8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.

Other Translations of John 10:8

King James Version

8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

English Standard Version

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

The Message

8 All those others are up to no good - sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn't listen to them.

New King James Version

8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

New Living Translation

8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 10:8

Commentary on John 10:6-9

(Read John 10:6-9)

Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain directions how to come into the fold; we must come in by Jesus Christ as the Door. By faith in him as the great Mediator between God and man. Also, we have precious promises to those that observe this direction. Christ has all that care of his church, and every believer, which a good shepherd has of his flock; and he expects the church, and every believer, to wait on him, and to keep in his pasture.

5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

Other Translations of John 10:5

King James Version

5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

English Standard Version

5  A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

The Message

5 They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it."

New King James Version

5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

New Living Translation

5 They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 10:5

Commentary on John 10:1-5

(Read John 10:1-5)

Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of the East, in the management of sheep. Men, as creatures depending on their Creator, are called the sheep of his pasture. The church of God in the world is as a sheep-fold, exposed to deceivers and persecutors. The great Shepherd of the sheep knows all that are his, guards them by his providence, guides them by his Spirit and word, and goes before them, as the Eastern shepherds went before their sheep, to set them in the way of his steps. Ministers must serve the sheep in their spiritual concerns. The Spirit of Christ will set before them an open door. The sheep of Christ will observe their Shepherd, and be cautious and shy of strangers, who would draw them from faith in him to fancies about him.