John 10:10 - Jesus the Good Shepherd (2024)

New International Version
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.New Living Translation
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.English Standard Version
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.Berean Standard Bible
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.Berean Literal Bible
The thief comes only that he might steal and might kill and might destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.King James Bible
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.New King James Version
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.New American Standard Bible
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.NASB 1995
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.NASB 1977
“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.Legacy Standard Bible
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.Amplified Bible
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].Christian Standard Bible
A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.Holman Christian Standard Bible
A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. American Standard Version
The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“But a thief does not come except to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have whatever is abundant.”Contemporary English Version
A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so everyone would have life, and have it fully. Douay-Rheims Bible
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly. English Revised Version
The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.GOD'S WORD® Translation
A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need.Good News Translation
The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life--life in all its fullness. International Standard Version
The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I've come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.Literal Standard Version
The thief does not come, except that he may steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life, and may have [it] abundantly.Majority Standard Bible
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.New American Bible
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.NET Bible
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. New Revised Standard Version
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.New Heart English Bible
The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.Webster's Bible Translation
The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.Weymouth New Testament
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have Life, and may have it in abundance.World English Bible
The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. Young's Literal Translation
The thief doth not come, except that he may steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.Additional Translations ...

(10) The thief cometh not, but for to steal.--Comp. Notes on John 10:1; John 10:8. The description of the thief is opposed to that of the shepherd, who constantly goes in and out and finds pasture. His visits are but rare, and when he comes it is but for his own selfish purposes, and for the ruin of the flock. Each detail of his cruel work is dwelt upon, to bring out in all the baseness of its extent the corresponding spiritual truth.

I am come that they might have life.--More exactly, I came that they might have life. The pronoun should be emphasised. I came, as opposed to the thief. He does not further dwell upon the shepherd, but passes on to the thought of Himself, and thereby prepares the way for the thought of Himself as the Good Shepherd in the following verse. The object of His coming is the direct opposite of that of the thief, who comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. He came once for all, that in Him the sheep may have life. (Comp. John 6:50-51.) The Sinaitic MS. inserts the word "eternal" here--"that they might have life eternal." The word is probably not part of the original text, and the thought is rather of the present spiritual life which every believer now hath, and which will issue in eternal life. But comp. Note on John 10:28.

And that they might have it more abundantly.--Better, and that they might have it abundantly. The word "more" is an insertion of the English version without any authority, and it weakens the sense. It is not that a greater is compared with a less abundance, but that the abundance of life which results through Christ's coming is contrasted with the spiritual wants and death which He came to remove. This life is through Him given to men abundantly, overflowingly. We are reminded of the Shepherd-King's Psalm singing of the "green pastures," and "waters of rest," and "prepared table," and "overflowing cup"; and carrying all this into the region of the spiritual life we come again to the opening words of this Gospel, "And of His fulness did we all receive, and grace for grace" . . . "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17). . . .

Verse 10. - The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy. Christ, elaborating, evolving, what is contained in the image of "thief," regards his rival as the thief of souls; he whose pretension to be a way to God is based on no inward and eternal reality, who comes for no other purpose than to make the sheep his own, not to give them pasture; to sacrifice them to his selfish ends, to use them for his own purposes, not to deal with them graciously for theirs; but to destroy, since in the pursuit of his selfish ends he wastes both life and pasture. A terrible impeachment, this of all who have not recognized the true Door into the sheepfold, who would shut up the way of life that they may exalt their own order, would diminish the chances of souls in order to secure their own position. This forms the transition to the second interpretation of the parabolic words; for he adds, I came that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly; more even than they can possibly use. This is one of the grandest of our Lord's claims. He gives like God from overflowing stores (Titus 3:6). Those who receive life from him have within them perennial sources of life for others - fullness of being (see notes, John 7:38; John 4:14). One of the differentiae of "life" is "abundance" of supply beyond immediate possibility of use. Life has the future in its arms. Life propagates new life. Life has untold capacities about it - beauty, fragrance, strength, growth, variety, reproduction, resistance to death, continuity, eternity. In the Logos is life - and Christ came to give it, to communicate "life to the non-living, to the dead in trespasses, and to those in their graves" (John 5:26). Parallel Commentaries ...

Greek

The
ὁ (ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

thief
κλέπτης (kleptēs)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2812: A thief. From klepto; a stealer.

comes
ἔρχεται (erchetai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2064: To come, go.

only
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

to
ἵνα (hina)
Conjunction
Strong's 2443: In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.

steal
κλέψῃ (klepsē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2813: To steal. A primary verb; to filch.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

kill
θύσῃ (thysē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2380: A primary verb; properly, to rush, i.e. to sacrifice; by extension to immolate.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

destroy.
ἀπολέσῃ (apolesē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.

I
ἐγὼ (egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

have come
ἦλθον (ēlthon)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2064: To come, go.

that
ἵνα (hina)
Conjunction
Strong's 2443: In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.

they may have
ἔχωσιν (echōsin)
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

life,
ζωὴν (zōēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2222: Life, both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence. From zao; life.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

have [it]
ἔχωσιν (echōsin)
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

in all its fullness.
περισσὸν (perisson)
Adverb
Strong's 4053: From peri; superabundant or superior; by implication, excessive; adverbially violently; neuter preeminence.

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