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.
• 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.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”

Context of John 11:48

46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 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.” 49Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

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 gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
• John 1:7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
• Luke 8:12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
• Luke 11:52“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
• 1 Thessalonians 2:15who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone
• Deuteronomy 28:50a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.
• Daniel 9:26After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
• Zechariah 13:7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
• Zechariah 14:1A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.
• Matthew 21:40“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
• Matthew 22:7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
• Matthew 23:35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
• Matthew 27:25All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
• Luke 19:41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
• Luke 21:20“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.
• Luke 23:28Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep 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