All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
Parallel translations
- WEB All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
- KJV All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
- BSB All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
- NASB All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
- NLT All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.
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
Jesus calls those who came before Him thieves and robbers whom the sheep did not heed. He refers to false messiahs and self-serving leaders, not the true prophets.
Overview
In context this targets the corrupt religious leaders and false claimants who sought to exploit Israel rather than the godly prophets who pointed to Christ. The genuine sheep did not follow these impostors. The verse exposes counterfeit shepherds in contrast to the true one.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ezek 34:2Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?
- Jer 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says Yahweh.
- John 10:1“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
- John 10:27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
- Isa 56:10–12His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
- Acts 5:36For before these days Theudas rose up, making himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nothing.
- Ezek 22:25–28There is a conspiracy of her prophets within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made her widows many within it.
- John 10:5They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”
- Zech 11:4–9Yahweh my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter.
- Zech 11:16For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.
- Zeph 3:3Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
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 10:8 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.