Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him.
- KJV Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
- BSB At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
- NKJV Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
- NASB The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
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 Jews again take up stones to kill Jesus. They regard His words as blasphemy deserving death.
Overview
Stoning was the prescribed penalty for blasphemy under the law. Their reaction confirms that they understood Jesus to be claiming equality with God. Their violent response shows hardened unbelief rather than honest inquiry.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 5:18For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
- John 8:59Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
- 1 Sam 30:6David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
- Exod 17:4Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
- John 11:8The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
- Acts 7:52Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
- Matt 21:35The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
- Acts 7:58–59They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- Matt 23:35that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 10:31 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.