John 10:31
in John 10At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
KJV
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
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This verse in John 10
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments) · Written before 444.
For not refraining themselves from Him, when He said that Himself was One with the Father, they rush to kill Him; although each of the works wrought by Him proclaimed that He was in His Nature God. And not only now, but on other occasions also when they took up stones to kill Him, they stood motionless through the power of Christ; so that it became evident from this also, that He would not suffer except He was willing.
This site's exposition
picked up stones to stone Him
on John 10:31-32
This is the second stoning John records, after 8:59. The reach for stones is how they heard the claim of verse 30. Jesus answers with a question about the good works shown from the Father, asking which of them earns the stones.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
(Tract. xlviii. 8) At this speech, I and My Father are one, the Jews could not restrain their rage, but ran to take up stones, after their hardhearted way: Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. (Tract. xlviii. 8) This is their answer to the speech, I and My Father are one. Lo, the Jews understood what the Arians understand not. For they are angry for this very reason, that they could not conceive but that by saying, I and My Father are one, He meant the equality of the Father and the Son.
"They took up stones to stone Him." "The Jews took up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? And they answered, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." You see here that the Jews understood what the Arians understand not. For they were angry on this account, that they felt it could not be said, "I and my Father are one," save where there was equality of the Father and the Son.
(vii. de Trin. c. 23) The heretics now, as unbelieving and rebellious against our Lord in heaven, show their impious hatred by the stones, i. e. the words they cast at Him; as if they would drag Him down again from His throne to the cross.
When he says, "I and my Father are one" in essence [unum], he shows that there are two, whom he puts on an equality and unites in one. He therefore adds to this very statement, that he had "shown them many good works from the Father," for none of which did he deserve to be stoned.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"They took up stones." After the declaration of the true shepherd has been made through a sure sign, the persecution by the evil sheep, or rather by the wolves, is touched upon, because, just as sheep follow the shepherd, so wolves persecute him. And the …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
We have seen the teaching of Christ; and now we see the effect this teaching has on the Jews. First, Jesus reproves their fierceness; secondly, he defends himself against the charge of blasphemy; and thirdly, he escapes from their violence (v 39). Concerning the first, …
Since the Lord said that I and the Father are one, namely in authority and power, and showed that His hand and the Father's are one, the Jews considered this blasphemy and wanted to stone Him for making Himself equal to God.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. As they had done before; see Gill on Joh 8:59.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Jews took up stones - Stoning was the punishment of a blasphemer, Lev 24:14-16. They considered him guilty of blasphemy because he made himself equal with God, Joh 10:33. Again - They had before plotted against his life Joh 5:16, Joh 5:18, and once at least they had taken up stones to destroy him, Joh 8:59.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
We should observe, in these verses, the extreme wickedness of human nature. The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem was neither moved by our Lord's miracles, nor by His preaching. They were determined not to receive Him as their Messiah. Once more it is written that "they took up stones to stone Him." Our Lord had done the Jews no injury. He was no robber, murderer, or rebel against the law of the land. He was one whose whole life was love, and who "went about doing good." (Acts 10:38.) There was no fault or inconsistency in His character.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
We should observe, in these verses, the extreme wickedness of human nature. The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem was neither moved by our Lord's miracles, nor by His preaching. They were determined not to receive Him as their Messiah. Once more it is written that "they took up stones to stone Him." Our Lord had done the Jews no injury. He was no robber, murderer, or rebel against the law of the land. He was one whose whole life was love, and who "went about doing good." (Acts 10:38.) There was no fault or inconsistency in His character. There was no crime that could be laid to His charge. So perfect and spotless a man had never walked on the face of this earth. But yet the Jews hated Him, and thirsted for His blood. How true are the words of Scripture—"They hated Him without a cause." (John 15:25.) How just the remark of an old divine—"Unconverted men would kill God Himself if they could only get at Him." The true Christian has surely no right to wonder if he meets with the same kind of treatment as our blessed Lord. In fact, the more like he is to his Master, and the more holy and spiritual his life, the more probable is it that he will have to endure hatred and persecution. Let him not suppose that any degree of consistency will deliver him from this cross. It is not his faults, but his graces, which call forth the enmity of men. The world hates to see anything of God's image. The children of the world are vexed and pierced in conscience when they see others better than themselves. Why did Cain hate his brother Abel, and slay him? "Because," says John, "his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." (1 John 3:12.) Why did the Jews hate Christ? Because He exposed their sins and false doctrines; and they knew in their own hearts that he was right and they were wrong.
The Jews took up stones - To stone him as a blasphemer, Lev 24:14-16, because he said he was one with God. The evangelist adds the word again, because they had attempted to do this before, see Joh 8:59; but it seems they were prevented from doing this now by the following discourse.
How the passage was read
On John 10:22-39On John 10:22-39
The feast Jesus was keeping
“The Feast of Dedication” is the festival modern Jews call Hanukkah: an eight-day winter feast, beginning on the 25th of the month Kislev (falling in December), that remembers the cleansing and rededication of the Temple in 164 BC. Antiochus IV, the Greek-Syrian king, had defiled the altar; Judas Maccabeus and his brothers retook Jerusalem, rebuilt the altar, and ordained the annual celebration (1 Maccabees 4:36–59). Today it is kept by lighting one more candle each night on a nine-branched lampstand, which is why it is also called the Festival of Lights; the lamp-lighting custom is discussed in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b).
Two things follow for the reader. This feast is not commanded anywhere in the Law of Moses: it was instituted between the Testaments, and John records Jesus walking in the Temple courts during it without a word of censure. And the setting is loaded: at the feast that celebrates the Temple's rescue from a ruler who claimed divine honors, the crowd asks Jesus plainly whether He is the Messiah (John 10:24).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: 1 Maccabees 4:36–59 (the feast's institution; studied on this site) · Shabbat 21b (Babylonian Talmud, the lamp-lighting custom) · The Maccabean Revolt (this site's study of the history)
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἐβάστασαν | ebastasan | Took up | G941 → | 27 times |
| πάλιν | palin | again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| λίθους | lithous | stones | G3037 → | 58 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἰουδαῖοι, | ioudaioi | Jews, | G2453 → | 192 times |
| ἵνα | ina | that | G2443 → | 668 times |
| λιθάσωσιν | lithasosin | they may stone | G3034 → | 8 times |
| αὐτόν. | auton | Him. | G846 → | 5565 times |
ἘβάστασανTook up
ebastasanG941 →27 times
πάλινagain
palinG3825 →139 times
λίθουςstones
lithousG3037 →58 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
Ἰουδαῖοι,Jews,
ioudaioiG2453 →192 times
ἵναthat
inaG2443 →668 times
λιθάσωσινthey may stone
lithasosinG3034 →8 times
αὐτόν.Him.
autonG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 30:6And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
it leads to
- Psalms 56:3–4
When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.
- Psalms 56:11
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Psalms 62:5
Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him.
- Psalms 27:1–3
The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?
- Psalms 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
- Psalms 56:3–4
Through
John 5:18Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
it leads to
- John 10:30
I and the Father are one.”
- John 10:33
“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”
- John 19:7
“We have a law,” answered the Jews, “and according to that law He must die, because He declared Himself to be the Son of God.”
- John 10:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies25
- The Animal Apocalypse
- Hanukkah: the Feast the Revolt Made
- The Apocrypha
- The Major Prophets
- Eternal Life
- Eternal Security, and the Five Warnings of Hebrews
- Ezekiel, the Study Guide
- The Fall Feasts
- Hearing God
- Jesus on Himself
- Jesus on Salvation
- Miracles of Jesus
- Moses Wrote of Me
- Names of God
- Parables of Jesus
- The Son of God
- I Am the Door
- The Door & the Gate
- The Good Shepherd
- The Intertestamental Period
- The Maccabean Revolt
- The Narrow Gate
- The Shepherd
- The Valley of Dry Bones: Ezekiel 37
- The Righteous One Condemned
About John
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 48; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 10; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments); Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Tertullian, AGAINST PRAXEAS 22; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.