John 11:48

John 11:48 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
• New International Version (NIV)If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."
• New King James Version (NKJV)If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

Context of John 11:48

46But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. 47Then the Pharisees and the leaders of the priests had a meeting with the group of Jewish leaders. They asked each other, ‘What will we do? This man is doing so many miracles. If we let him do more things like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman rulers will come and punish us. Their soldiers will destroy our temple and even destroy our whole country of Israel.’ 49One of the group was the leader of the priests that year. He was called Caiaphas. He said, ‘You do not understand the problem. 50It is better that one man should die on behalf of our people. That is better than if all Israel's people should die.’

John 11:48 word by word

ἐὰν ἀφῶμεν αὐτὸν οὕτως, πάντες πιστεύσουσιν εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ ἐλεύσονται οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ ἀροῦσιν ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν τόπον καὶ τὸ ἔθνος.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• we letἀφίημιaphiēmi · to release: leaveG863
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• thus aloneοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• will believeπιστεύωpisteuō · to trust (in)G4100
• onεἰςeis · towardG1519
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the RomansῬωμαῖοςRhōmaios · RomanG4514
• shall comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• take awayαἴρωairō · to take upG142
• ourἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• placeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• placeτόποςtopos · placeG5117
• nationἔθνοςethnos · GentilesG1484

Cross-references for John 11:48

• Acts 5:28‘We told you that you must not teach people any more with the authority of Jesus. But now look at what you have done! Now people everywhere in Jerusalem have heard your teaching. You also want people to think that we are guilty for the death of Jesus.’
• John 1:7He came to tell people about the light. God wanted everyone to believe in the one who is the light.
• Luke 8:12Some seeds fell on the path. That is like some people who hear the message, but they do not think about it. The Devil comes and he takes the message away from their minds. He takes it away so that they cannot believe it. Because they do not believe the message, God does not save them.
• Luke 11:52It will be very bad for you teachers of God's Law! You have studied God's message. But you do not then accept it. You have also stopped people who really wanted to know God's message. Then they could not go on to accept it and go into God's kingdom.’
• 1 Thessalonians 2:15People like that even killed the Lord Jesus. They killed God's prophets, too. They also did bad things against us, so that we had to leave their towns. They make God become angry. They are enemies of all people,
• Deuteronomy 28:50They will have angry faces. They will not be kind to anyone, even old people and young children.
• Daniel 9:26After the 62 weeks have passed, people will kill the ruler that God had chosen. He will have nothing. Then a foreign ruler and his army will attack the city and the temple. He will destroy them quickly, like a flood of water. War and terrible trouble will continue until the end that God has decided.
• Zechariah 13:7‘Attack my shepherd with a sharp knife. Attack the man that is next to me,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Kill the shepherd and then the sheep will run away. Then I will attack the young sheep.
• Zechariah 14:1There will be a day when your enemies will take away everything. They will take away everything that is yours. They will each have some of your things.
• Matthew 21:40Jesus then said, ‘One day, the master will return to his garden. What do you think he will do then to those farmers?’
• Matthew 22:7The king was very angry. He sent his soldiers to the city where those people lived. They killed the people who killed the king's servants. They destroyed their city with fire.
• Matthew 23:35Because of all this, God will punish you for all the good people that you and your ancestors have killed. Long ago, Abel was the first of those good people. You also killed Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. He died in the yard of the temple near the altar.
• Matthew 27:25All the people answered Pilate, ‘Yes, God should punish us and our children, if we have done the wrong thing.’
• Luke 19:41When Jesus got near to the city, he looked at it. He cried because he felt very sorry for the people in it.
• Luke 21:20One day you will see Jerusalem with armies all around it. Then you will know that enemies will soon destroy that city.
• Luke 23:28So Jesus turned round and he said to them, ‘You women that live in Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Instead, cry for yourselves and for your children.

Commentaries on John 11:48

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 48All men will believe on him - If we permit him to work but a few more miracles like these two last (the cure of the blind man, and the resurrection of Lazarus) he will be universally acknowledged for the Messiah; the people will proclaim him king; and the Romans, who can suffer no government here but their own, will be so irritated that they will send their armies against us, and destroy our temple, and utterly dissolve our civil and ecclesiastical…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 48All men - That is, all men among the Jews. The whole nation. And the Romans shall come - They were then subject to the Romans - tributary and dependent. Whatever privileges they had they held at the will of the Roman emperor. They believed, or feigned to believe, that Jesus was intending to set up a temporal kingdom. As he claimed to be the Messiah, so they supposed, of course, that he designed to be a temporal prince, and they professed to believe that…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 47-53Verses 47-53 There can hardly be a more clear discovery of the madness that is in man's heart, and of its desperate enmity against God, than what is here recorded. Words of prophecy in the mouth, are not clear evidence of a principle of grace in the heart. The calamity we seek to escape by sin, we take the most effectual course to bring upon our own heads; as those do who think by opposing Christ's kingdom, to advance their own worldly interest. The fear…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 48The council met to discuss what to do about Jesus. During their discussion, they revealed their fear. They were afraid that everyone would believe in him. If many people believed that Jesus was the Messiah (God’s chosen one), this could cause political trouble. In that time, the Romans ruled over Judea. They did not tolerate leaders who claimed to be kings. The Romans viewed Jewish messiahs with suspicion. They feared rebellion. The council worried that…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 47-5447-54. What do we? for this man doeth many miracles--"While we trifle, 'this man,' by His 'many miracles,' will carry all before Him; the popular enthusiasm will bring on a revolution, which will precipitate the Romans upon us, and our all will go down in one common ruin." What a testimony to the reality of our Lord's miracles, and their resistless effect, from His bitterest enemies!Read the comment

Topics related to John 11:48

• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Prudence

In the dictionaries

• Awake
• Mourn
• Bethany
• Caiaphas
• Christ, Offices of
• Jesus Christ
• Jesus Christ, the Arrest and Trial of
• John, Gospel of
• Lazarus
• Olives, Mount of

Commentaries on John 11

• 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
• 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