Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’
Parallel Translations
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Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’
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Iesus answered them: Is it not written in youre lawe: I saye ye are goddes?
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Iesus answered them, Is it not written in your Lawe, I sayd, Ye are gods?
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to John 10:34 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 82:6-7 I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.”
- Exodus 7:1 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.
- Psalms 82:1 God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.
- Exodus 4:16 He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.
- Psalms 138:1 I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 34. Is it not written in your Law? He…
34. Is it not written in your Law? He clears himself of the crime charged against him, not by denying that he is the Son of God, but by maintaining that he had justly said so. Yet he adapts his reply to the persons, instead of giving a full explanation of the fact; for he reckoned it enough for the present to expose their malice. In what sense he called himself the Son of God he does not explain fully, but states indirectly. The argument which he employs is not drawn from equals, but from the less to the greater.
I said, You are gods. Scripture gives the name of gods to those on whom God has conferred an honorable office. He whom God has separated, to be distinguished above all others, is far more worthy of this honorable title. Hence it follows, that they are malicious and false expounders of Scripture, who admit the first, but take offense at the second. The passage which Christ quotes is in Psalm 82:6,
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I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High;
where God expostulates with the kings and judges of the earth, who tyrannically abuse their authority and power for their own sinful passions, for oppressing the poor, and for every evil action. He reproaches them that, unmindful of Him from whom they received so great dignity, they profane the name of God. Christ applies this to the case in hand, that they receive the name of gods, because they are God’s ministers for governing the world. For the same reason Scripture calls the angels gods, because by them the glory of God beams forth on the world. We must attend to the mode of expression:
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in…
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Ver. 34. In your law] So he calls it, to show that there was no necessity on his part to prove what he delivered by any Scripture, since he was to be believed on his bare word, αυτοπιστος; but for their sakes only he did it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This was written, Psa 82:6. The whole Scripture of…
This was written, Psa 82:6. The whole Scripture of the Old Testament, being wrote by holy men, inspired of God, and directive of men’s conversation before men, and towards God, is sometimes called the law, Psa 19:7. It was spoken concerning magistrates, and the governors of God’s people, who, being God’s deputies and vicegerents, intrusted to execute the judgments and vengeance of God, are dignified with the name of gods.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Here our Saviour by a two-fold argument vindicates himself…
Here our Saviour by a two-fold argument vindicates himself from the imputation of blasphemy, in assertion himself to be God.
1. Because the Old Testament gave to magistrates and judges the title of gods, I have said ye are gods Psa 82:6. Now Christ argues strongly from the less to the greater, thus: "If judges and magistrates may be called gods, because they are commissioned by him, and derive their authority from him, how much more is that title due to me, who was sanctified, separated, and ordained for a Mediator, and appointed to the work of redemption, before I came into the world, and consequently was God from all eternity?"
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This place the Socinians (whose professed adversaries of our Saviour’s godhead) produce to prove, that Christ was not God by nature, but only in respect of his sanctification and mission. It is a certain truth, that he was not therefore the Son of God, because sanctified and sent. His sanctification was not the ground of his sonship; but his sonship was the cause of his sanctification. Christ was not therefore God’s Son, because he was sanctified and sent; but he was therefore sanctified and sent, because he was his Son. He was a Son before he was sent, even from eternity, otherwise, it must have been said, that God sent him to be his Son, and not that God sent his Son. This supposes him before he was sent out have been actually his Son, as certainly he was, from before the foundation of the world. Pro 8:25 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the world was.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If he called them gods, unto whom the word…
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came,.... The Syriac version reads, "because the word of God came to them"; either the divine "Logos", the essential word, the Son of God, who appeared to Moses, and made him a God to Pharaoh, and who appointed rulers and magistrates among the Jews; and who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords, from whom all receive their power and dominion: this sense is favoured by the Ethiopic version, which renders it, "if he called them gods to whom God appeared, the word of God was with them": or else the commission from God, authorizing them to act in the capacity of rulers and governors, is here meant; or rather the word of God, which, in the passage of Scripture cited, calls them so, as it certainly does:
and the Scripture cannot be broken; or be made null and void; whatever that says is true, there is no contradicting it, or objecting to it: it is a Jewish way of speaking, much used in the Talmud (y); when one doctor has produced an argument, or instance, in any point of debate, another says, , "it may be broken"; or objected to, in such and such a manner, and be refuted: but the Scripture cannot be broken, that is not to be objected to, there can be no confutation of that.
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(y) T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 4. 1. & Becorot, fol. 32. 1. & passim.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Psalm lxxxii, 6.
Psalm lxxxii, 6.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 34. Is it not written in your law]…
Verse 34. Is it not written in your law] The words which our Lord quotes are taken from Ps 82:6, which shows that, under the word law, our Lord comprised the Jewish sacred writings in general. See also Joh 12:34; Joh 15:25.
Ye are gods?] That is, judges, who are called אלהים elohim. That judges are here meant appears from Ps 82:2, &c., and also from what follows here. And this is probably the only place where the word אלהים is applied to any but the true God. See Parkhurst under the root אלה.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Jesus answered them - The answer of Jesus consists…
Jesus answered them - The answer of Jesus consists of two parts. The first Joh 10:34-36 shows that they ought not to object to his use of the word God, even if he were no more than a man. The second Joh 10:37-38 repeats substantially what he had before said, left the same impression, and in proof of it he appealed to his works.
Joh 10:34
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In your law - Psa 82:6. The word “law” here, is used to include the Old Testament.
I said - The Psalmist said, or God said by the Psalmist.
Ye are gods - This was said of magistrates on account of the dignity and honor of their office, and it shows that the Hebrew word translated “god,” אלהים ̀elohiym, in that place might be applied to man. Such a use of the word is, however, rare. See instances in Exo 7:1; Exo 4:16.
Joh 10:35
Unto whom the word of God came - That is, who were his servants, or who received their dignity and honor only because the law of God was intrusted to them. “The Word of God” here means the command of God; his commission to them to do justice.
The scripture cannot be broken - See Mat 5:19. The authority of the Scripture is final; it cannot be set aside. The meaning is, “If, therefore, the Scripture uses the word “god” אלהים ̀elohiym as applied to magistrates, it settles the question that it is right to apply the term to those in office and authority. If applied to them, it may be to others in similar offices. It cannot, therefore, be blasphemy to use this word as applicable to a personage so much more exalted than mere magistrates as the Messiah.”
Joh 10:36
Whom the Father hath sanctified - The word “sanctify” with us means to make holy; but this is not its meaning here, for the Son of God was always holy. The original word means to set apart from a common to a sacred use; to devote to a sacred purpose, and to designate or consecrate to a holy office. This is the meaning here. God has consecrated or appointed his Son to be his Messenger or Messiah to mankind. See Exo 28:41; Exo 29:1, Exo 29:44; Lev 8:30.
And sent into the world - As the Messiah, an office far more exalted than that of magistrates.
I am the Son of God - This the Jews evidently understood as the same as saying that he was equal with God. This expression he had often applied to himself. The meaning of this place may be thus expressed: “You charge me with blasphemy. The foundation of that charge is the use of the name God, or the Son of God, applied to myself; yet that same term is applied in the Scriptures to magistrates. The use of it there shows that it is right to apply it to those who sustain important offices (see the notes of Joh 10:34-35). And especially you, Jews, ought not to attempt to found a charge of blasphemy on the application of a word to the Messiah which in your own Scriptures is applied to all magistrates. And we may remark here:
That Jesus did not deny that he meant to apply the term to himself. He did not deny that it was properly applied to him. He did not deny that it implied that he was God. He affirmed only that they were inconsistent, and were not authorized to bring a charge of blasphemy for the application of the name to himself.
Joh 10:37
The works of my Father - The very works that my Father does. See Joh 5:17; “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” See the note on that place. The works of his Father are those which God only can do. As Jesus did them, it shows that the name “Son of God,” implying equality with God, was properly applied to him. This shows conclusively that he meant to be understood as claiming to be equal with God. So the Jews naturally understood him Joh 10:39, and they were left with this impression on their minds.
Joh 10:38
Believe the works - Though you do not credit me, yet consider my works, for they prove that I came from God. No one could do them unless he was sent of God.
Father is in me ... - Most intimately connected. See Joh 5:36. This expression denotes most intimate union - such as can exist in no other case. See Mat 11:27; Notes, Joh 17:21.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain This is addressed to princes established to govern the…
This is addressed to princes established to govern the people of God. They are the image of God on earth by the authority they exercise, and which they have received from Him. --- Is it not written in you law, (under which were also comprehended the Psalms) I have said: you are Gods? &c. Christ here stops the mouths of the Jews, by an argument which they could not answer, that sometimes they were called Gods, who acted by God’s authority. I have said: you are Gods. (Psalm lxxxi. 6.) But then he immediately declares, that it is not in this sense only that he is God. 1st, Because he has been sanctified by the Father, which St. Augustine and others understand of that infinite sanctification, which he has necessarily by always proceeding from the Father. Others expound it of a greater sanctity and fulness of grace above all other saints, given to him, even as he was man. But 2ndly, he adds at the same time, and confirms what he had often told them, that he was the Son of God, sent into the world: that his works shew that he was in the Father, and the Father in him. by this they saw that he was far from recalling or contradicting what he had said before. And therefore (ver. 30.) they sought to apprehend him, and put him to death for blasphemy. (Witham) --- Eloim, which name of God was so called from judging, and may be interpreted judges. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Is it not written in your law--in Psa 82:6,…
Is it not written in your law--in Psa 82:6, respecting judges or magistrates.
Ye are gods--being the official representatives and commissioned agents of God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 34-38. In this answer Jesus shows, 1. That it…
34-38. In this answer Jesus shows, 1. That it is perfectly sustained by the Old Testament, that the term god is and may be extended down from God to one “being a man,” so that it is no blasphemy to suppose that it includes his human person. But, 2. He has a supernatural claim to the divine, running upward they know not how high. 3. His works, performed in unison with his words, authenticate from God whatever claims he presumes to make. If his works are from God, then his words are from the Father. And, then, his sonship is demonstrated. Thus does this argument furnish a bridge for these Jews to admit his divinity; a bridge leading upward, indefinitely high; nay, if so be, infinitely. Nothing but their unchanging preference for a human hero-Messiah prevents their ascending the bridge he presents with the step of a firm faith.
34. Law… gods—In the term law, here, the Psalms are, according to Jewish custom, included. Jesus here quotes Psa_82:6 : “I have said ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High; but ye shall die like men.” The words are addressed to judicial magistrates of Israel or of the earth. Similarly Homer styles the Grecian princes god-born. As they are divinely authorized, have a divine work of justice to do, are the images of the divine Judge, so the term of divinity is conferred upon them. Government is from God; and every good man sustains the magistrate with a respect for his office.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 34. in your law] ‘Law’ is here used in…
34. in your law] ‘Law’ is here used in its widest sense for the whole of the Old Testament; so also in Joh_12:34 and Joh_15:25; in all three places the passage referred to is in the Psalms. Comp. Joh_7:19, 1Co_14:21. The force of the pronoun is, ‘for which you profess to have such a regard:’ comp. Joh_8:17. On the Greek for ‘is it written’ see on Joh_2:17.
I said, Ye are gods] The argument is both à fortiori and ad hominem. In the Scriptures (Psa_82:6) even unjust rulers are called ‘gods’ on the principle of the theocracy, that rulers are the delegates and representatives of God (comp. Exo_22:28). If this is admissible without blasphemy, how much more may He call Himself ‘Son of God.’
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34–38. Christ answers the formal charge of blasphemy by a formal argument on the other side.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (34) Is it not written in your law?—Comp. Note…
(34) Is it not written in your law?—Comp. Note on Joh_8:17. The passage here quoted is in Psa_82:6, but the term “Law” is here used in a wide sense for the whole of the Old Testament. There are other examples of this usage in Joh_7:49; Joh_12:34; Joh_15:25; Rom_3:19; 1Co_14:21.
I said, Ye are gods?—In the Hebrew of the Psalm, as in the Greek here, the pronoun is emphatic. “I myself said, Ye are gods?” The words are probably to be understood in the Psalm as spoken by God, who sits in judgment on the judges whom He had appointed, and gives the name of “gods” (Elohim) as representing Himself. See Exo_4:16; Exo_7:1; Exo_18:15; Exo_21:6; Exo_22:8; Exo_22:28; Deu_1:17; 1Sa_28:13; Psa_8:5; Psa_45:6; and comp. Perowne’s Notes on Psalms 82, and article “God,” in Kitto’s Biblical Cyclopœdia, Ed. 3, vol. ii., p. 144 et seq.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The justification of Jesus which follows is often supposed…
The justification of Jesus which follows is often supposed to be a retraction of the claim a repudiation of the inference which the Jews drew from the words recorded in ver. 30. On the contrary, our Lord took up one illustration from among many in Holy Scripture, that the union between man and God lay at the heart of their (nomov) Law. True, he quoted from Psa_82:6 with reference to the high official title given by the Holy Spirit to the false and tyrannical judges of the old covenant. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your Law? The Psalms are here spoken of as "the Law," showing that they did form part of the revelation and law of the Divine kingdom. (Joh_7:49 Joh_12:34 Joh_15:25) Jesus does not imply that the Law was theirs and not his. There is not a shadow of disrespect cast on the Law by the pronoun, but such an identification of it with his hearers that they ought, by its aid, to have been saved from utterly misconceiving his words I said, Ye are gods (elohim, yeoi). To stand in close relation with the theocracy was to be covered with its glory. He seems to force upon them thus a host of similar blendings of the Divine and human in the age-long preparation for himself, and to free all these from the suspicion of blasphemy. The Hebrew thought was really calculated to prepare the world for this high intercommunion, not to abolish it. Judaism, rabbinism, had widened the chasm between God and man. Christ came to fill up the chasm; nay more, to show the Divine and human in living, indissoluble union.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 34–36. Is it not written in your law. In…
34–36. Is it not written in your law. In Psa. 82. I said, Ye are gods? It was there addressed to judges. Christ's argument is: If your law calls judges gods, why should I be held guilty of blasphemy for saying that I am the Son of God?
Sanctified. Set apart.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Is it not written ... gods"'?
Is it not written ... gods"'?
This remark appears in the form of a question to add emphasis. AT: "You should already know that it is written in your law that I said, 'you are gods.'" (See: Rhetorical Question)
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You are gods
Here Jesus quotes a scripture where God calls his followers "gods," perhaps because he has chosen them to represent him on earth.
the word of God came
Jesus speaks of God's message as though it were a person who moved toward those who heard it. AT: "God spoke his message"
the scripture cannot be broken
Possible meanings are 1) "no one can change the scripture" or 2) "the scripture will always be true."
do you say to him whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
Jesus used this question to rebuke his opponents for saying that he was blaspheming when he called himself "the Son of God." AT: "you should not say to the very one whom the Father set apart to send into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' when I say that I am the Son of God!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
You are blaspheming
"You are insulting God." Jesus' opponents understood that when said that he is the Son of God, he was implying that he is equal with God.
Father ... Son of God
These are important titles that describe the relationship between God and Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)
translationWords
written
law
set apart
world
blasphemy
Son of God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:34-36 I say, you are gods! If the word…
10:34-36 I say, you are gods! If the word god could be applied to people other than the Lord, then Jesus was not breaking the law by referring to himself in this way. Yet Jesus is not just any son of God; he is the Son of God who was sent . . . into the world.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.