The Meaning of John 10:10 Explained

John 10:10

KJV: 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.

YLT: 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.

Darby: The thief comes not but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does John 10:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Impostors" aims are ultimately selfish and destructive, but Jesus came to give life, not take it.
"The world still seeks its humanistic, political saviours-its Hitlers, its Stalins, its Maos, its Pol Pots-and only too late does it learn that they blatantly confiscate personal property (they come "only to steal"), ruthlessly trample human life under foot (they come "only ... to kill"), and contemptuously savage all that is valuable (they come "only ... to destroy")." [1]
Jesus on the other hand not only came to bring spiritual life to people, but He came to bring the best quality of life to them. The eternal life that Jesus imparts is not just long, but it is also rich. He did not just come to gain sheep but to enable His sheep to flourish and to enjoy contentment and every other legitimately good thing possible.

Context Summary

John 10:7-18 - Jesus The Good Shepherd
He who came in by the door which John the Baptist opened has become the door. It stands open to all comers-if any man. The salvation here mentioned refers to the entire process of soul-health: go in for fellowship; go out for service.
Wherever destruction is uppermost in speech or act, you may detect the presence of the great enemy of souls. Christ is ever constructive, saving, life-giving. Let us not be content until our life has become abundant life. Our life cost the Shepherd's life. He did not hesitate to interpose Himself between the sheep and the wolf of hell. There is possible between our Lord and ourselves an intimacy of knowledge which can be compared to nothing less than that which subsists between the Father and Himself.
Note how our Lord looked beyond the hurdles of the Jewish fold and thought tenderly of the Gentile sheep that were far away. In the revelation committed to the Apostle Paul He gave vent to His love, and through the succeeding centuries He has ever sought them. There may be many folds, but there can be only one flock. Men die because they cannot help it; Christ was born that He might die; He died because He would. [source]

Chapter Summary: John 10

1  Jesus is the door, and the good shepherd
19  Diverse opinions of him
23  He proves by his works that he is Jesus the Son of God;
31  escapes the Jews;
39  and goes again beyond Jordan, where many believe on him

Greek Commentary for John 10:10

But that he may steal, and kill, and destroy [ει μη ινα κλεπσηι και τυσηι και απολεσηι]
Literally, “except that” Note the order of the verbs. Stealing is the purpose of the thief, but he will kill and destroy if necessary just like the modern bandit or gangster. I came that they may have life In sharp contrast And may have it abundantly Repetition of εχωσιν — echōsin (may keep on having) abundance Xenophon (Anab. VII. vi. 31) uses περισσον εχειν — perisson echein “to have a surplus,” true to the meaning of overflow from περι — peri (around) seen in Paul‘s picture of the overplus (υπερεπερισσευσεν — hupereperisseusen in Romans 5:20) of grace. Abundance of life and all that sustains life, Jesus gives. [source]
The thief [ὁ κλέπτης]
Christ puts Himself in contrast with the meaner criminal. [source]
I am come [ἦλθον]
More correctly, I came. I am come would be the perfect tense. [source]
More abundantly [περισσὸν]
Literally, may have abundance. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 10:10

John 12:47 Came [ἦλθον]
The aorist tense, pointing to the purpose of the coming, as I am come (John 12:46) to the result. Compare John 8:14; John 9:39; John 10:10; John 12:27, John 12:47; John 15:22. Both tenses are found in John 8:42; John 16:28. [source]
John 1:4 In Him was life [ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν]
He was the fountain of life - physical, moral, and eternal - its principle and source. Two words for life are employed in the New Testament: βίος and ζωὴ . The primary distinction is that ζωὴ means existence as contrasted with death, and βίος , the period, means, or manner of existence. Hence βίος is originally the higher word, being used of men, while ζωὴ is used of animals ( ζῶα ). We speak therefore of the discussion of the life and habits of animals as zoo logy; and of accounts of men's lives as bio graphy. Animals have the vital principle in common with men, but men lead lives controlled by intellect and will, and directed to moral and intellectual ends. In the New Testament, βίος means either living, i.e., means of subsistence (Mark 12:44; Luke 8:43), or course of life, life regarded as an economy (Luke 8:14; 1 Timothy 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:4). Ζωὴ occurs in the lower sense of life, considered principally or wholly as existence (1 Peter 3:10; Acts 8:33; Acts 17:25; Hebrews 7:3). There seems to be a significance in the use of the word in Luke 16:25: “Thou in thy lifetime ( ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου ) receivedst thy good things;” the intimation being that the rich man's life had been little better than mere existence, and not life at all in the true sense. But throughout the New Testament ζωὴ is the nobler word, seeming to have changed places with βίος . It expresses the sum of mortal and eternal blessedness (Matthew 25:46; Luke 18:30; John 11:25; Acts 2:28; Romans 5:17; Romans 6:4), and that not only in respect of men, but also of God and Christ. So here. Compare John 5:26; John 14:6; 1 John 1:2. This change is due to the gospel revelation of the essential connection of sin with death, and consequently, of life with holiness. “Whatever truly lives, does so because sin has never found place in it, or, having found place for a time, has since been overcome and expelled” (Trench). Ζωὴ is a favorite word with John. See John 11:25; John 14:6; John 8:12; 1 John 1:2; 1 John 5:20; John 6:35, John 6:48; John 6:63; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1, Revelation 22:17; Revelation 7:17; John 4:14; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2, Revelation 22:14, Revelation 22:19; John 12:50; John 17:3; John 20:31; John 5:26; John 6:53, John 6:54; John 5:40; John 3:15, John 3:16, John 3:36; John 10:10; John 5:24; John 12:25; John 6:27; John 4:36; 1 John 5:12, 1 John 5:16; John 6:51.Was the Light of men ( ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων )Passing from the thought of creation in general to that of mankind, who, in the whole range of created things, had a special capacity for receiving the divine. The Light - the peculiar mode of the divine operation upon men, conformably to their rational and moral nature which alone was fitted to receive the light of divine truth. It is not said that the Word was light, but that the life was the light. The Word becomes light through the medium of life, of spiritual life, just as sight is a function of physical life. Compare John 14:6, where Christ becomes the life through being the truth; and Matthew 5:8, where the pure heart is the medium through which God is beheld. In whatever mode of manifestation the Word is in the world, He is the light of the world; in His works, in the dawn of creation; in the happy conditions of Eden; in the Patriarchs, in the Law and the Prophets, in His incarnation, and in the subsequent history of the Church. Compare John 9:5. Of men, as a class, and not of individuals only. [source]
1 Corinthians 15:45 Quickening spirit [πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν]
Rev., life-giving. Not merely living, but imparting life. Compare John 1:4; John 3:36; John 5:26, John 5:40; John 6:33, John 6:35; John 10:10; John 11:25; John 14:6. The period at which Christ became a quickening Spirit is the resurrection, after which His body began to take on the characteristics of a spiritual body. See Romans 6:4; 1 Peter 1:21. [source]
1 John 5:11 Eternal life [ζωην αιωνιον]
Anarthrous emphasizing quality, but with the article in 1 John 1:2.In his Son (εν τωι υιωι αυτου — en tōi huiōi autou). This life and the witness also. This is why Jesus who is life (John 14:6) came to give us abundant life (John 10:10). [source]
1 John 5:11 In his Son [εν τωι υιωι αυτου]
This life and the witness also. This is why Jesus who is life (John 14:6) came to give us abundant life (John 10:10). [source]

What do the individual words in John 10:10 mean?

The thief not comes if not that he might steal and might kill might destroy I came life they may have abundantly may have [it]
κλέπτης οὐκ ἔρχεται εἰ μὴ ἵνα κλέψῃ καὶ θύσῃ ἀπολέσῃ ἐγὼ ἦλθον ζωὴν ἔχωσιν περισσὸν ἔχωσιν

κλέπτης  thief 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: κλέπτης  
Sense: an embezzler, pilferer.
ἔρχεται  comes 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
κλέψῃ  he  might  steal 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: κλέπτω  
Sense: to steal.
θύσῃ  might  kill 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: θύω 
Sense: to sacrifice, immolate.
ἀπολέσῃ  might  destroy 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀπόλλυμι  
Sense: to destroy.
ἦλθον  came 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
ζωὴν  life 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ζωή  
Sense: life.
ἔχωσιν  they  may  have 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἔχω  
Sense: to have, i.e. to hold.
περισσὸν  abundantly 
Parse: Adverb
Root: περισσός  
Sense: exceeding some number or measure or rank or need.
ἔχωσιν  may  have  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἔχω  
Sense: to have, i.e. to hold.