John 10:39 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

NIV: Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

NASB: Therefore they were seeking again to arrest Him, and He eluded their grasp.

CSB: Then they were trying again to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

NLT: Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them.

KJV: Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,

NKJV: Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

This statement is both amazing and frustrating. According to prior verses, Jesus was walking in a specific part of the temple, the colonnade of Solomon. This was a porch-like structure, on the eastern side of the temple grounds, consisting of a roof supported by columns. One side of this walkway was open to the temple area. The other was blocked by a solid wall in some places, or ended in a steep drop in others. This means that Jesus was in an area from which there was no "escape" if cornered. According to the prior verses, the hostile crowd pressed in on Jesus, using a Greek word related to the siege of a city (John 10:22–24). They apparently came looking for blood, since they lift stones to throw (John 10:31). Since they are standing in an area where there would have been no stones to pick up, they brought the stones with them.

Jesus partly diffuses the mob by turning their own approach to Scripture against them. He shows that His words need to be judged according to His actions. And, that His actions—His miracles—clearly prove He is divinely empowered (John 10:34–38). All the same, the men try again to seize Jesus.

Despite being surrounded by men with murder on their mind, and in an area with no outlet, this verse simply says Jesus "escaped from their hands." This is not the first time such attempts have failed (John 5:13; 7:30; 8:20; 8:59). This is, however, the first time when the situation strongly suggests a supernatural element to the escape. Whether this was, in fact, a miracle, or there was some other interruption, John chooses not to say. For whatever reason, that information must not have served his purposes in writing this gospel. As other verses indicate, we can know "why" Jesus escaped: it wasn't yet the time God appointed for His death. We can't know "how," simply because we're not told.

John 10:22–42 happens a few months after the controversy described in chapter 9 through the first half of chapter 10. Here, Jesus is cornered, in an overt threat, by the same religious leaders He has been castigating for years. He echoes the metaphors of sheep and shepherd He employed after giving sight to a blind man. Jesus points out that His teachings and miracles are all consistent with predictions of the Messiah, but these men refuse to accept Him. This culminates in another attempt on Jesus' life, which He somehow avoids. This represents the last time Jesus will publicly teach prior to His crucifixion.

This passage continues Jesus' discussion with the religious leaders of Jerusalem, seen in chapter 9. Jesus lays out three separate analogies about His ministry, using the concept of sheep and shepherds. In those statements, Jesus explains why some people refuse to accept Him, declares Himself the only means of salvation, and again predicts His sacrificial death. This leads to controversy. Later, Jesus is cornered by a mob in the temple grounds. They once again try to stone Him as He repeats His divine claims, but He escapes in some way not fully described by the text. After this, Jesus leaves the area and returns to the region where John the Baptist had once preached.

Starting in chapter 7, the gospel of John describes Jesus' preaching at the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. Through chapters 7 and 8, He debates with critics and attempts to explain spiritual truths. On the way out of the city, Jesus gives sight to a man born blind, as shown in chapter 9. That begins an extended debate which continues in this chapter. Jesus gives analogies of His mission using shepherding as a theme. Months later, He repeats those ideas when cornered by an aggressive mob in the temple. This sets the stage for His grandest miracle, the raising of Lazarus, seen in chapter 11.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.