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Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should perish for the people.
John 18:14 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
  • BSB Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better if one man died for the people.
  • NKJV Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
  • NASB Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was in their best interest for one man to die in behalf of the people.
  • NLT Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.”

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 reminds readers that Caiaphas had counseled that one man should die for the people. His earlier words unwittingly pointed to Christ's saving death.

Overview

This recalls 11:49-52, where Caiaphas, intending political expediency, prophesied more than he knew: that Jesus would die for the nation, indeed to gather God's scattered children. John highlights the irony and divine providence, the very plot to destroy Jesus becomes the means of substitutionary atonement, one dying in the place of many.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 1

  • John 11:49–52But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 18:14YouTube · 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 18:14 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.