John 10:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 10:18
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
not even one (man · adjective — nominative singular masculine
taketh
αἴρειairei
G142
to lift up · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
it
αὐτὴνautēn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
from
ἀπ᾽ap᾽
G575
"off · preposition
me
ἐμοῦemoû
G1700
of me
but
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
I
ἐμοῦ,emou
G1473
I · possessive pronoun
lay
τίθημιtithēmi
G5087
to place (in the widest application · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
it
αὐτὴνautēn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
down
θεῖναιtheinai
G5087
to place (in the widest application · verb — second aorist active infinitive
of
ἀπ᾽ap᾽
G575
"off · preposition
myself
ἐμαυτοῦemautoû
G1683
of myself so likewise the dative case
I have
ἔχωechō
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
power
ἐξουσίανexousian
G1849
privilege · noun — accusative singular feminine
to lay
τίθημιtíthēmi
G5087
to place (in the widest application
it
αὐτὴνautēn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
down
τίθημιtíthēmi
G5087
to place (in the widest application
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
I have
ἔχωechō
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
power
ἐξουσίανexousian
G1849
privilege · noun — accusative singular feminine
to take
λαβεῖνlabein
G2983
while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent · verb — second aorist active infinitive
it
αὐτήν·autēn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
again
πάλινpalin
G3825
(adverbially) anew · adverb
This
ταύτηνtautēn
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — accusative singular feminine
commandment
ἐντολὴνentolēn
G1785
injunction · noun — accusative singular feminine
have I received
ἔλαβονelabon
G2983
while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent · verb — second aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
of
παρὰpara
G3844
properly · preposition
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
Father
πατρόςpatros
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grac…
John 2:19-21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
John 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Isaiah 53:10-12 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, h…
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Hebrews 5:6-9 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 10:1-18
It is not certain whether this discourse was at the feast of dedication in the winter (spoken of Joh 10:22), which may be taken as the date, not only of what follows, but of what goes before (that which countenances this is, that Christ, in his discourse there, carries on the metaphor of the sheep, Joh 10:26, Joh 10:27, whence it seems that that discourse and this were at the same time); or whether this was a continuation of his parley with the Pharisees, in the close of the foregoing chapter. The Pharisees supported themselves in their opposition to Christ with this principle, that they were the pastors of the church, and that Jesus, having no commission from them, was an intruder and an im…
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again--It is impossible for language more plainly and emphatically to express the absolute voluntariness of Christ's death, such a voluntariness as it would be manifest presumption in any mere creature to affirm of his own death. It is beyond all doubt the language of One who was conscious that His life was His own (which no creature's is), and therefore His to surrender or retain at will. Here lay the glory of His sacrifice, that it was purely voluntary. The claim of "power to take it again" is no less important, as showing that His resurrection, though ascribed to the Father, in the…
I have power - Or, authority, εξουσιαν. Our Lord speaks of himself here as man, or the Messiah, as being God's messenger, and sent upon earth to fulfill the Divine will, in dying and rising again for the salvation of men.
This commandment have I received - That is, I act according to the Divine commandment in executing these things, and giving you this information.
John Gill on John 10:18
No man taketh it from me,.... It was indeed taken away at the instigation of the Jews, and by the order of Pilate, and by means of the Roman soldiers, who crucified him; and the former of these are often charged with slaying him, and killing him, the Prince of life; and it is expressly said, "his life is taken from the earth", Acts 8:33; and yet no man could, nor did take it away, without his Father's will, and determinate counsel and knowledge, by which he was delivered up into the hands of the above persons, and by which they did to him what they did, or otherwise they could have had no power over him; nor could any man, nor did any man, take away his life from him, without his own consent…
The Church Fathers
For the Word doth not receive a command by word, but containeth in Himself all the Father's commandments. When the Son is said to receive what He possesseth of Himself, His power is not lessened, but only His generation declared. The Father gave the Son every thing in begetting Him. He begat Him perfect.
"And Jesus, when He had cried with a loud voice, yielded up the Ghost." This is what He said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again," and, "I lay it down of myself." So for this cause He cried with the voice, that it might be shown that the act is done by power. Mark at any rate saith, that "Pilate marvelled if He were already dead:" and that the centurion for this cause above all believed, because He died with power.
That He was not to be overcome of death, nor should remain in Hades. In the twenty-ninth Psalm: "O Lord, Thou hast brought back my soul from hell." Also in the fifteenth Psalm: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." Also in the third Psalm: "I laid me down and slept, and rose up again, because the Lord helped me." Also according to John: "No man taketh away my life from me; but I lay it down of myself. I have the power of laying it down, and I have the power of taking it again. For this commandment I have received from my Father."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Resurrection of Christ — One of the cardinal facts and doctrines of the gospel. If Christ be not risen, our faith is vain (1 Cor. 15:14). The whole of the New Testament revelation rests on this as an historical fact. On the…
Atonement, The · Was voluntary — Was voluntary
Christ Is God · As raising himself from the dead — As raising himself from the dead
Death Of Christ, The · Was voluntary — Was voluntary
Humility Of Christ, The · Exhibited in his: Death — Exhibited in his: Death
Miracles Of Christ, The · His resurrection — His resurrection
Power · .Rising from the — .Rising from the
Power Of Christ, The · Exhibited in: Raising himself from the dead — Exhibited in: Raising himself from the dead
Resurrection Of Christ, The · Effected by: His own power — Effected by: His own power
Sheep · Illustrative: Of the people of Christ — Illustrative: Of the people of Christ
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 10:16-18
16. And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. 17. On this account the Father loveth me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received from my Father.
16. And I have other sheep. Though some refer this indiscriminately to all, both Jews and Gentiles, who were not yet disciples of Christ, yet I have no doubt that he had in his eye the calling of the Gentiles. For he gives the appellation fold to the assemblag…
No one can take my life from me: The Son’s death was voluntary. Jesus was not a martyr or a victim. His decision to die was freely given in obedience and intimate relationship with his Father (see Acts 2:23-24). • Jesus’ resurrection was not an afterthought in which God rescued his Son from tragedy. God could not be contained by a tomb, and since Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus possessed the authority to rise from death.
