John 10:35
in John 10If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken),
KJV
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
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This verse in John 10
Commentary
15 notes on this verseA commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments) · Written before 444.
I said, Ye are gods, ... Since therefore the Father called certain men gods, and of necessity the honourable name was something external, super-added to them, for He Who is God by Nature is One only; lest Jesus also should be deemed to be one |104 of that class----clothed in the glory of the Godhead, not as essentially His own, but rather as something external, super-added to Himself, in the same way as was the case with those others----He as a matter of necessity clearly distinguishes Himself from them.
This site's exposition
I have said you are gods
on John 10:34-36
The quotation is Psalm 82:6, where Israel's judges are called elohim as men holding an authority given them by God. The argument runs from the lesser to the greater: if that word stood over judges, the One the Father sanctified and sent speaks within His right. The Scripture cannot be broken, He adds.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Athanasius of Alexandria296–373
Discourses Against the Arians 1.11.39 · Written before 373.
Christ was not man [first], and then became God. Rather, he was [first] God, and then he became man, and that to deify us. When he became man, he was called Son and God, but before he became man, God had called the ancient people sons. In fact, he made Moses a god to Pharaoh, and Scripture says of many, "God stands in the congregation of gods." Since this is so, it is plain that he is called Son and God later than they are. How then are all things through him, and how is he before everything?
(Tract. xlviii) i. e. the Law given to you, I have said, Ye are Gods? (Ps. 82:6) God saith this by the Prophet in the Psalm. Our Lord calls all those Scriptures the Law generally, though elsewhere He spiritually distinguishes the Law from the Prophets. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matt. 22:40) In another place He makes a threefold division of the Scriptures; All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me. (Luke 24:44) Now He calls the Psalms the Law, and thus argues from them; If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, 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? (Tract. xlviii) Or sanctified, i. e. in begetting, gave Him holiness, begat Him holy. If men to whom the word of God came were called gods, much more the Word of God Himself is God. If men by partaking of the word of God were made gods, much more is the Word of which they partake, God.
But see what answer the Lord gave to their dull apprehension. He saw that they could not bear the brilliance of the truth, and He tempered it with words. "Is it not written in your law," that is, as given to you, "that I said, Ye are gods?" And the Lord called all the Scriptures generally, the law. "If He calleth them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken: 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?" If the word of God came to men, that they might be called gods, how can the very Word of God, who is with God, be otherwise than God? If by the word of God men become gods, if by fellowship they become gods, can He by whom they have fellowship not be God? If lights which are lit are gods, is the light which enlighteneth not God? If through being warmed in a way by saving fire they are constituted gods, is He who gives them the warmth other than God?
When they said, "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou being a man makest thyself God"; hear His answer; "If the Scripture called them gods unto whom the word of God came, how say ye that I blaspheme, because I said, I am the Son of God?" What He saith is of this kind: "If those who have received this honor by grace, are not found fault with for calling themselves gods, how can He who hath this by nature deserve to be rebuked?" Yet He spake not so, but proved it at a later time, having first relaxed and yielded somewhat in His discourse, and said, "Whom the Father hath sanctified and sent." And when He had softened their anger, He bringeth forward the plain assertion. For a while, that His speech might be received, He spoke in a humbler strain, but afterwards He raised it higher...
Do you conceive no anxiety lest you should in something offend the gods themselves, whoever they are, because you believe that it is owing to filthy intercourse that they have reached the light they knew not of, thanks to lewdness? For we, lest any one …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
Then when he says, If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, he shows the meaning of the authority he cited. This was like saying: He called them gods because they participated in something divine insofar as they participated in God's …
His words have this meaning: if those who received deification by grace are gods (Ps. 81:6), and this is not imputed to them as a fault, then what justice is there when you condemn Me, Who am God by nature, Whom the Father sanctified, that …
"If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was made," such as the Prophets and other Saints: Ezekiel one: "And the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest," etc.; "and Scripture cannot be broken," that is, it cannot be charged …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Unto whom the word of God came - Bishop Pearce thinks that “the word λογος, here, is put for λογος κρισεως, the word or matter of judgment, as in 2Ch 19:6, where Jehoshaphat, setting up judges in the land of Judah, says: Take heed what ye do: judge not for men, but for the Lord, who is with you in judgment - λογοι της κρισεως, in the words or matters of judgment, - Sept., which is nearly according to the Hebrew to בדבר משפט bedebar mishpat, in the word or matter of judgment.
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
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It is never said of Christ that "the word of the Lord came to Him"; whereas this is the well-known formula by which the divine commission, even to the highest of mere men, is expressed, as John the Baptist (Lu 3:2).
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.
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
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἰ | ei | If | G1487 → | 508 times |
| ἐκείνους | ekeinous | them | G1565 → | 260 times |
| εἶπεν | eipen | he called | G2036 → | 925 times |
| θεοὺς | theous | gods | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| οὓς | hous | whom | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγος | logos | word | G3056 → | 329 times |
| τοῦ | tou | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεοῦ | theou | of God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ἐγένετο, | egeneto | came, | G1096 → | 667 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| δύναται | dunatai | is able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| λυθῆναι | luthenai | to be broken | G3089 → | 42 times |
| ἡ | he | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γραφή, | graphe | Scripture, | G1124 → | 49 times |
εἰIf
eiG1487 →508 times
ἐκείνουςthem
ekeinousG1565 →260 times
εἶπενhe called
eipenG2036 →925 times
θεοὺςgods
theousG2316 →1312 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
οὓςwhom
housG3739 →1405 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
λόγοςword
logosG3056 →329 times
τοῦ<the>
touG3588 →19766 times
θεοῦof God
theouG2316 →1312 times
ἐγένετο,came,
egenetoG1096 →667 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
δύναταιis able
dunataiG1410 →207 times
λυθῆναιto be broken
luthenaiG3089 →42 times
ἡthe
heG3588 →19766 times
γραφή,Scripture,
grapheG1124 →49 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
Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
- 1 Peter 1:25
but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Isaiah 55:11
so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
- Matthew 5:18
For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
- Isaiah 40:8
Through
Romans 13:1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
it leads to
- Titus 3:1
Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,
- 1 Peter 2:13–17
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
- Titus 3:1
Through
Genesis 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Isaiah 41:10
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 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Arnobius of Sicca, Against the Heathen Book 4; Athanasius of Alexandria, Discourses Against the Arians 1.11.39; 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); Frederic Godet, Commentary on the Gospel of John; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 61; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.