Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. New Living Translation All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. English Standard Version All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Berean Standard Bible All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Berean Literal Bible All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. King James Bible All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. New King James Version All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. New American Standard Bible All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. NASB 1995 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. NASB 1977 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Legacy Standard Bible All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Amplified Bible All who came before Me [as false messiahs and self-appointed leaders] are thieves and robbers, but the [true] sheep did not hear them. Christian Standard Bible All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. Holman Christian Standard Bible All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. American Standard Version All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. Contemporary English Version Everyone who came before me was a thief or a robber, and the sheep did not listen to any of them. English Revised Version All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. GOD'S WORD® Translation All who came before I did were thieves or robbers. However, the sheep didn't respond to them. Good News Translation All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. International Standard Version All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep didn't listen to them. Majority Standard Bible All who came [[before Me]] were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. NET Bible All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. New Heart English Bible All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Webster's Bible Translation All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. Weymouth New Testament All who have come before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep would not listen to them. World English Bible All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. Literal Translations Literal Standard Versionall, as many as came before Me, are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them; Berean Literal Bible All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Young's Literal Translation all, as many as came before me, are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them; Smith's Literal Translation All who came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep heard them not. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleAll others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers: and the sheep heard them not. Catholic Public Domain Version All others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not listen to them. New American Bible All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. New Revised Standard Version All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleAll who have come are thieves and bandits, if the sheep did not hear them. Aramaic Bible in Plain English “And all who had come were thieves and robbers, but the flock did not hear them.” NT Translations Anderson New TestamentAll that came before me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. Godbey New Testament Haweis New Testament All, as many as have gone before me, are thieves and robbers: but the sheep hearkened not to them. Mace New Testament they who have personated me, are all thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not follow them. Weymouth New Testament All who have come before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep would not listen to them. Worrell New Testament Worsley New Testament Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Jesus the Good Shepherd…7So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.… Cross References Ezekiel 34:2-10 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock? / You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock. / You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. ... Jeremiah 23:1-2 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. / Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD. Zechariah 11:4-17 This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter, / whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them. / For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.” ... Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. Acts 5:36-37 Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. / After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered. Acts 20:29-30 I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. / Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. 2 Peter 2:1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. Jeremiah 14:14 “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds. Jeremiah 23:21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. Isaiah 56:10-11 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber. / Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain: Micah 3:5 This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths: Matthew 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. Treasury of Scripture All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. came. John 10:1 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. Isaiah 56:10-12 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber… Ezekiel 22:25-28 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof… but. John 10:5,27 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers… Jump to Previous Ear Hear Heed Outlaws Robbers Sheep ThievesJump to Next Ear Hear Heed Outlaws Robbers Sheep ThievesJohn 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. All who came before Me This phrase refers to those who claimed to be the Messiah or spiritual leaders before Jesus. In the historical context of Israel, many false prophets and self-proclaimed messiahs arose, leading people astray. The Greek word for "before" (πρὸ ἐμοῦ, pro emou) can imply precedence in time or rank. Jesus asserts His unique authority and authenticity as the true Shepherd, contrasting Himself with those who lacked divine appointment. were thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen to them What, then, do the words mean? Their force seems to be all-inclusive; and yet they cannot contradict Christ's own words, which have excluded Abraham, Moses, the prophets, John the Baptist, from any possibility of such thoughts. (See John 4:22; John 5:33; John 5:39; John 5:45; John 7:19.) They cannot, on the other hand, be limited to false Christs, who did not come before but after our Lord. (Comp. Note on John 5:43.) Here, as often, the true meaning seems for the most part to have been overlooked because men have sought it elsewhere than in the words themselves, and in their place among other words. The thought which precedes and which follows is that Jesus is Himself "the door." "All that ever came before Me" is in immediate contrast to this thought, and the sense is, "all professing to be themselves the door, to be the means by which men enter the fold, to be the Mediator between man and God." The Old Testament teachers cannot be meant, because they witnessed to the true door. But there had been growing up since the return from the Captivity, and the close of the Old Testament canon, a priestly caste in the place of the prophetic schools, and these men had been in practice, if not in word, claiming for themselves the position of door to the kingdom of God. There were Hillels and Shammais, heads of parties and of factions, whose word was to their followers as the word of God; there were Pharisees then standing round Him who had solemnly decreed that any one who should confess Him to be the Messiah should be shut out from Temple and from synagogue, and that they themselves would in God's name pronounce a curse upon his head (John 9:22). As "thieves" were they, and as "robbers;" wolves in sheep's clothing, stealing into the flock of Christ and rending those who were the true sheep. (Comp. the analogous language of Luke 11:52.) The lawyers closed the door and plundered and oppressed those whom they kept outside. . . . Verse 8. - All that came before me are thieves and robbers. Great difficulty has been felt by commentators in understanding "before me." The words clearly gave the early Gnostic heretics a text on which they established their dualistic rejection of the old dispensation. Their absence from certain texts led Augustine and others to emphasize the word "came." "All who came," i.e. in their own strength or wisdom, when not "sent" or authorized by God. Other endeavors have been made (see Meyer and Lunge) to give it a non-temporal meaning, such as χωρίς, "independently of me." Wolf and Olshausen make πρὸ equivalent to ὐπὲρ, "in the place" or "in the stead of me" (so Lunge, Lampe, Schleusner). De Wette and others accept the temporal meaning, "before," i.e. in point of time, and include under it the entire corpus of Old Testament saints and teachers, and therefore regard the saying as inconsistent with the gentleness of Christ. But with John 5:39, 45-47, and many other passages in this Gospel, it is certain the words could not mean to denounce all who came as teachers or shepherds before him in mere point of time as "thieves and robbers," whom the sheep did not hear. Therefore the πρὸ must be to some extent modified in meaning. We agree with Westcott and Godet in limiting πρὸ ἐμού, by throwing the emphasis on the "came," and by adding, moreover, to it the essential point, "came making themselves doors of the sheep" - claiming to have the "key of knowledge," professing vainly to open or shut the door of heaven. That is, no other has ever had the right or claim to be such "a door." The Baptist, the prophets, one by one, Abraham and Moses, in their day made no such profession. The dignity belongs to Christ alone. The language may receive accentuation from the pressing urgency of false Christs, as well as the hopeless system of Pharisaic pride. Theme sees here the mere dressing out of St. Paul's language, condemnatory of false prophets and ravening wolves who would not spare the flock of Christ (Acts 20:29), and Christ's own words in the synoptists (Matthew 7:15; Matthew 23:13, etc.). Special reference is made to the ceremonial superstitions, to "the hedge about the Law," to the cruel slavery of modern Pharisaism, which had done what neither prophets nor priests of old had attempted. Archdeacon Watkins emphasizes the present tense, "are thieves," etc., making Christ's reference obvious to the lawyers and scribes of his own day, who were closing the door, and plundering those whom they kept out of the kingdom. But the sheep did not hear them. The true sheep have not been seduced by them. The teaching of these Pharisees has not prevailed over susceptible souls.Parallel Commentaries ... Greek Allπάντες (pantes) Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole. who ὅσοι (hosoi) Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 3745: How much, how great, how many, as great as, as much. By reduplication from hos; as As. came ἦλθον (ēlthon) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's 2064: To come, go. before πρὸ (pro) Preposition Strong's 4253: A primary preposition; 'fore', i.e. In front of, prior to. 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. were εἰσὶν (eisin) Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist. thieves κλέπται (kleptai) Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 2812: A thief. From klepto; a stealer. and καὶ (kai) Conjunction Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely. robbers, λῃσταί (lēstai) Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 3027: A robber, brigand, bandit. From leizomai; a brigand. but ἀλλ’ (all’) Conjunction Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise. the τὰ (ta) Article - Nominative Neuter Plural Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. sheep πρόβατα (probata) Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Strong's 4263: A sheep. Probably neuter of a presumed derivative of probaino; something that walks forward, i.e., a sheep. did not listen to ἤκουσαν (ēkousan) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's 191: To hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported. A primary verb; to hear. them. αὐτῶν (autōn) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural 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. Links John 10:8 NIVJohn 10:8 NLT John 10:8 ESV John 10:8 NASB John 10:8 KJV John 10:8 BibleApps.com John 10:8 Biblia Paralela John 10:8 Chinese Bible John 10:8 French Bible John 10:8 Catholic Bible NT Gospels: John 10:8 All who came before me are thieves (Jhn Jo Jn) |
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