New Testament · Gospel

John 10:39

The Good Shepherd

At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp. John 10:39 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

John 10:39, in plain English

They try to grab Him again, but Jesus escapes from their grasp.

Why it's here

They can't touch Him until His time comes. Jesus is in control of the timing of everything, including His own death.

Who's speaking

The narrator reports another failed attempt to arrest Jesus.

Where it sits in the story

Again and again they try, and again Jesus walks away. His life is on God's timetable, not theirs.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The leaders attempt to seize (piasai) Jesus again, but He 'escaped' (exēlthen)—the verb suggesting a deliberate departure rather than miraculous vanishing, though divine protection is implied.

Language and setting

The pattern of failed arrests continues (cf. 7:30, 7:44, 8:59). John implies that Jesus' 'hour' has not yet come (cf. 7:30), and no human opposition can alter the divine timetable.

Voice

The narrator reports the leaders' failed attempt to arrest Jesus.

Significance

The confrontation ends with another failed attempt to seize Jesus, demonstrating that His life operates on a divine schedule that human hostility cannot override.

In context

John 10:37–41

37If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me.

38But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”

39At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.

40Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there.

41Many came to Him and said, “Although John never performed a sign, everything he said about this man was true.”

Read all of John 10 — Jesus describes a shepherd who knows every sheep by name and lays down his life for them. The hired hand runs; the good shepherd stays.

Understand every verse, not just this one

This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.

Get BibleKey

Understand every verse.

Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.

Download on the App Store

Free on iPhone & iPad