Jesus answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Jesus answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    Iesus answered them: Have not I chosen you twelve and yet one of you is the devyll?

  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    Iesus answered them, Haue not I chosen you twelue, and one of you is a deuill?

View more translations →

Cross-references (17)

Passages linked to John 6:70 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • John 13:27 After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
  • John 13:2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
  • John 6:64 But there are some of you who don’t believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn’t believe, and who it was who would betray him.
  • John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I have kept those whom you have given me. None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
  • John 13:18 I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’
  • Revelation 3:9-10 Behold, I give some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie—behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
  • Luke 6:13-16 When it was day, he called his disciples, and from them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter; Andrew, his brother; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Simon, who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor.
  • John 8:44 You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
  • John 13:21 When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”
  • John 15:16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
  • John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
  • Acts 1:17 For he was counted with us, and received his portion in this ministry.
  • 1 Timothy 3:11 Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, and faithful in all things.
  • 1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil.
  • Matthew 10:1-4 He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
  • Titus 2:3 and that older women likewise be reverent in behavior, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good,
  • Acts 13:10 and said, “You son of the devil, full of all deceit and all cunning, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

↑ Top

Explain this verse (18 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 70. Jesus answered them. Since Christ replies to all,…

70. Jesus answered them. Since Christ replies to all, we infer from it that all spake by the mouth of Peter. Besides, Christ now prepares and fortifies the eleven apostles against a new offense which was already at hand. It was a powerful instrument of Satan for shaking their faith, when they were reduced to so small a number, but the fall of Judas might take away all their courage; for since Christ had chosen that sacred number, who would ever have thought that any portion of the whole number could be torn away? That admonition of Christ may be interpreted thus: “You twelve alone remain out of a large company. If your faith has not been shaken by the unbelief of many, prepare for a new contest; for this company, though small, will be still diminished by one man.”

Have not I chosen you twelve? When Christ says that he has chosen or elected twelve, he does not refer to the eternal purpose of God; for it is impossible that any one of those who have been predestinated to life shall fall away; but, having been chosen to the apostolic office, they ought to have surpassed others in piety and holiness. He used the word chosen, therefore, to denote those who were eminent and distinguished from the ordinary rank.

Read full note →

And one of you is a devil. He unquestionably intended, by this name, to hold up Judas to the utmost detestation; for they are mistaken who extenuate the atrocity implied in the name and indeed we cannot sufficiently execrate those who dishonor so sacred an office. Teachers who faithfully discharge their office are called angels

They should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the angel of the Lord of Hosts, (Malachi 2:7.)

Justly, therefore, is he accounted a devil, who, after having been admitted to so honorable a rank, is corrupted through his treachery and wickedness. Another reason is, that God allows more power and liberty to Satan over wicked and ungodly ministers, than over other ordinary men; and therefore, if they who were chosen to be pastors are driven by diabolical rage, so as to resemble wild and monstrous beasts, so far are we from being entitled, on that account, to despise the honorable rank to which they belong, that we ought rather to honor it the more, when the profanation of it is followed by so fearful a punishment.

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.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The number of the professors, of Christ is very…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Chosen, not to eternal life, but to the great…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Jesus answered the - And yet even ye have…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 70. Have not I chosen you twelve] Have…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Joh 6:70-71. Jesus answered them — And, yet even…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Have not I chosen you twelve? - There is…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Have not I chosen . . . and one…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 70. Chosen—Our Lord’s reply sifts them down to a…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 70. Have I not chosen you twelve] Or, Did…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (70) One of you is a devil.—But even the…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The answer of the Lord is one of the…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of…
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 70. One of you is a devil. A demon,…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (Greek - διάβολος," adversary, usually trans). Satan. Cf. (See…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:70-71 Once again Jesus demonstrated supernatural knowledge (see 1:47-49;…

↑ Top

Share