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My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
John 10:29 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
  • KJV My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
  • BSB My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
  • NASB My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
  • NLT for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The Father, who gave the sheep to Jesus, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from His hand. The believer is held securely by both the Son and the Father.

Overview

Jesus grounds the security of His people in the supreme power of the Father who entrusted them to Him. The double assurance of the Son's hand and the Father's hand makes their safety doubly certain. Election and preservation are presented together as the Father's gracious work.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • John 6:37All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.
  • John 17:2even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
  • John 17:9I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
  • John 14:28You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.
  • Mal 1:14“But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a defective thing; for I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
  • John 17:6I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
  • John 17:11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
  • Exod 18:11Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them.”
  • Dan 4:3How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
  • Ps 145:3Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! His greatness is unsearchable.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 10:29YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 10:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.