John 10:8

John 10:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
• New International Version (NIV)All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

Context of John 10:8

6Jesus told this story like a picture to teach the people. But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7So Jesus spoke again. He said, ‘I tell you this: I am like the gate for the sheep. All other men who came before me were like robbers. But the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am like the gate. Everyone who comes in through me will be safe. They will be free to come in and to go out. And they will find plenty of food. 10The robber only wants to take away my sheep. He wants to kill them. He comes only to destroy them. But I have come so that they can have true life. And so that they can have everything that they need.

John 10:8 word by word

πάντες ὅσοι ἦλθον πρὸ ἐμοῦ, κλέπται εἰσὶν καὶ λῃσταί· ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἤκουσαν αὐτῶν τὰ πρόβατα.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• All thatπᾶςpas · allG3956
• everὅσοςhosos · just as/how muchG3745
• cameἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• beforeπρόpro · beforeG4253
• meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• thievesκλέπτηςkleptēs · thiefG2812
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• robbersλῃστήςlēstēs · robber/rebelG3027
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• the sheepὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the sheepπρόβατονprobaton · sheepG4263
• didἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• notοὐou · noG3756
• themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846

Cross-references for John 10:8

• John 10:1Jesus then said, ‘I tell you this: A shepherd keeps his sheep in a safe place with a wall round it. There is a gate into that safe place. Anyone who gets into that place by another way, not through the gate, is not the shepherd. That person is a robber. He comes to take away the sheep for himself.
• Isaiah 56:10Israel's guards are blind! They do not see what is happening. They are all like dogs that cannot make a noise. They cannot warn people about danger. They love to lie on the ground and they dream while they sleep.
• Ezekiel 22:25The rulers in the land hurt people, like strong lions that tear animals in pieces. They use their power to destroy people. They take for themselves riches and valuable things that belong to other people. They have killed many men so that there are now many widows in the land.
• Ezekiel 34:2‘Son of man, you must speak my message to the shepherds of Israel to warn them. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to you shepherds of Israel who only think about yourselves. Shepherds should take care of the sheep and feed them.
• Zephaniah 3:3The rulers of the city make a very loud noise with their voices like big wild animals. Its judges are like hungry wolves. They are like wolves that have even eaten all an animal's bones before morning.
• Zechariah 11:4This is what the Lord said to me, Zechariah. ‘My people are like sheep. There will be a time when men will buy them. And then they will kill them. But feed them until that time.
• Acts 5:36Remember what happened to Theudas a few years ago. That man told everyone, “I am a very important leader.” As a result, about 400 men joined his group. But then somebody killed him, and all his men went away. Nobody heard any more about them.
• John 10:5They will not follow a stranger. They will run away from a stranger because they do not recognize his voice.’

Commentaries on John 10:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8All that ever came before me - Or, as some translate, all that came instead of me, , i.e. all that came as the Christ, or Messiah, such as Theudas, and Judas the Gaulonite, who are mentioned, Acts 5:36, Acts 5:37; and who were indeed no other than thieves, plundering the country wherever they came; and murderers, not only slaying the simple people who resisted them, but leading the multitudes of their followers to the slaughter. But our Lord probably…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8All that ever came before me - This does not refer to the prophets, but to those who came pretending to be the pastors or guides of the people. Some have supposed that he referred to those who pretended to be the Messiah before him; but there is not evidence that any such person appeared before the coming of Jesus. It is probable that he rather refers to the scribes and Pharisees, who claimed to be instructors of the people, who claimed the right to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-9Verses 6-9 Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain directions how to come into the fold; we must come in by Jesus Christ…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-21This illustration of a shepherd and his sheep comes from a Middle Eastern perspective of shepherding and Old Testament traditions in first-century AD Jewish culture. God was the shepherd of Israel (Genesis 49:24; Psalms 23; 78:52–53; Isaiah 40:10–11). Spiritual and political leaders of Israel were also shepherds of God’s people, the flock of God (Isaiah 56:9–12; Jeremiah 23:1–4; Ezekiel 34). Jesus spoke these words during the Feast of Dedication (see John…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 7-147-14. I am the door of the sheep--that is, the way in to the fold, with all blessed privileges, both for shepherds and sheep (compare Joh 14:6; Ep 2:18).Read the comment

Topics related to John 10:8

• Church
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Minister, Christian
• Sheep
• Shepherd

In the dictionaries

• Fold
• Lay
• Parable
• Sanctify
• Sheep
• Thief
• Allegory
• God
• Jesus Christ
• John, Gospel of

Commentaries on John 10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings