Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 10:8
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
8. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers ] These words are difficult, and some copyists seem to have tried to avoid the difficulty by omitting either ‘all’ or ‘before Me.’ But the balance of authority leaves no doubt that both are genuine. Some commentators would translate ‘instead of Me’ for ‘before Me.’ But this meaning of the Greek preposition is not common, and perhaps occurs nowhere in N.T. Moreover ‘instead of Me’ ought to include the idea of ‘for My advantage;’ and that is impossible here. We must retain the natural and ordinary meaning of ‘before Me:’ and as ‘before Me in dignity ’ would be obviously inappropriate, ‘before Me in time ’ must be the meaning. But who are ‘all that came before Me?’ The patriarchs, prophets, Moses, the Baptist cannot be meant, either collectively or singly. ‘Salvation is of the Jews’ (Joh 4:22); ‘they are they which testify of Me’ (Joh 5:39); ‘if ye believed Moses, ye would believe Me’ (Joh 5:46); ‘John bare witness unto the truth’ (Joh 5:33): texts like this are quite conclusive against any such Gnostic interpretation. Nor can false Messiahs be meant: it is doubtful whether any had arisen at this time. Rather it refers to the ‘ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing’ who had been, and still were, the ruin of the nation, who ‘devoured widow’s houses,’ who were ‘full of ravening and wickedness,’ who had ‘taken away the key of knowledge,’ and were in very truth ‘thieves and robbers’ (Mat 7:15; Mat 23:14; Luk 11:39; Luk 11:52). Some of them were now present, thirsting to add bloodshed to robbery, and this denunciation of them is no stronger than several passages in the Synoptists: e.g. Mat 23:33; Luk 11:50-51. The tense also is in favour of this interpretation; not were, but ‘ are thieves and robbers.’
but the sheep did not hear them ] For they spoke with no authority (Mat 7:29); there was no living voice in their teaching. They had their hearers, but these were not ‘the sheep,’ but blind adherents, led by the blind.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All that ever came before me – This does not refer to the prophets, but to those who came pretending to be the pastors or guides of the people. Some have supposed that he referred to those who pretended to be the Messiah before him; but there is not evidence that any such person appeared before the coming of Jesus. It is probable that he rather refers to the scribes and Pharisees, who claimed to be instructors of the people, who claimed the right to regulate the affairs of religion, and whose only aim was to aggrandize themselves and to oppress the people. See the notes at Joh 1:18. When the Saviour says that all were thieves, he speaks in a popular sense, using the word all as it is often used in the New Testament, to denote the great mass or the majority.
Thieves and robbers – See Joh 10:1; also Jer 23:1; Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture; Eze 34:2-3; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed; but ye feed not the flock. This had been the general character of the Pharisees and scribes. They sought wealth, office, ease at the expense of the people, and thus deserved the character of thieves and robbers. They insinuated themselves slyly as a thief, and they oppressed and spared not, like a robber.
The sheep – The people of God – the pious and humble portion of the Jewish nation. Though the great mass of the people were corrupted, yet there were always some who were the humble and devoted people of God. Compare Rom 11:3-4. So it will be always. Though the great mass of teachers may be corrupt, yet the true friends of God will mourn in secret places, and refuse to listen to the instruction that causeth to err.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. All that ever came before me] Or, as some translate, all that came instead of me, , i.e. all that came as the Christ, or Messiah, such as Theudas, and Judas the Gaulonite, who are mentioned, Ac 5:36-37; and who were indeed no other than thieves, plundering the country wherever they came; and murderers, not only slaying the simple people who resisted them, but leading the multitudes of their followers to the slaughter.
But our Lord probably refers to the scribes and Pharisees, who pretended to show the way of salvation to the people-who in fact stole into the fold, and clothed themselves with the fleece, and devoured the sheep.
The words, , before me, are wanting in EGMS, Mt. BKV, seventy others; Syriac, Persic, Syriac Hieros., Gothic, Saxon, Vulgate, eleven copies of the Itala; Basil, Cyril, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius, Augustin, and some others. Griesbach has left them in the text with a note of doubtfulness. The reason thy these words are wanting in so many respectable MSS., versions, and fathers, is probably that given by Theophylact, who says that the Manicheans inferred from these words that all the Jewish prophets were impostors. But our Lord has borne sufficient testimony to their inspiration in a variety of places.
, and , the thief and the robber, should be properly distinguished; one takes by cunning and stealth; the other openly and by violence. It would not be difficult to find bad ministers who answer to both these characters. Tithes have been often enforced and collected in a most exceptionable manner, and in a most disgraceful spirit.
The reflection of pious Quesnel on this verse is well worth attention. A pastor ought to remember that whoever boasts of being the way of salvation, and the gate of heaven, shows himself to be a thief and an impostor; and though few are arrived at this degree of folly, yet there are many who rely too much upon their own talents, eloquence, and labours, as if the salvation of the sheep depended necessarily thereon: in which respect they are always robbers, since they rob the grace of Christ of the glory of saving the sheep. God often puts such pastors to shame, by not opening the hearts of the people to receive their word: while he blesses those who are humble, in causing them to be heard with attention, and accompanying their preaching with an unction which converts and saves souls. Let every man know that in this respect his sufficiency and success are of the Lord.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This must not be understood of the prophets, but of such only as came before Christ, not being sent by him: all those that taught people another way of life and salvation, than by believing in the Messiah, who was to be revealed for the salvation of the world; all such did but seek themselves, not the good of the peoples souls; and destroyed souls instead of profiting or doing them any good. But those that were mine by an eternal election, or by my special grace bestowed upon them, did not embrace them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. All that ever came before methefalse prophets; not as claiming the prerogatives of Messiah, but asperverters of the people from the way of life, all pointing to Him[OLSHAUSEN].
the sheep did not hearthemthe instinct of their divinely taught hearts preservingthem from seducers, and attaching them to the heaven-sent prophets,of whom it is said that “the Spirit of Christ was in them”(1Pe 1:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers,…. This must be understood with some restrictions, not of every individual person, nor of every individual prophet or shepherd; not of Moses, nor of the prophets of the Lord, nor of John the Baptist, who came immediately before Christ, was his harbinger, and prepared his way; but of those prophets who came, and were not sent of God, and so did not come in by the door; of the shepherds of Israel, who fed themselves, and not the flock, but lorded it over God’s heritage; and of such, as Theudas, and Judas the Galilean, who boasted that they were some great persons, but were only thieves and robbers; and particularly of the three shepherds cut off in one month, Zec 11:8, supposed to be the three sects among the Jews, and the leaders of them, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, especially the former; who were wolves in sheep’s clothing, usurped a power that did not belong to them, robbed God of his authority, and glory; and, in a literal sense, plundered men of their substance, and devoured widows’ houses, as well as destroyed their souls. The phrase, “before me”, is wanting in seven of Beza’s exemplars, and in several others; and in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions:
but the sheep did not hear them; the elect of God, some of which there were in all ages, though their number is comparatively few, did not attend to the false prophets, and false teachers, and idol shepherds; did not receive their doctrines, nor follow their practices; for it is not possible that these should be finally and totally deceived, or carried away with the error of the wicked.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Before me ( ). Aleph with the Latin, Syriac, and Sahidic versions omit these words (supported by A B D L W). But with or without Jesus refers to the false Messiahs and self-appointed leaders who made havoc of the flock. These are the thieves and robbers, not the prophets and sincere teachers of old. The reference is to verse 1. There had been numerous such impostors already (Josephus, Ant. XVIII. i. 6; War II. viii. I) and Jesus will predict many more (Mt 24:23f.). They keep on coming, these wolves in sheep’s clothing (Mt 7:15) who grow rich by fooling the credulous sheep. In this case “the sheep did not hear them” ( ). First aorist active indicative with genitive. Fortunate sheep who knew the Shepherd’s voice.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) ”All that ever came before me,” (pantes hosoi elthon pro emou) “All those who came before me,” not true, all of whom bare witness of Him, Act 10:43; But all pretended prophets of the hypocritical type, such as the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees who perverted the true teachings of Moses, Mar 7:1-12; Mat 5:20; Deu 18:15 -19.
2) “Are thieves and robbers “ (kleptai eisin kai lestai) ”They are (exist as or like) thieves and robbers,” or as thugs and bandits, robbing God of true glory, loving the praise of men more than the praise of God, spoilers of His own Jewish people, short-changing them in truth and the Spirit of the Word, Joh 12:41.
3) “But the sheep did not hear them.” (all ‘ouk ekousan auton ta probata) “But the sheep did not heed them,” give ear to, follow and obey them, the true believers did not. They followed John the Baptist instead, then at the voice of Jesus and the encouragement of John the Baptist, they had later turned to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd, Mat 3:4-10; Mar 1:5; Joh 1:35-37; Joh 3:25-30; Act 19:4; Joh 4:11; Joh 10:11; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 5:4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. All who came before me. The words πάντες ὅσοι may be literally rendered, all as many as came before me They who restrict this expression to Judas the Galilean, and such persons, depart widely, in my opinion, from Christ’s meaning; for he contrasts all false doctrine, in general, with the Gospel, and all false prophets with faithful teachers. Nor would it even be unreasonable to extend this statement to the Gentiles, that all who, from the beginning of the world, have professed to be teachers, and have not labored to gather sheep to Christ, have abused this title for destroying souls. But this does not at all apply to Moses and the Prophets, who had no other object in view than to establish the kingdom of Christ. For it ought to be observed, that a contrast is here made between the words of Christ and those things which are opposed to them. But so far are we from discovering any contradiction between the Law and the doctrine of the Gospel, that the Law is nothing else than a preparation for the Gospel. In short, Christ testifies that all the doctrines, by which the world has been led away from him, are so many deadly plagues; because, apart from him, there is nothing but destruction and horrible confusion. Meanwhile, we see of what importance antiquity is with God, and in what estimation it ought to be held by us, when it enters, as it were, into a contest with Christ. That no man may be moved by the consideration, that there have been teachers, in all ages, who gave themselves no concern whatever about directing men to Christ, Christ expressly states that it is of no consequence how many there have been of this description, or how early they began to appear; for it ought to be considered that there is but one door, and that they who leave it, and make openings or breaches in the walls, are thieves
But the sheep did not hear them. He now confirms more clearly what he had already spoken more obscurely and in the figure of an allegory, that they who were led out of the way by impostors did not belong to the Church of God. This is said, first, that when we see a great multitude of persons going astray, we may not resolve to perish through their example; and, next, that we may not waver, when God permits impostors to deceive many. For it is no light consolation, and no small ground of confidence, when we know that Christ, by his faithful protection, has always guarded his sheep, amidst the various attacks and crafty devices of wolves and robbers, so that there never was one of them that deserted him. (284)
But here a question arises, When does a person begin to belong to the flock of the Son of God? (285) For we see many who stray and wander through deserts during the greater part of their life, and are at length brought into the fold of Christ. I reply, the word sheep is here used in two ways. When Christ says afterwards, that he has other sheep besides, he includes all the elect of God, who had at that time no resemblance to sheep At present, he means sheep which bore the shepherd’s mark. By nature, we are at the greatest possible distance from being sheep; but, on the contrary, are born lions, tigers, wolves, and bears, (286) until the Spirit of Christ tames us, and from wild and savage beasts forms us to be mild sheep Thus, according to the secret election of God, we are already sheep in his heart, before we are born; but we begin to be sheep in ourselves by the calling, by which he gathers us into his fold. Christ declares that they who are called into the order of believers are so firmly bound together, that they cannot stray or wander, or be carried about by any wind of new doctrine.
It will perhaps be objected, that even those who had been devoted to Christ frequently go astray, and that this is proved by frequent experience, and that it is not without good reason that Ezekiel ascribes it to the good Shepherd, that he gathers the scattered sheep, (Eze 34:12.) I readily acknowledge that it frequently happens, that they who had belonged to the household of faith are, for a time, estranged; but this is not at variance with Christ’s statement, for, so far as they go astray, they cease, in some respects, to be sheep What Christ means is simply this, that all the elect of God, though they were tempted to go astray in innumerable ways, were kept in obedience to the pure faith, so that they were not exposed as a prey to Satan, or to his ministers. But this work of God is not less astonishing, when he again gathers the sheep which had wandered for a little, than if they had all along continued to be shut up in the fold. It is always true, and without a single exception, that
they who go out from us were not of us, but that they who were of us remain with us to the end, (1Jo 2:19.)
This passage ought to strike us with the deepest shame; first, because we are so ill accustomed to the voice of our Shepherd, that there are hardly any who do not listen to it with indifference; and, next, because we are so slow and indolent to follow him. I speak of the good, or of those who are at least passable; for the greater part of those who boast that they are Christ’s disciples kick fiercely against him. Lastly, as soon as the voice of any stranger has sounded in our ears, we are hurried to and fro; and this lightness and unsteadiness sufficiently shows how little progress we have hitherto made in the faith. But if the number of believers is smaller than might be desired, and if out of this small number a large proportion be continually dropping off, faithful teachers have this consolation to support them, that the elect of God, who are Christ’s sheep, listen to them. It is our duty, indeed, to labor diligently, and to strive by every possible method, that the whole world may be brought, if possible, into the unity of the faith; but let us, in the meantime, be well satisfied with belonging to the number.
(284) “ En sorte qu’il n’y en a pas eu une seule qui l’ait laisse.”
(285) “ Du troupeau du Fils de Dieu.”
(286) “ Lions, tygres, loups, et ours.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers.Comp. Note on Joh. 10:1. The Sinaitic MS. and several of the early versions read this verse without the words translated before Me, but the balance of authority is strongly in their favour; and the fact of their being hard to understand, or having been misunderstood, is the probable reason of their omission. Retaining them, as we seem bound to do, we are also bound to give them their ordinary temporal meaning. There can be but one rendering which suggests itself to the unbiassed mind, and that is the rendering of our version. The Greek words and the English words are equally plain, and other renderings are due to the exigencies of interpretation.
What, then, do the words mean? Their force seems to be all-inclusive; and yet they cannot contradict Christs own words, which have excluded Abraham, Moses, the prophets, John the Baptist, from any possibility of such thoughts. (See Joh. 4:22; Joh. 5:33; Joh. 5:39; Joh. 5:45; Joh. 7:19.) They cannot, on the other hand, be limited to false Christs, who did not come before but after our Lord. (Comp. Note on Joh. 5:43.) Here, as often, the true meaning seems for the most part to have been overlooked because men have sought it elsewhere than in the words themselves, and in their place among other words. The thought which precedes and which follows is that Jesus is Himself the door. All that ever came before Me is in immediate contrast to this thought, and the sense is, all professing to be themselves the door, to be the means by which men enter the fold, to be the Mediator between man and God. The Old Testament teachers cannot be meant, because they witnessed to the true door. But there had been growing up since the return from the Captivity, and the close of the Old Testament canon, a priestly caste in the place of the prophetic schools, and these men had been in practice, if not in word, claiming for themselves the position of door to the kingdom of God. There were Hillels and Shammais, heads of parties and of factions, whose word was to their followers as the word of God; there were Pharisees then standing round Him who had solemnly decreed that any one who should confess Him to be the Messiah should be shut out from Temple and from synagogue, and that they themselves would in Gods name pronounce a curse upon his head (Joh. 9:22). As thieves were they, and as robbers; wolves in sheeps clothing, stealing into the flock of Christ and rending those who were the true sheep. (Comp. the analogous language of Luk. 11:52.) The lawyers closed the door and plundered and oppressed those whom they kept outside.
Attention should be paid to the present tense of the verb are in this sentence, which seems in itself to suggest that the words which follow find their application in the case of the persons then actually living.
But the sheep did not hear them.Read again Joh. 10:3-5. What is true of the sheep and the voice of the stranger is true also of man and of every voice which is not of God. The heart of the child answers to the voice of the Father; it trembles at any voice which is unknown. The conscience of mankind knows the voice of God; but it will not hear the voice of the devil, nor the unreal voice of man claiming to speak in Gods name. It will not call bitter, sweet; nor sweet, bitter; darkness, light; nor light, darkness. It will not accept the false, the impure, the wrong, for it is the God in man which ever is, and ever must be true and holy and right. So it was that the teaching of scribes and Pharisees never really influenced the masses of the people, for it was concerned with the externals of matter and form, and they wanted the living truth. So it has been that systems of error have had their day, but have had no principle of life, because they were not the voice of God speaking to the heart of man; and in so far as they have lived at all, it has been because the error has been but in the form, or has been in part only of the substance, which has also contained some germ of truth. So it has been in every age, and in every school of thought, that the men whom the sheep have heard have been men who have had in them the ring of the true, and have been as prophets uttering the voice of God. Witness Paul of Tarsus, and Francis of Assisi; Luther, and Savonarola; John Knox, and John Wesley; Charles Simeon, and John Keble.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. All that ever came before me Few texts have more perplexed commentators than this. It seems, at first sight, to say that all the previous religious teachers of mankind were impostors. The ancient Gnostics (a professedly Christian sect who rejected the Old Testament) quoted it to disprove the divine mission of Moses. There are three interpretations worthy of notice. The first supposes that the words condemn all who ever came as Messiahs before Christ. But, unfortunately, history shows that the false Messiahs did not precede but succeeded Jesus. There were, indeed, insurgent leaders in the times of Salinus and Varus, who assumed the title of king; but it is not said that they claimed to be the Messiah of ancient prophecy. Nor is it as political leaders that our Lord asserts that others are thieves and robbers, but as false guides and teachers of the people. The second would make the words mean, All who ever came with my pretensions so as to supersede or interfere with my claims or authority. Neither Moses, nor any other teacher, so far as he taught truth, would then be condemned; for all such, so far as they were true teachers, would be viewed as being like John the Baptist, the prophets, the true priests of Israel, and Moses himself, preparers and servants of the Messiah. We were inclined to adopt this as the true view; but, on the whole, prefer the third, proposed by Stier, as follows: The words before me are opposed to the words by me in Joh 10:9; and the me in both cases is equivalent to the door. To come before the door is to come into the fold before getting as far as to the door. The impetuous robber finds a leaping place previous to, or before, the door. The man who enters before the door, namely, Christ, rather than by the door, is a thief and a robber. A clear and proper contrast is then stated in Joh 10:8-9 between the interlopers and the true shepherds. And then Joh 10:8 stands as the parallel and explanation of Joh 10:1.
Ever This is not properly a word of time. The phrase All that ever came, would be more accurately rendered All whoso come. The tense of came is aorist or indefinite, covering time present and future as well as past. Sheep did not hear them Just as the simple blind-born did not hear the Pharisees, (Joh 9:33.) The honest firm inquirer for the truth attains to saving truth.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.”
There have been false Messiahs and false teachers, under whatever guise, but they would not gain wide acceptance by the true people of God. The ‘all’ refers to those who in one way or another had taken advantage of the people’s expectations, pointing in the end to themselves rather than to God. Thus it refers to those who have sought to replace Him as a Saviour by propounding other ways of salvation, something that Abraham, Moses and the true prophets never did as He has previously made clear (Joh 5:39; Joh 5:46; Joh 8:56).
They included the Pharisees who pointed to another way of salvation through commitment to the covenant in a way which meant keeping the Law in accord with the dictates of the Rabbis; false Messiahs who periodically appeared, false prophets who pointed elsewhere to other than the true way, of which many are mentioned in the Old Testament (e.g. Jer 50:6; Eze 34:2-10; Zec 11:15-17); false priests who emphasised the ceremonies more than their meaning; or other religious figures of any kind who offered salvation apart from Christ.
They all entered the fold by a way other than the doorway, and they sought to lead out the sheep by another way than the doorway. And many sheep were deceived. But not His true sheep. His true sheep did not follow the false shepherds. For such false shepherds see Isa 56:9-12; Jer 23:1-4; Jer 25:32-38; Eze 34:1-22; Zec 11:1-17. Once again we see Jesus bringing out His uniqueness. If these shepherds had been true shepherds they would now be pointing to and magnifying Jesus.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 10:8. All that ever came before me “All those who in former times assumed the characters of teachers of religion, without commission from me, are thieves and robbers.” Here, as in many other instances, our Lord’s words are very elliptical, and must be filled up from what goes before. The gloss that we have ventured to give, is taken from Joh 10:1 and seems altogether necessary, because it does not clearly appear from history, that any one among the Jews assumed the title of Messiah before our Lord came. It is true that Theudas and Judas of Galilee are mentioned by Gamaliel as having given themselves out for persons of note; Act 5:37. But with respect to Judas, it is evident from Josephus that he did not assume the title of Messiah: he only gave rise to a political faction, whose distinction was, that they would pay no taxes to the Romans, or any foreign power. And from the character which the Jewish doctors give of Theudas, it does not appear that he called himself the Messiah. Like Judas of Galilee, he only pretended to be some extraordinary person, who had eminent skill in the law, and taught opinions contrary to those which were commonly received. Perhaps he called himself a prophet, to give his doctrines the greater weight.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 10:8 . See Ewald, Jahrb . ix. p. 40 ff. The actual antithesis to the is formed by the many who had come forward to be the teachers and leaders of the people of God, without connecting their working with Christ. He describes them from the point of view of the time at which they came forward before me; they came forward before Christ had appeared as the door to the sheep; they had developed their power and activity since the time of the second temple, in a way that gradually grew more and more pernicious, and they formed now the party of hierarchical, specially Pharisaical, antagonists of Christ . The members of this hierarchical caste are intended; the expression used by Christ, however, is popular, and not to be pressed as hard and unhistorical (Hase); the use of the present , moreover, gives it a living relation to the leaders of the people, as they then actually were before his eyes. On the other hand, passages like Joh 7:19 , Joh 5:39 ; Joh 5:45 , Joh 4:22 , exclude even the possibility of a reference to Moses and the prophets; hence the inadmissibility of Hilgenfeld’s idea that the saying is “very harshly anti-Judaistic ,” as also that it refers to the entire Old Testament past, i.e . to all the pre-Christian leaders of the people of God, an application which he tries to justify by bringing in the Gnostic dualism. It is also inadmissible to set aside in any way the temporal meaning of , whether it be made to mean, with Calovius: in advance of me (antequam mitterentur); or, with Brckner (after Stier): before they have sought and found me as the door; or, with Wolf, to convert it into , a view which comes substantially to that of Olshausen (“without connection with the Logos”); or, with Tittmann and Schleusner, to take it for , loco , and with Lange to import into this view, “instead of me,” the further notion of absolute pre-eminence , as though the one who advances forward designed completely to set aside the one who was put in the background. , in the sense of instead , is foreign to the New Testament, and rare also in Greek writers. But when , with a view to the removal of everything objectionable, is taken pregnantly , making it express an arbitrary or unauthorized [62] coming forward (Hieronymus, Augustine, Isidore, Heracleon, Euth. Zigabenus, Luther, Melancthon, Jansen, and several others; also Luthardt, Ebrard), a meaning is imported into the word, which in itself, indeed, may be regarded as a matter of course, but which, at the same time, must have been distinctly expressed (say, as in Joh 10:42 ), if it were to be emphatical . [63] This also against B. Crusius, who lays the stress on the intention expressed in (“in order to give the people a new time”). The explanation, finally, of false Messiahs (Chrysostom, Cyril, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Euth. Zigabenus, Theophylact, Grotius, Maldonatus, Hammond, Tittmann, Schleusner, Klee, Weizscker, and several others), is unhistorical, as they first began to come forward after Christ’s day; a circumstance on which B. Bauer, however, grounds a charge of anachronism against John. De Wette considers the discourse to be out of harmony with the wisdom and gentleness of Jesus. But the worthless men, to whose entire class He alludes, stood actually in His presence, and had surely done enough to call forth His severity and wrath.
. ] namely, of the sheep, Joh 10:1 . Comp. the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Instead of , would have been still stronger, Strabo, p. 18, 1. 11, Isocr. Loch . 12.
]. The want of success which attends this predatory (soul-destroying) procedure.
] did not listen to them . For their adherents did not belong to the true people of God ( ).
[62] Nonnus takes it in the sense of creeping in secretly: .
[63] In by itself, so far as it precedes , it is impossible to find, as Luthardt does, the thought “on his own responsibility,” or “so that he places Christ after himself.” denotes neither more nor less than the simple venerunt; as in ver. 10. is equal to the simple ego veni; the emphasis rests primarily on , omnes quotquot , and then on , which is placed at the end.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
Ver. 8. All that ever came before me, &c. ] Manes (that mad heretic) made an argument from this text against Moses and the prophets, as going before Christ. But Austin answereth, Moses and the prophets came not before Christ, but with Christ. Intruders, whether before or since our Saviour’s days, are these thieves and robbers. Ah, whoreson a thieves, rob God of his glory! said Dr Taylor, martyr, in a dream, of the scribes and Pharisees of his time.
a The son of a whore, a bastard son; but commonly used as a coarse term of reprobation, abuse, dislike, or contempt; sometimes even of jocular familiarity. D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. ] I believe that the right sense of these words, , has not been apprehended by any of the Commentators.
First, they can only be honestly understood of time: all who came before me (not, “ without regard to me ,” Olsh. &c., nor “ passing by me as the door ,” Camer., nor “ instead of me ,” Lampe, &c.: nor “ pressing before me ,” ch. Joh 5:7 , which would have been , not .: nor “before taking the trouble to find me, the door,” Stier, iv. 492, edn. 2: nor any other of the numerous shifts which have been adopted).
What pretended teachers then came before Christ? Remember the connexion of these discourses. He has taught the Jews that Abraham and the Prophets entered by Him (ch. Joh 8:56 ): but He has set in strong opposition to Himself and His, them (these Jews) and their father, the Devil (ib. Joh 8:44 ). He was “the first thief who clomb into God’s fold;” and all his followers are here spoken of inclusively in the language of the allegory, as coming in by and with him . His was the first attempt to lead human nature, before Christ came; before the series of dispensations of grace began, in which pasture and life is offered to man by Him.
Meyer understands the Pharisees, &c. who taught the people before Christ appeared as the Door of the sheep: but this does not seem to reach the depth of the requirements of the saying.
, not , because their essential nature as belonging to and being of the evil one is set forth, and the inclusion of these present Pharisees in their ranks.
] This of course cannot be understood absolutely, ‘ the sheep never for one moment listened to them; ’ but, did not listen to them in the sense of becoming their disciples eventually. So that the fall of our first Parents would be no exception to this; whom of all men we must conclude, by the continuing grace and mercy of God to them after that fall, to have been of His real sheep. And since then, the same is true; however the sheep may for a while listen to these false shepherds, they do not hear them , so as to follow them. Those who do, belong not to the true flock.
Joh 10:9 expands and fixes Joh 10:7 . “Non est salutaris aditus in ecclesiam, nisi per me, sive pastor esse velis, sive ovis.” Erasmus, Paraphr. See Num 27:16-17 . The sequel of the verse shews that this combined meaning is the true one. Meyer, who understands it all of shepherds alone , finds great difficulty in the interpretation of the latter words: “shall go in and out before the sheep , and find pasture for them .”
Joh 10:10 shews the gracious intent of the Saviour in this; to give life , and in abundance . This verse forms the transition from Him as , to Him as . He is here set in opposition to (see on Joh 10:8 ), and thus insensibly passes into the place of a , who has been hitherto thus opposed. Then the binds on to and . .: q. d. not merely as a door to pass through, but actively, abundantly, to bestow abundance of life. We are thus prepared for ( Joh 10:11 ) the announcement of Himself as the great antagonist of the pattern and Head of all good shepherds, as he of all thieves and robbers: the Messiah, in His best known and most loving office: cf. Eze 34:11-16 ; Eze 34:23 ; Eze 37:24 , and Isa 40:11 . But He is . . in this verse, as having most eminently the qualities of a good shepherd, one of which is to lay down His life for the sheep. These words here are not so much a prophecy, as a declaration, implying however that which Joh 10:15 asserts explicitly.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 10:8 . In contrast to Jesus, , “all who came before me,” i.e. , all who came before me, claiming to be what I am and to give to the sheep what I give. The prophets pointed forward to Him and did not arrogate themselves His functions. Only those could be called “thieves and robbers” who had come before the Shepherd came, as if in the night and without His authority. It must have been evident that the hierarchical party was meant.” [The inexactness of contrasting the “door” rather than the Shepherd with the “thieves and robbers” who came before Jesus, only emphasises the fact that the reality was more prominent than the figure in the mind of the speaker.] Those, however, who had tried to assume the functions of the Shepherd had failed; because , the people of God had not listened to them. They no doubt assumed authority over the people of God and compelled obedience, but the true children of God did not find in their voice that which attracted and led them to pasture.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
All that ever = All whoever.
before. Greek pro. App-104. The true Shepherd could not come till God’s purpose was ripe in the fullness of the times (Gal 1:4, Gal 1:4). Moses and the prophets were not “thieves and robbers”. None of them claimed to do more than point, as John the Baptist did, to the coming One. All others were deceivers.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
8.] I believe that the right sense of these words, , has not been apprehended by any of the Commentators.
First, they can only be honestly understood of time: all who came before me (not, without regard to me, Olsh. &c., nor passing by me as the door, Camer., nor instead of me, Lampe, &c.: nor pressing before me, ch. Joh 5:7, which would have been , not .: nor before taking the trouble to find me, the door, Stier, iv. 492, edn. 2: nor any other of the numerous shifts which have been adopted).
What pretended teachers then came before Christ? Remember the connexion of these discourses. He has taught the Jews that Abraham and the Prophets entered by Him (ch. Joh 8:56): but He has set in strong opposition to Himself and His, them (these Jews) and their father, the Devil (ib. Joh 8:44). He was the first thief who clomb into Gods fold; and all his followers are here spoken of inclusively in the language of the allegory, as coming in by and with him. His was the first attempt to lead human nature, before Christ came; before the series of dispensations of grace began, in which pasture and life is offered to man by Him.
Meyer understands the Pharisees, &c. who taught the people before Christ appeared as the Door of the sheep: but this does not seem to reach the depth of the requirements of the saying.
, not , because their essential nature as belonging to and being of the evil one is set forth, and the inclusion of these present Pharisees in their ranks.
] This of course cannot be understood absolutely,-the sheep never for one moment listened to them; but, did not listen to them in the sense of becoming their disciples eventually. So that the fall of our first Parents would be no exception to this; whom of all men we must conclude, by the continuing grace and mercy of God to them after that fall, to have been of His real sheep. And since then, the same is true; however the sheep may for a while listen to these false shepherds, they do not hear them, so as to follow them. Those who do, belong not to the true flock.
Joh 10:9 expands and fixes Joh 10:7. Non est salutaris aditus in ecclesiam, nisi per me, sive pastor esse velis, sive ovis. Erasmus, Paraphr. See Num 27:16-17. The sequel of the verse shews that this combined meaning is the true one. Meyer, who understands it all of shepherds alone, finds great difficulty in the interpretation of the latter words: shall go in and out before the sheep, and find pasture for them.
Joh 10:10 shews the gracious intent of the Saviour in this;-to give life, and in abundance. This verse forms the transition from Him as , to Him as . He is here set in opposition to (see on Joh 10:8), and thus insensibly passes into the place of a , who has been hitherto thus opposed. Then the binds on to -and . .: q. d. not merely as a door to pass through, but actively, abundantly, to bestow abundance of life. We are thus prepared for (Joh 10:11) the announcement of Himself as -the great antagonist of -the pattern and Head of all good shepherds, as he of all thieves and robbers: the Messiah, in His best known and most loving office: cf. Eze 34:11-16; Eze 34:23; Eze 37:24, and Isa 40:11. But He is . . in this verse, as having most eminently the qualities of a good shepherd, one of which is to lay down His life for the sheep. These words here are not so much a prophecy, as a declaration, implying however that which Joh 10:15 asserts explicitly.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 10:8. , as many as have come) The subsequent verb, , are, in the present, indicates that , have come, is to be taken of time just past;[265] and of the peculiar course of others, to which is opposed the by Me [if any man enter in, he shall be saved], Joh 10:9. The expression, who have come, is used as at 2Co 11:4, whosoever cometh [lit. he who cometh, If he that cometh preacheth another Jesus]. Nor does He exclude those thieves and robbers, who also unquestionably had come after Jesus, not merely those who had come before Jesus: as many, namely, as between the beginning of His preaching and the time of this parabolic discourse, which was spoken a little before His passion, had arrogated to themselves the office of teaching among the Jews, after the example of their predecessors.-, thieves) stealthily, appropriating others goods, to their own gain.-, robbers) openly, taking away life, to the ruin of the sheep.- ) but, although these robbers and thieves offered themselves, the sheep did not hear them: ch. Joh 7:46, [The officers and Nicodemus not suffering themselves to be led blindly by the Pharisees] Never man spake like this Man; Mat 7:29, He taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes; Joh 9:36, He was moved with compassion on the multitude-because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
[265] It is in conformity with this, that as well the margin of both Editions, declares the note of time, , to be reading not well established, as also the Germ. Vers. altogether omits it.-E. B.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 10:8
Joh 10:8
All that came before me are thieves and robbers:-All that came before him claiming to be Christs in and through whom they could enter the fold of God were thieves and robbers [for the reason they did not fulfill the prophecies relating to Christ. Instead of entering in through the door, they climbed up some other way.]
but the sheep did not hear them.-[Those who were prepared for Christ came to him in spite of them as did the blind man of the previous chapter. They are goats, not true sheep, that wander off after false teachers.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
came: Joh 10:1, Isa 56:10-12, Eze 22:25-28, Eze 34:2, Zep 3:3, Zec 11:4-9, Zec 11:16, Act 5:36
but: Joh 10:5, Joh 10:27
Reciprocal: Luk 2:8 – abiding Joh 10:4 – for Joh 12:6 – because
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8
This verse was true from a general standpoint. It would include the cases mentioned in Act 5:36-37, and also the false prophets and false Christs who rose up from time to time and claimed to be the fulfillers of the law and the prophets. To the extent of their success in misleading people, they were robbers. But others were well enough acquainted with the Old Testament that they were not deceived, and they “turned a deaf ear” to the impostors.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
[All that ever came before me are thieves.] Our Saviour speaks agreeably with the Scripture; where, when there is any mention of the coming of this great Shepherd to undertake the charge of the flock, the evil shepherds that do not feed but destroy the flock are accused, Jer 23:1; etc. Eze 34:2; etc. Zec 11:16. And our Saviour strikes at those three shepherds before mentioned, that hated him, and were hated by him, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Essenes, under whose conduct the nation had been so erroneously led for some ages.
I should have believed that those words, All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers; might be understood of those who, having arrogated to themselves the name of the Messiah, obtruded themselves upon the people; but that we shall hardly, or not at all, find an instance of any that ever did so before the true Messiah came. After his coming (it is true) there were very many that assumed the name and title; but before it hardly one. Judas the Galilean did not arrive to that impudence, as you have his story in Josephus. Nor yet Theudas, by any thing that may be gathered from the words of Gamaliel, Acts_5.
An argument of no mean force, which we may use against the Jews, that the time when our Jesus did appear was the very time wherein the nation looked for the coming of Messiah. For why did no one arrogate that name to himself before the coming of our Jesus? Because they knew the fore-appointed and the expected time of the Messiah was not yet come. And why, after Jesus had come, did so many give themselves out for Messiah, according to what our Saviour foretold, Matthew_24? Because the agreeableness of the time, and the expectation of the people, might serve and assist their pretences.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 10:8. All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. In the similitude of the door, Jesus had declared that it was through Him alone that the flocks could come out of the Jewish fold into the pastures into which they had longed to enter; and this was a truth not depending only upon His proclamation of it, but lying in the very essence of the Old Testament dispensation. The prophecies had fixed the thoughts of all true Israelites on Him that cometh, and had shown them that until His coming their hopes could not be fulfilled. But some had forgotten this, and had falsely claimed the place that belonged to Jesus, each deceiver pretending that he himself was the medium through which Gods people were to be led to the satisfaction of their hopes. But those who trusted in God and waited patiently for Him were kept by Him from these deceivers: the sheep did not hear them.
Such is the general sense of this verse; it is less easy to fill up the outline it presents. We may well wonder that any should have thought that the words all that came before me might include the prophets of the former dispensation; for the context most clearly proves that Jesus is speaking of those who came before Him, professing to be the door of the sheep. The word came, indeed, can hardly be interpreted without the thought of that designation so peculiarly belonging to Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, He that cometh. No one else has a right thus to say I come, I have come, I came. The idea of taking the work of Jesus in hand lies in came. When, accordingly, setting aside the thought of all true prophets, we ask who they are to whom this description applies, we naturally think, in the first instance, of false Messiahs, of whom many appeared in Jewish history. It may be said that we have no record of a claim to Messiahship earlier than the time when these words were spoken. This answer contains too positive an assertion. There is reason for believing that Judas of Galilee (mentioned in Act 5:37) was regarded by some as the Christ; and Gamaliels words respecting Theudas (Act 5:36) may very possibly cover a similar assumption. The Gospels reveal a state of Messianic hope out of which such deception might easily arise. That popular insurrections were continually occurring is a notorious fact; and if Josephus, our chief authority for the history of this period, fails to give us a careful account of the religious hopes that were fostered by the leaders of revolt, his character and aims as a historian are a sufficient explanation of his silence. But whether the thought of false Messiahs is admissible or not, the meaning of the words must extend much farther, and must embrace all who had sought to turn the people from waiting for the promise which God had given, or had substituted other principles of national life for the hope of the Messiah. Such had long been the practical effect of the rule and teaching of Pharisees and Sadducees. These men had sat in the seat of Moses to make void the law and to extinguish the promise by their vain traditions, and for their selfish ends; and they are certainly, perhaps mainly, thought of here.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 8
All that ever came before me, &c. It is plain, from the connection, that Jesus is speaking of the Pharisees and leading Jews; but how this very general expression can be grammatically limited to them in its application does not appear.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
10:8 {2} All that {c} ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
(2) It does not matter how many false teachers there have been, neither how old they have been.
(c) These terms must be applied to the matter he speaks of. And therefore when he calls himself the door, he calls all those thieves and robbers who take upon themselves this name of “door”, which none of the prophets can do, for they showed the sheep that Christ was the door.