This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
- BSB Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
- NKJV Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
- NASB Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them meant.
- NLT Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant,
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
John notes that Jesus' hearers did not understand this figure of speech. Their incomprehension reflects their spiritual blindness.
Overview
This editorial comment marks the saying as a 'figure' or extended illustration rather than a straightforward parable. The leaders' failure to grasp it echoes the theme of seeing yet not perceiving. Their confusion prompts Jesus to explain the imagery more plainly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 56:11Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
- Prov 28:5Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.
- Ps 82:5They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
- John 16:25These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
- Ps 106:7Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.
- Isa 6:9–10And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
- Matt 13:51Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
- Dan 12:10Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
- Matt 13:13–14Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
- 1 Cor 2:14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
- John 6:60Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
- John 7:36What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?
- John 6:52The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
- John 8:43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
- John 8:27They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 10:6 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.