command I have received from My Father.”

Christian Standard Bible
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from My Father.”

American Standard Version
No one taketh it away 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 received I from my Father.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“No man takes it from me; I am laying it down of my own will, for I am authorized to lay it down, and I am authorized to receive it again; this commandment I have received from my Father.”

Contemporary English Version
No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.

Douay-Rheims Bible
No man taketh it away from me: but I lay it down of myself, and I have power to lay it down: and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

English Revised Version
No one taketh it away 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 received I from my Father.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
No one takes my life from me. I give my life of my own free will. I have the authority to give my life, and I have the authority to take my life back again. This is what my Father ordered me to do."

Good News Translation
No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do."

International Standard Version
No one is taking it from me; I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is what my Father has commanded me."

Literal Standard Version
no one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself; authority I have to lay it down, and authority I have again to take it; this command I received from My Father.”

Majority Standard Bible
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

New American Bible
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”

NET Bible
No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father."

New Revised Standard Version
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

New Heart English Bible
No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father."

Webster's Bible Translation
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 from my Father.

Weymouth New Testament
No one is taking it away from me, but I myself am laying it down. I am authorized to lay it down, and I am authorized to receive it back again. This is the command I received from my Father."

World English Bible
No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

Young's Literal Translation
no one doth take it from me, but I lay it down of myself; authority I have to lay it down, and authority I have again to take it; this command I received from my Father.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jesus the Good Shepherd
17The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.” 19Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message.…

Cross References
Matthew 26:53
Are you not aware that I can call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

John 2:19
Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again."

John 5:26
For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

John 10:15
just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.

John 14:31
But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.

John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and remain in His love.


Treasury of Scripture

No man takes 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.

man.

John 18:5,6
They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them…

John 19:11
Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Matthew 26:53-56
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? …

but.

John 2:19-21
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…

Isaiah 53:10-12
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand…

Acts 2:24,32
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it…

This.

John 6:38
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

John 14:31
But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

John 15:10
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

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Accord Authority Authorized Charge Command Commandment Initiative Lay Orders Power Receive Received
John 10
1. Jesus is the door, and the good shepherd.
19. Diverse opinions of him.
23. He proves by his works that he is Jesus the Son of God;
31. escapes the Jews;
39. and goes again beyond Jordan, where many believe on him.














(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 of His death. "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit; and having said thus, He gave up the ghost." (See Note on Luke 23:46.)

I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.--The words apply also to the human nature of our Lord, and the "power" spoken of is the authority derived from the Father. It is of His own will that He lays down His life and takes it again; but this, as the whole of the life of the Son, is in moral subordination to the Father. (Comp. Notes on John 5:19; John 19:10.) Hence it is that He speaks of taking His life again, while the general language of the New Testament speaks of His being raised by the Father. The taking again was under the Father's authority, and was therefore itself the Father's gift. (Comp. Note on 1Peter 3:19.)

This commandment have I received of my Father.--Better, did I receive; pointing, probably, to the commission at the time of the Incarnation. He has asserted in fullest terms the entirely voluntary nature of His one sacrifice. He repeats in fullest terms the voluntary subordination of Son to Father, which is based upon equality of nature. Not only was the authority by which He would die and rise again derived from the Father, but both these acts were included in the decree which gave to Him the Messianic work. We should be on our guard against the mistake which is often made of understanding this commandment of the laying down the life only; it clearly extends also to the taking it again.

Verse 18. - No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. Should the aorist be the true reading, then the whole of the Incarnation must have been regarded by the Lord as already accomplished, as a completed fact. The οὐδεὶς, "no one" neither God, nor man, nor evil spirit - taketh it, i.e. my life, away from me, from myself, in the exercise of my sovereign will, in the full consciousness of spontaneity. I am laying it down, not in consequence of my impotence before the powers of darkness, but "from myself." This proceeding is in perfect harmony with the will of God the Father; but it is Christ's free act notwithstanding, and of all things the most worthy of the Father's love (cf. here John 5:30, which appears at first to be in contradiction with the statement of this verse; but the closing words of the verse rectify the impression; see also John 7:28; John 8:28). Christ justifies his extraordinary claim to lay down and after his death (retaining then the full possession of his Personality), to reassume the life which for a while, in submission to the doom on human nature, he had resolved to sacrifice, he says, I have (ἐξουσίαν) right - or, power and authority combined - to lay it down, and right to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father. I have power to do both these things. No other has ever put forth such a claim, and the discharge of it "from himself," i.e. spontaneously, is stated to be in consequence of an ἐντολή, an appoint-merit, an ordinance, he had received from the Father. The Divine purpose was realized in his perfect freedom and his perfect and absolute fulfillment of the Father's will. The narrative of the agony in the garden, given by the synoptists, confirms the blending of his own freedom with the Divine order; but the language of this Gospel (John 18:6 (cf. Matthew 26:53), and Matthew 19:11), and the best researches into what is called "the physical cause of the death of Christ" (see Dr. Stroud's valuable work on that subject), all confirm the voluntary nature of our Lord's suffering and death. "To cover this incomparable privilege with a veil of humility, he thought good to call it a command. The Father's mandate was, Thou shalt die or not die, thou shalt rise again or not rise again, according to the free promptings of thy love" (Godet). It was, however, the Father's appointment that Christ should freely exercise this stupendous consequence of his perfect obedience. So that all the assurances that God raised him from the dead are confirmed by the mode in which he speaks of his Divine right.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
No one
οὐδεὶς (oudeis)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3762: No one, none, nothing.

takes
αἴρει (airei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 142: To raise, lift up, take away, remove.

it
αὐτὴν (autēn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

from
ἀπ’ (ap’)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

Me,
ἐμοῦ (emou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

but
ἀλλ’ (all’)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

I
ἐγὼ (egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

lay it down
τίθημι (tithēmi)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 5087: To put, place, lay, set, fix, establish. A prolonged form of a primary theo to place.

of
ἀπ’ (ap’)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

My own accord.
ἐμαυτοῦ (emautou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1683: Genitive case compound of emou and autos; of myself so likewise the dative case emautoi em-ow-to', and accusative case emauton em-ow-ton'.

I have
ἔχω (echō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

authority
ἐξουσίαν (exousian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1849: From exesti; privilege, i.e. force, capacity, competency, freedom, or mastery, delegated influence.

to lay it down
θεῖναι (theinai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 5087: To put, place, lay, set, fix, establish. A prolonged form of a primary theo to place.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

authority
ἐξουσίαν (exousian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1849: From exesti; privilege, i.e. force, capacity, competency, freedom, or mastery, delegated influence.

to take it up
λαβεῖν (labein)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 2983: (a) I receive, get, (b) I take, lay hold of.

again.
πάλιν (palin)
Adverb
Strong's 3825: Probably from the same as pale; anew, i.e. back, once more, or furthermore or on the other hand.

This
ταύτην (tautēn)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

charge
ἐντολὴν (entolēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1785: An ordinance, injunction, command, law. From entellomai; injunction, i.e. An authoritative prescription.

I have received
ἔλαβον (elabon)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2983: (a) I receive, get, (b) I take, lay hold of.

from
παρὰ (para)
Preposition
Strong's 3844: Gen: from; dat: beside, in the presence of; acc: alongside of.

My
μου (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

Father.�
Πατρός (Patros)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.


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NT Gospels: John 10:18 No one takes it away from me (Jhn Jo Jn)
John 10:17
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