Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
John 10:31 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 31. 31Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse opens Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and Works by recording the wording that records an action that changes what the surrounding lines must address: “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him”.
Read It With
- John 10:31-39
Read John 10:31 with 10:31-39. This verse opens Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and Works by recording the wording that records an action that changes what the surrounding lines must address: “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him”. The controlling movement is: After an attempted stoning, Jesus asks which good work warrants it, hears a blasphemy charge, cites the scriptural 'gods' saying, and asks hearers to judge his consecrated Son-of-God claim through the Father's works.
Why This Verse Appears Here
This verse opens Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and Works by recording the wording that records an action that changes what the surrounding lines must address: “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him”. As the opening turn in Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and Works, it prevents the verse from becoming an isolated maxim: After an attempted stoning, Jesus asks which good work warrants it, hears a blasphemy charge, cites the scriptural 'gods' saying, and asks hearers to judge his consecrated Son-of-God claim through the Father's works.
Follow the Context
- John 10:31-39 is a coherent Johannine movement titled “Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and Works.” The change in speaker, place, audience, festival setting, or narrated response at each edge gives this unit its natural limits.
- After an attempted stoning, Jesus asks which good work warrants it, hears a blasphemy charge, cites the scriptural 'gods' saying, and asks hearers to judge his consecrated Son-of-God claim through the Father's works.
- Psalm 82's 'gods' is used as an argument from Scripture's wording, not a claim that humans are divine in the same sense as Jesus. 'Your law' does not distance Jesus from Jewish Scripture. The opponents are specific Judean authorities, and the violence must not be generalized.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
You are gods does not teach that humans can become autonomous deities.
What Remains True
This verse opens Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and Works by recording the wording that records an action that changes what the surrounding lines must address: “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him”. Its enduring force supports this passage-controlled response: Answer grave charges with careful Scripture and observable works, while refusing both mob violence and inflated claims of human divinity.
How It Can Shape Life
- For John 10:31, practice this verse's particular contribution by doing the following without outrunning John 10:31-39: Answer grave charges with careful Scripture and observable works, while refusing both mob violence and inflated claims of human divinity.
Teach It Back
Explain how John 10:31 opens Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and Works by recording the wording that records an action that changes what the surrounding lines must address: “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him”. Include 10:31-39, one stated uncertainty, and the misuse boundary attached to this Lens.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read John 10:31-39 — Jesus Answers a Blasphemy Charge with Scripture and WorksSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The strongest reading follows the immediate movement and John's whole-book design while keeping this material limit visible: Psalm 82's 'gods' is used as an argument from Scripture's wording, not a claim that humans are divine in the same sense as Jesus. 'Your law' does not distance Jesus from Jewish Scripture. The opponents are specific Judean authorities, and the violence must not be generalized.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: John 10:31-39, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and critical-text reading checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/John.txt, 10:31-39
Open the John Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — John with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, older-English clarification, material variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible John PDF, John 10:31-39 and attached translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET John PDF ↗